By The Crazy Guy
 
When I lived in the UK I never received any spam calls, because I was on the TPS, Telephone Preference Service, which put you on a list of people who did not want spam calls. Occasionally, a call slipped through, but as soon as I told the spam caller that I was on the TPS, they hung up immediately. For abusing the TPS, companies could receive a heavy fine.

My experience

I have lived in Spain for 16 years and receive spam calls on a daily basis. What really gets me is that when you tell the caller that you don’t react to spam calls, THEY ARGUE WITH YOU! 

What is the matter with these people?

My current android mobile identifies suspicious calls, so I usually don’t answer. I call back and the number is not recognised, proving that I was right not to answer. 

Occasionally, a call identified as suspicious, is not. For example, my doctor’s surgery or my bank. 

It’s really not very impressive. If the UK could whack it 20 years ago, why not Spain?

The current situation

Unsolicited commercial calls without prior consent have been outlawed under the new General Telecommunications Law since June 2023. But some sly callers still manage to get through.

To make matters worse, robot-callers and cybercriminals are also ringing you, using aggressive marketing tactics to swindle you out of personal data or even hard-earned cash.

Help is at hand

If you’re “sick to the back teeth” of your phone ringing with annoying and time-consuming spam calls, it’s time to give those nuisance callers the boot. 

By signing up to the Spanish Telephone Preference Service (Lista Robinson), and tweaking some simple settings on your mobile, you can make your number pretty much invisible, making it difficult for telemarketers and fraudsters alike. 

Unfortunately, it’s not foolproof, but it makes it harder for them to ring. Think of it as putting on an invisibility cloak for your phone.

What to do

Register with the Robinson List (Lista Robinson).

It’s a free telephone preference service in Spain that allows you to opt out of unsolicited marketing calls. Visit the official website www.listarobinson.es and follow the registration steps.

You can also install call-blocking apps that nip unwanted callers in the bud.

For iPhone users: Truecaller and Hiya identify and block spam calls at lightning speed, ensuring you’re not left hanging on hold with scammers. You only need one of these, so take your pick.

For Android users: Truecaller, Hiya, and Mr. Number are all available at the Google Play Store. 

Again, you only need one of these. They all offer strong spam identification and blocking features, helping you keep those unwanted callers at bay. 

The two best options are Truecaller and Hiya, with Mr Number in third place.

Built-in protection

If your mobile is the latest model, you might already have the perfect tools to stop those harassing callers without needing extra apps.

On iPhone: Navigate to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers. This nifty feature sends calls from unknown numbers straight to voicemail, so you can avoid the disturbance and check messages later at your leisure.

On Android: Many Android devices come with built-in spam protection. Open your Phone app, go to Settings, and look for the spam protection option. Switch it on, and spam callers will “get the boot” automatically.

Conclusion

Don’t let spam callers drive you round the bend. Take control of your mobile phone line in Spain and give those unwelcome callers the silent treatment. 

Silence is golden, and now it’s just a tap away.

© The Crazy Guy

Acknowledgements:

Euro Weekly News
Marc Menendez-Roche
Paul Whitelock
Wikipedia

Images:

Firewall

Internet Matters

WSJ

YouTube

Tags:

aggressive marketing tactics, android mobile, call-blocking apps, cybercriminals,  Euro Weekly News, fraudsters, General Telecommunications Law, Google Play Store, hard-earned cash, heavy fine, Hiya, invisibility cloak, iPhone, Lista Robinson, Marc Menendez-Roche, Mr. Number, Paul Whitelock, personal data, Robinson List, robot-callers, Silence Unknown Callers, spam calls, spam protection, Spanish Telephone Preference Service, STOP SPAM CALLS, suspicious calls, telemarketers, TPS, Telephone Preference Service, Truecaller,  unsolicited commercial calls, unsolicited marketing calls, Wikipedia, www.listarobinson.es 
 

I don't understand it! Why don’t we have something similar in the UK?

A gestor/gestora does all those official tasks that the British hate, but nevertheless do themselves, muttering all the while. And a gestor doesn’t charge much – their rates are fixed by the government.

A lawyer can do these things also, but in my experience of Spain over a quarter of a century, they are inefficient, slow and costly.                                    At the gestoria [Photo courtesy of Freepik]

What is a gestor and what does he do?

The commonly used translation of gestor in English is “fixer”, although I don’t like that word – it smacks of dodgy practices, which a Spanish gestor most definitely is not.

A gestor is a quasi-government official, often with legal training.

The gestoria I use is a family firm and they cover just about everything.

I use Daniel to do my annual tax declaration, and he charges me 50 euros. For three years running I received threatening letters from HACIENDA, accusing me of “fiddling” my tax.

Daniel sorted it out each time. Toca madera (touch wood), I haven’t received a similar letter for several years. Hacienda appears to have accepted that they were wrong.

Another colleague, Daniel’s nephew Miguel, sorted out my permit to allow me to rent property legally. If I recall correctly, he charged me 30 euros.

Ana Maria organised a replacement TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) and driving licence when my wallet disappeared. This service is invaluable. 

If you do it yourself, it’s much more complicated and involves a trip to Málaga City to go to the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico) for the driving licence. If your gestor does it he goes to Málaga. What with the cost of fuel and parking, the gestor’s charge, 50 euros, is an absolute bargain. If you wish to challenge a traffic fine, they can also help with that, but, as Sergio explained, you never win against the police, so it’s better and much cheaper to pay the fine quickly and get the 50% discount.

A good gestor can save you money

When I sold a property in 2019 for 85,000 euros, I made a capital gain of 25,000, so I was liable to pay tax on that. However, the afore-mentioned Daniel, was able to legitimately off-set so much, that my CGT bill was reduced to a mere 50 euros! And what did he charge me? 50 euros. What a bargain!

I’m going to see him shortly to get him to help me claim a tax refund on some bonds I cashed in a few years ago and for which I was taxed, incorrectly, at the maximum rate. If I’m quick, that could be a nice little Christmas bonus!

Piso Blanco, Ronda, cost me 50€ in CGT [Photo PW]

Footnote

In my opinion people who try to do all this themselves are either crazy or foreigners. No Spaniard I know would dream of doing his own tax declaration or indeed anything official.

“Guiris” with little Spanish often try to do it themselves or use expensive lawyers.

As for me, also a "guiri", I love it that a gestor will do everything for me at a fair cost.

© The DIY Guy

Links:

Beating the Spanish tax man ... or not? - Olive Press News Spain

HOW TO ….. BUY A HOUSE in Spain?

HOW TO ….. do your Spanish INCOME TAX return?

SERRONSA - RONDA CENTRO COMERCIAL ABIERTO

Where there’s a WILL … the process in Spain - Secret Serrania de Ronda

Acknowledgements:

Gestoría Jimenez

Photos and Images:

Freepik

Gestoría Jimenez

Paul Whitelock

Wikipedia

Tags:

annual tax declaration, capital gain, CGT, cost of fuel and parking, DGT, Dirección General de Tráfico, driving licence, expensive lawyers, “fixer”, gestor, gestoria, guiri, Hacienda, Málaga, TIE, Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, tax refund, toca madera, traffic fine

With the cold and wet weather we have been experiencing in southern Spain since the clocks went back, people are turning their thoughts to heating their houses.

The DIY guy has spent the last quarter of a century living in the Serrania de Ronda, 16 of those as a resident. He reports that it can be extremely cold from November to February.

The DIY guy was a bit miffed when the Conservative government took away his winter heating allowance. He remained eligible to receive it when he moved to Spain, but the Tories withdrew it for anyone living south of a random horizontal line drawn across France.

Winter temperatures in the valley below Ronda where the DIY Guy now lives have been as low as MINUS 16 DEGREES CELSIUS and he reports that he has to scrape ice off his car windscreen every morning from November to February – every year.

Now the Labour Government is about to withdraw the winter heating allowance from most UK pensioners who receive it currently. Plus ça change, eh?

During the 25 years The DIY Guy has lived in Spain, he has occupied a number of properties in the Ronda area: a modern apartment; four old houses - two in Ronda and two in nearby Montejaque; and a modern chalet bungalow in the campo.

Here’s his report:

Preface

The heating in each place I’ve lived in Spain was different, but I have to report that the easiest to heat and keep warm were the old houses, with their thick external walls and tiny windows.

But, let’s start at the beginning:

    Photo courtesy of iStock

Piso Blanco, Ronda

This was the first property we bought in Spain, back in 2001. Located in the sought-after Barrio San Francisco, it was a modern apartment in a comunidad of 10 dwellings with gardens and a pool.

Great in the summer, but bloody cold in winter. We came for Christmas a couple of times, and, after my redundancy and divorce, I spent increasing amounts of time living in Piso Blanco, which I retained after our divorce in 2005.

Piso Blanco, Ronda [Photo: Paul Whitelock]

The apartment had gas central heating, but it was single-glazed with ill-fitting pine windows and, madre mía, it was bitter cold. Piso Blanco also benefited from a traditional brasero beneath a round wooden table, over which you placed a thick tablecloth/blanket which reached to the floor. Great for warm legs, but cold backs!

    Traditional tables with space for a brasero [Photos: The Vintage Rooms]                An electric brasero [Photo: Amazon]

Casa Blanca, Ronda

This house was an end-terrace bungalow, not 50 metres from Piso Blanco. It had a SE VENDE sign on it, but it looked pretty dilapidated. My mum, Vera, who was staying with us in Piso Blanco at the time, pushed at the front door and it swung wide open!

A quick look around to see if anyone was watching – no, all clear – so we slipped inside.

Part of the lounge floor had collapsed, and the bathroom and kitchen were a mess. Outside, what had probably been a large terrace, had become a dumping ground for the locals’ rubbish over many years.

Mum did one of her little smiles and winked at me. She liked it. She and my late dad had done up a few houses in their time.

So, with mum’s approval and less enthusiastic support from my wife, Jeryl, we set about investigating further.

The house belonged to Paco and Paqui who owned and ran Bodega San Francisco in the Barrio, one of our regular haunts.

Long story short, we bought the house, for not much money really, and over the next couple of years, with the help of family and friends, we gutted it and did it up.

Amy, Jeryl, The DIY Guy and Tom outside Casa Blanca

[Photo: Johnny White]

As for heating, there was no fireplace, so we relied on a mixture of oil-filled electric radiators and electric fires. It was freezing in the winter months.

Photo: TLC Heating Supplies                                   Photo: Groupon

El Rincón, Ronda

By 2005 I was divorced and early-retired (55) and with a new lady, Maude. to "step out with". On a long weekend in Ronda – Maude's first-ever visit to the City of Dreams – she bought a little old house, which was charming but rather down-on-its-luck!

   Aerial view of El Rincon, Ronda [Photo: Google Earth]                                Entrance to El Rincon [Photo: PW]

Guess what? I was retired and she was still working, so I ended up spending months at a time in Ronda, doing up her house and garden. I didn’t mind, however. I’d fallen in love with Spain when I was 20. I was now 55, and that love had not diminished one bit.

    (awaiting photo)

    The DIY Guy laying a garden terrace [Photo: Mary Jackson]

During these periods I built myself a decent social life in Ronda, so had no complaints at all.

Heating in El Rincón was non-existent. We had to manage with electric radiators and fires, but because it was a terraced-house and the front and rear walls were half-a-metre thick, it was tolerable.

Casa Rita, Montejaque

This was the house of the German lady I met in Ronda in September 2008. Rita and I soon fell in love. She visited me in England a few times that autumn and I went to Germany for her grandson’s christening. By Christmas I had emigrated to Spain.

Casa Rita was Rita’s home having left Germany a few years before. It was well appointed, had a great chimenea and gas stoves. The house was old and had thick external walls. It was cosy in the winter and cool in the summer.

Rita and I have now been married for 14 years and no longer live there, although we go and stay from time to time.

During the Covid lockdowns we took the time to upgrade the house. New double-glazed windows throughout, wall heaters in the two bathrooms and a pellet stove in the open-plan lounge we had created downstairs. There are still a couple of gas stoves as back-up. Casa Rita is now “as warm as toast”.

Rita posing on the roof terrace of Casa Rita [Photo: Karl Smallman]

***

After we got married in 2010 we started looking round for a house with better access, a pool and a garden. We found “just the job” in Fuente de la Higuera, in the campo just outside Ronda. We moved in on 3 February 2011 on a bright sunny Saturday.

Villa Indiana, Fuente de la Higuera

    Villa Indiana view from rear [Photo: Karl Smallman]

Within a couple of weeks of moving in it was pouring down and freezing cold. Our garden and lawns were flooded. Aargh!

The heating seemed quite sophisticated. There was oil-fired central heating throughout and a chimenea in the lounge. The windows and doors were high-quality double-glazed units

BUT, BUT, BUT …..

Villa Indiana is a modern house with only 9-inch solid external walls, no insulation in the roof, no damp-proof course and larger-than-normal windows, so, warm and cosy it ain’t!

But we manage when it’s very cold. A thick jumper usually does the trick.

Photo courtesy of Roferi and Rodi

***

I had sold Casa Blanca in Ronda in 2008 to help finance the purchase of a house for me to live in in England. My relationship with Maude had ended, so I had left North Wales and had moved in with my mum in Warrington.

I decided I needed a place of my own, so bought a detached Victorian villa in Latchford, a suburb of Warrington, as a do-er up-per.

I completed the purchase of Tunstall Villa around the time I met the “Lovely Rita”.

Despite emigrating to Spain in December 2008 to be with Rita, I went back to Warrington to work on my house for several lengthy periods over the next three years.

    Tunstall Villa, Latchford [Photo: On The Market]

When Tunstall Villa was finished, I sold it to pay for Villa Indiana, the house we had found just outside Ronda, as outlined above.

***

In 2019 I decided to sell Piso Blanco, which I had owned for some 18 years by that time. It needed some urgent work, and I had neither the money nor the inclination to do it.

I banked the money from the sale of Piso Blanco and watched as it earned virtually zero interest for two years.

Then, one Sunday I was in Montejaque and I stumbled across a house with a SE VENDE sign. It turned out that it was owned by my favourite bar owner in the village, Armando, and his three siblings.

I viewed the house, liked it and bought it for a good price.

The heating consists of a pellet stove in the open-plan lounge, dining room and kitchen, plus portable gas heaters. I ran the flue of the pellet stove through one of the bedrooms upstairs, which takes the chill off that room.

Casa Real, Montejaque [Photo: Karl Smallman]

    A pellet stove [Photo: Climmatic]                                     A gas stove [Leroy Merlin]

Casa Real is not cold in the winter. With the pellet stove, double-glazed windows and back-up gas stoves, added to the half-metre thick external walls, it is not a cold house, despite being some 800 metres above sea level.

Last word

Although I am now well into my 70s, I hanker after another building project. To have the funds to do that, however, I would have to sell Casa Real and run the risk of Rita divorcing me!

So, it looks like it’s time to hang up my trowel, my hammer and my drill, don my slippers and sit by the fire, watching TV and stroking the pussy.

    Photo courtesy of Halifax BS

© The DIY Guy

Related Links:

CASA REAL, Montejaque (Malaga) - Help me, Ronda

CASA RITA, MONTEJAQUE - An immaculate fully renovated 3-bed, 3-bath property - 200,000€. - Help me, Ronda

HOW TO ….. get your HOUSE WARM?

How to keep a Spanish house warm in Winter « Euro Weekly News

Acknowledgements:

EuroWeekly News

Johanna Gardener

Paul Whitelock

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Photos:

Amazon

Climmatic

Facebook

Google Earth

Groupon

Halifax Building Society

iStock

Johnny White

Karl Smallman

Leroy Merlin

Mary Jackson

On The Market

Paul Whitelock

Roferi and Rodi

TLC Heating Supplies

The Vintage Rooms

Tags:

9-inch solid external walls, Amazon, “as warm as toast”, Barrio San Francisco, Bodega San Francisco, Casa Blanca, Casa Real, Casa Rita, chimenea, Climmatic, Covid, damp-proof course, double-glazed units, double-glazed windows, Durazno, electric fire, El Rincon, Facebook, fireplace, Fuente de la Higuera, gas stove, Google Earth, Groupon, half-metre thick external walls, Halifax Building Society, Help Me Ronda, insulation in the roof, iStock, Jeryl, Johnny White, Karl Smallman, larger-than-normal windows, Latchford, Leroy Merlin, lockdown, “Lovely Rita”, Lucero, Mary Jackson, Maude, Montejaque, oil-filled electric radiator, oil-fired central heating, On The Market, Paul Whitelock, pellet stove, Piso Blanco, pussy, Roferi and Rodi, Ronda, Serrania de Ronda, SE VENDE, TLC Heating Supplies, The DIY Guy, The Vintage Rooms, thick external walls, Tunstall Villa, Victorian villa, Villa Indiana, wall heater, Warrington, winter heating allowance 

Everytime I go to Ronda I have to pass the local rubbish depository. There is often something discarded there that is crying out to be recycled.

The Spanish don't really go in for selling things de segunda mano (second-hand), so they just chuck it away.

I don't mind. Over the years I have acquired a number of items, usually furniture, that are in perfectly good condition. These items include dining chairs, tables, garden items, children's toys, even original paintings!

I renovate and clean these things up and either put them to good use or sell them on.

Coffee table - October 2024

What do Spaniards have against wood? They throw away perfectly good solid wood furniture and buy modern c**p made of laminates, formica, metal and plastic!

The other day I spotted what looked like a coffee table. It was rather splendid. Solid wood with a carved pattern. The table top was missing, probably it had been a glass insert.

I checked for woodworm, rot and other infestations - no sign of anything bad, so I opened the car boot and popped it in.

The renovation

After a ponder I decided to replace the missing glass with a ceramic top, made from tiles I had left over from other jobs. As a base I used a piece of thick plywood, also picked up at the dump.

So, I gave the table a light rub-down with sandpaper, cut the plywood to size and fixed it in place using screws and decided on the tiles I would use.

Next, I removed the dust and painted the table to seal it and give it a distressed look. I chose the colour nogal (walnut).

The following day I fixed the tiles which I had previously cut to size.

The day after that I grouted the gaps and cleaned the table up.

My "good-as-new" coffee table

The recovered and renovated coffee table is now usable. Ideal for a glass of cava before dinner.

The only cost was a bag of tile adhesive. I found some left-over grout in my almacé​​​​​n.

I'm very pleased with the result. What do YOU think?

***

All photos by "The DIY Guy" except cover photo by Diario.es

© The DIY Guy

Tags:

coffee table, Diario.es, dump, formica, good-as-new, infestation, laminates, metal, plastic, recycling, renovation, Ronda, second-hand, The DIY Guy, tile adhesive, white grout, wood, woodworm

by The Crazy Guy

WD-40 is an iconic brand in the US and in the UK. Doesn’t everybody have a can in the garage? For the car or the push bike?

But this clever lubricant can do so much more than dry out damp battery terminals or lubricate bicycle chains.

The blue and yellow aerosol can is, in fact, more than just a lubricant.

Here are six-of-the-best other uses for WD-40

Image courtesy of WD-40

1. Toilet Bowl Ring Remover

Spray WD-40 directly onto the toilet bowl ring and let it sit for a few minutes to break down the mineral deposits and grime. Then, scrub the area with a toilet brush as usual.

The WD-40 helps to lift and dissolve the buildup, leaving your toilet bowl clean and shiny.

Rinse thoroughly with water, and enjoy a fresh, stain-free toilet bowl with minimal effort!

Image courtesy of YouTube

2. Clean and Protect Garden Tools

Spray WD-40 on your garden tools to prevent rust and keep them in top condition. It also makes cleaning off dirt and sap much easier.

Image courtesy of WD-40 Australia

3. Loosen Stuck Zips

Got a zip that is jammed? A short blast of WD-40 on the zip teeth can help it glide smoothly again.

Image courtesy of WD-40

4. Keep Locks from Freezing

In cold weather, spray WD-40 into your car locks to prevent them from freezing. It’s a lifesaver during those icy winter months.

Photo courtesy of Uniroyal

5. Remove Stickers and Labels

Struggling to peel off stubborn stickers and labels? Spray WD-40 on the sticker, wait a few minutes, and then easily scrape it off. This works wonders on jars, mirrors, and even furniture.

Image courtesy of WD-40

6. Remove Scuffs and Stains from Floors

Spray a bit of WD-40 on a cloth and gently rub scuff marks off your floors. This works on tile, wood, and laminate surfaces.

Image courtesy of The Spruce

***

Six-of-the-best

By incorporating these six clever WD-40 ideas into your home maintenance routine, you can save time, effort, and money. Give them a try and see how this versatile product can make your life a bit easier!

© The Crazy Guy

Acknowledgements:

Paul Whitelock, Simplify, The Spruce, Uniroyal, WD-40

Tags:

Clean and Protect Garden Tools, Keep Locks from Freezing, Loosen Stuck Zips, Remove Scuffs and Stains from Floors, Remove Stickers and Labels, Simplify, Six-of-the-best, The Crazy Guy, The Spruce, toilet bowl, Uniroyal, WC, WD-40

By The Crazy Guy

We’ve been experiencing such high temperatures recently in southern Spain that it’s good to find somewhere to cool off. So, where’s the best place?

A pool or a lake?

A river or a reservoir?

An air-conditioned building?

An underground cave or pot-hole?

Swimming pool

Public swimming pools are only open for two months – typically from mid-July to mid-September - to coincide with the school summer holidays.

Private pools operate for longer.

We are fortunate that we have our own pool at home near Ronda (Málaga). I started swimming in February this year. The water temperature was a bracing 14 degrees Celsius! But it did the trick during the hot spell we had that month.

This month, July, the air temperature has exceeded 40 C a lot of the time. So cooling off is essential.

But I have to say that going in the pool doesn’t really ‘do the trick’ for very long. It’s great when you are in the cool water – currently between 24 and 30 C – but as soon as you are out of the water and have dried off in the sun, you want to go straight back in the water!   

                            Lucy and Amy cooling off in my pool

In the period before we had a house with a pool, we used to cool ourselves down with the goma, hosepipe, but that too had a short-lived effect.

River, lake or reservoir

There is plenty of open water around, although you need to jump in the car to get there.

Popular spots by rivers around here include Cueva del Gato (Benaoján), and places along the Guadiaro River at Jimera de Líbar, Algatocín, and in El Colmenar.

I’ve tried the first of these a few times years ago, but the water is absolutely freezing where it emerges from the Hundidero-Cueva del Gato underground cave system. Yet at the weekends it is heaving, presumably with families who live in nearby towns and villages and don’t have a pool of their own.

Cueva del Gato [Photo courtesy of 20 Minutos]

Reservoirs at Zahara de la Sierra (Cádiz) and Guadalhorce (Málaga) offer great swimming. I’ve tried both. If you pick your spot, you can even go skinny-dipping! And there are plenty of places to drink and eat.

Beware of thieves!

Sadly, you sometimes hear that cars parked a little away from these spots have been broken into and the contents stolen. Hire cars, which are usually conspicuous, are the most vulnerable.

Many years ago my young family was on holiday in Burgau, Algarve, Portugal. As a change from the beach, we travelled inland to a reservoir near Silves, where there were jet skis for hire. We had to walk from the car park to the shore and were gone for some time, enjoying the swimming.

When we returned to the car park, our hire car had been broken into and the entire contents removed. Fortunately, I had taken my expensive SLR film camera, a Minolta, and lenses, with me – no mobile phones with cameras back then; in fact, no mobile phones!

Photo of Silves  reservoir courtesy of La Sexta

We needed to report this ‘crime’ to the police to get a crime number for the insurance company and to cover the damage to the hire car – a smashed quarter-light. So, it was off to the police station in Silves. Fortunately, one of the ‘bobbies’ spoke reasonable English so we completed the denuncia. We had to return a few days later to collect the document we needed, as there was nobody available to type it up the day we made the report.

Air-conditioning

Air-con can be a blessing, but it has its disadvantages. It can dry out throats and lungs; it can encourage infections; it is loud; and, above all, it is expensive to run.

We have air-con in our house, but we hardly ever use it, for all the reasons quoted above. We have air-con in our cars also, but only have it on if the car has become unbearably hot after being parked in the heat for a while.

If I’m out and about in Ronda and need to cool down, I head for one of the big supermarkets which have brilliant air-con, sometimes even too cold. Trouble is the longer you linger, the more you tend to spend!

Then, when you leave and go back outside, the heat hits you like a ‘sledgehammer’.

Aldi, Día, LIDL, Mercadona, Supeco, Super Chisme and Super Carmela all offer a cool environment. So do the Chinese stores, eg Bazar Jaydan, Décor Asia, Merkabazar, and Superoriental.

STOP PRESS: “JYSK” has just opened a new branch on the Polígono Industrial in Ronda. “JYSK” is a Danish retail chain that specialises in household goods. The name “JYSK” refers to anything or anyone from the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark, reflecting the company’s Danish roots and values. The term “JYSK” is often associated with qualities like modesty, thoroughness, and honesty, which are integral to the company’s brand identity.

Photo courtesy of JYSK

© The Crazy Guy

Links:

How to keep cool during a heatwave in Spain with top 10 tips from health experts - Olive Press News Spain (theolivepress.es)

www.help-me-ronda.com

Acknowledgements:

20 Minutos

Aldi

Farmers' Almanac

JYSK

La Sexta

Paul Whitelock

Tags:

20 Minutos, Aldi, Algarve, Algatocín, Bazar Jaydan, beach, Benaoján, Burgau, Cádiz, Carmela, cave, Cueva del Gato, Décor Asia, Día, El Colmenar, denuncia, Farmers' Almanac, goma, Guadalhorce, Guadiaro, hosepipe, house with a pool, Hundidero-Cueva del Gato, insurance company, JYSK, jet skis, Jimera de Líbar, La Sexta, LIDL, Málaga, Merkabazar, Mercadona, Minolta, Olive Press, open water, Paul Whitelock, police station, Portugal, quarter-light, Silves, SLR film camera, skinny-dipping, Supeco, Super Chisme, Super Carmela, Superoriental, swimming, Zahara de la Sierra

10 uses for Vaseline in Your Home

By The Crazy Guy

I guess we all have a jar or tin of Vaseline at home. Something we use rarely, mostly for sore lips in winter.

It’s a lubricant, petroleum jelly, in fact - keep your dirty thoughts to yourselves, BTW!

But there are other uses (apart from in the bedroom).

Take a look at these ideas:

1. Unstick a Stubborn Lock

Got a key that won't turn smoothly in a lock? A dab of Vaseline can make keys glide into locks dead easy. It's a simple fix for an annoying problem!

2. Shine Up Leather Goods

Give your leather bags and belts a new lease of life with a touch of Vaseline. It helps keep the leather soft and adds a subtle sheen, making your accessories look brand new!

Photo courtesy of Amazon

3. Squeak-No-More

Those annoying squeaky hinges on doors or cabinets? A bit of Vaseline can quiet them down instantly. It’s a handy and quick lubricant that you probably didn't think of using this way! Better than messy oil.

Photo courtesy of UAP Corporate

Vaseline works magically on squeaky hinges!

4. Prevent Battery Corrosion

A thin layer of Vaseline on your car battery terminals can help prevent corrosion. Extend the life of your battery with this simple trick - who knew car maintenance could involve Vaseline?

Photo courtesy of Halfords

5. Ease Sticky Drawers and Windows

Stuck window or drawer? Apply a little Vaseline to the tracks or sides, and they'll slide open and closed effortlessly. It’s a fantastic solution for those frustrating jams!

6. DIY Candle Holder Cleaner

Remove leftover wax easily from candle holders by first coating the inside with Vaseline. After the candle burns down, the wax slides right out. It’s a neat trick for candle lovers!

7. Preserve Outdoor Lightbulbs

Lightbulbs in outdoor fixtures can get corroded and hard to remove. A thin Vaseline coat before screwing them in can prevent this. Practical and smart, right?

8. Keep Your Pumpkin Fresh

After carving your Halloween pumpkin, smear Vaseline on the cut edges. This trick keeps your spooky creation from drying out and wilting too soon!

Photo courtesy of Freepik

9. Protect Outdoor Tools

Coat your garden tools with Vaseline before storing them. It helps prevent rust and keeps them in tip-top shape for gardening season.

Photo courtesy of Haxnicks

10. Protect your Pet's Paws

In winter, protect your pet's paws from salt and snow by rubbing a bit of Vaseline on their pads before walks. It’s a pet-friendly use that’s both caring and effective!

Photo courtesy of Healthy Pet

Conclusion

Try these ideas out and experience the magic of Vaseline in your daily life.

Who’d a thought it!

© The Crazy Guy

Acknowledgements:

Freepik

Halfords

Haxnicks

Healthy Pet

Simplify

UAP Corporate

Wikipedia

Tags:

battery corrosion, battery terminals, belts, Candle Holder, candle wax, car maintenance, Crazy Guy, Freepik, garden tools, Halfords, Halloween pumpkin, Haxnicks, Healthy Pet, hinges, leather bag, lubricant, Outdoor Lightbulbs, Outdoor Tools, petroleum jelly, pet's paws, Simplify, sore lips, Sticky Drawers, Sticky Windows, UAP Corporate, Vaseline, wax, Wikipedia

When The Crazy Guy moved in to his new home near Ronda in 2011, he shipped over a container full of his furniture, garden equipment, tools and other stuff from the UK.

Included was a wooden "lovers' seat" for the garden. It's been well used in the intervening 13 years, but has suffered from the weather: extreme sunshine, freezing temperatures and pouring rain from time to time.

Rather than dump this seat, he decided to revive his woodworking skills from school 60 years ago!

How did he get on?

To dump or renovate?

Given the cost of garden furniture these days, whether wooden, metal or plastic, I decided to have a go at renovating this item.

First of all I cannibalised some other garden furniture in worse condition and harvested wood recycled from pallets.

Secondly, I cut out or removed the rotten timber.

Next I selected decent recycled wood and cut it to size.

Then I screwed the new timber in place.

Finishing the job

A quick rub down and I applied two coats of preservative paint.

The cost?

I already had the paint, the recycled wood was free and my time, around two hours, was also not charged.

Not bad eh?

© The Crazy Guy

Tags:

cannibalised, container, Crazy Guy, dump, extreme sunshine, freezing temperatures, furniture, garden equipment, garden furniture, lovers' seat, pallet, pouring rain, preservative paint, recycled, renovate, Ronda, rotten, timber, tools, wood, woodworking skills

By The Crazy Guy

I've got loads of wood lying around at the back of my garden. Old tree branches, pallets, an old wooden banister. You name it, I've got it, cluttering up a corner of the garden.

Recently, after a storm, three eucalyptus trees from my neighbour's garden fell onto my land. So I've got that wood too. The people who mended my broken fencing also kindly sawed the wood up into "bite-size" logs for burning in two or three years time, when the wood has fully dried out.

But what to do with it all? I decided I needed a log store.

So, over the last couple of weeks, dodging the rain and after suffering a heavy cold, it's just about finished. The best bit is, I built it with materials I already had. All I needed to buy was a plastic downspout, which cost me 6€.

Siting the store

Preferably out of sight and against a wall, in other words a lean-to. There was only one place, really, against the back wall of the pumphouse (our water source is a well sunk into the aquifer deep below the ground).

I had a lot of timber left over from my house renovation in Montejaque (Malaga), and enough roof tiles to make it look in keeping with the rooves of other buildings around here.

Getting started

First job was to select a couple of decent pallets to sit the logs on. These would ensure good air circulation and provide a firm base for the structure.

Next was to build the frame. This was a two-man job, so I  called on Ollie, the 19-year-old son of friends Nick and Julia. Ollie is saving for a four month tour of the Far East before heading off to university in September 2024. In Exeter (Devon), coincidentally, where I lived as a teenager. He was already working for me that day, strimming and clearing up in the garden.

Dodging the rain

I had to stop work for a few days because it rained heavily. Then I caught a stinker of a cold, which caused me to down tools for a couple of days.

But in the past week I've worked on the almacen for several hours each day.

Having got the main structure in place I then used a roll of left-over plastic membrane for the roof, before laying the tiles on top.

Filling the store

I then set to, cutting the wood into useable sizes. I had a mixture; sticks/twigs for kindling, bits of old pallet, which burn easily, and large logs which burn slowly and give off loads of heat.

Job done

In the future I might add some side "walls" and also use a recycled persiana at the front, but that's not urgent.

© The Crazy Guy

Note: All photographs by the author

Further reading:

Casa Real: A building project in Montejaque - Part I (secretserrania.com)

Casa Real: A building project in Montejaque – Part II (secretserrania.com)

Casa Real: A building project in Montejaque – Part III (secretserrania.com)

The Building History of a 72-year-old DIY Fan (eyeonspain.com)

The Houses That Jack Built - update (eyeonspain.com)

The story of El Rincón in Ronda - the “City of Dreams” (secretserrania.com)

Tags: almacen, banister, building project, Casa Real, Casa Rita, Crazy Guy, Devon, DIY, downspout, El Loco, eucalyptus, Exeter, eye on spain, log, log store, Montejaque, Oliver, Ollie, pallet, persiana, Rincon, Ronda, secretserrania, the houses that Jack built, Villa Indiana, wood

Regulations surrounding holiday rental accommodation in Spain have been tightened up in recent years. It was previously unregulated and many owners "forgot" to declare their rental income to the taxman.

Nowadays, rental properties have to conform to certain standards and rental booking sites are obliged to inform Hacienda of all bookings made through them.

In Andalucia a rental property must be registered with the police. In urban areas with the Policia Nacional and in rural areas with the Guardia Civil. Each property is assigned a unique registration number, which must be displayed on a sign affixed to the exterior of the property and included in advertising and other paperwork.

What constitutes ‘Holiday Rental Accommodation’?

Holiday rental accommodation is the term used for properties located in a residential area that are offered for short-term paid-for rentals. In other words, accommodation which is promoted or marketed via tourism channels.

A tourism channel is considered to be a travel agency, an intermediary company or website that provide tourist services and/or a booking facility.

There are some exclusions from the new regulations:

•  Homes that have guests where no financial transaction has taken place.

•  Dwellings contracted for more than two months continuously by the same tenant (long-term holiday rentals).

•  Homes that are located in rural areas 

•  A group of properties consisting of three or more dwellings with the same owner, which are located in the same building or in neighbouring urbanisations or buildings within a 1km radius, (these are classified as Touristic Apartments and will be subject to other legislation.)

What types of properties can be rented for tourism purposes?

•  A property in its entirety. The maximum capacity will be limited by the license of occupation, but may not exceed 15 people, with a maximum capacity of 4 people per room.

•  A room only.  The owner must also reside in the property. You can use an internationally recognised name (eg. bed & breakfast). The maximum capacity will be 6 people with a maximum of 4 people per room.

What are the necessary requirements?

•  An occupational license that shows your property complies with technical conditions and quality requirements for housing.

•  The property must have direct external ventilation or via a patio and having a window shading system either by blinds or curtains.

•  There should be sufficient equipment and furniture for immediate use.

•  Air conditioning units must be fitted in all bedrooms and lounge areas that provide cooling (if rented from May to September) and heating (if rented from October to April). Properties are exempt when the building is classified as “of Cultural Interest” and where modifications and/or building work is prohibited.  

•  There must be a fully stocked medical kit.

•  There should be access to information about local amenities, i.e. shops, restaurants, nearby parking, medical services, public transport, etc.

•  There should be a Complaints book available to guests.

•  The property should be freshly cleaned prior to the arrival and after the departure of clients.

•  The property should be supplied with adequate bedding, towels and household goods in general, as well as spare sets.

•  A contact number must be provided for answering questions or responding to issues regarding the property. 

•  Adequate information and instructions for electrical appliances should be available to guests.

•  Guests must be informed of the property rules in relation to the use of facilities, pets or smoking restrictions.

How to register a home in the Registry of Tourism of Andalusia

•  The homeowner must submit a statement to the Ministry responsible for tourism, confirming the property is in accordance with all the requirements of the law. Once submitted, the property can be rented out with immediate effect. The minimum content of the statement of responsibility will include:

1.  Property details including cadastral reference and the maximum capacity as stated by the license of occupation;

2.  Information about the property owner, whether an individual or a company, including contact address for notifications.

•  The registration number of the property assigned by the Registry of Tourism of Andalusia must be indicated in all promotional materials or advertising of the property.

•  The Registry of Tourism of Andalusia must be notified of any changes in circumstances such as changing to long term rentals.

Deadlines

The Decree was published on 11th February 2016.   Registration opened 3 months after this date, which made12th May 2016 the deadline for registering a property in the Registry of Tourism of Andalusia.
Homeowners have one year to comply with the requirements of fixed air conditioning and heating units as required in the property.

Who is legally accountable to the administration and tourists?

The homeowner is considered to be legally accountable to the administration and holidaymakers, unless otherwise stated.

How are tourist rentals processed and reservations taken?

•  All holidaymakers must receive a document, by way of contract, which specifies the homeowner, the registration number with the Registry of Tourism, the holidaymaker’s details, the start and end dates of their stay, the total price of the stay, and contact number.

•  All holidaymakers must present their identification document so that the homeowner can register their data according to the norms of registry of travellers in hotels and other types of accommodation.

•  The arrival and departure times will be by mutual agreement between the homeowner and the client. Unless otherwise stated, the arrival time will be at 16:00 and departure time at 12:00.

•  Upon arrival, the homeowner must provide keys and/or access cards to the entire compound, as well as information about the use of appliances and, if applicable, the rules of the community.

•  The advertised price has to be by night and must include the costs of the use of water, electricity, gas, cleaning and bedding.

•  The terms of price, reservation and payment shall be established between the two parties. However, they must be stated in detail before the booking is confirmed. Proof of advance payments must be provided, if applicable. 

•  The homeowner may request an advance payment as a deposit up to a maximum of 30% of the total price unless previously agreed otherwise.

•  If the client cancels the reservation up to 10 days beforehand, the homeowner may keep up to 50% of the deposit. If the cancellation is made with less than 10 days to spare, they may keep the entire advance payment.

•  If the homeowner cancels the reservation up to 10 days beforehand, s/he must return the entire advance payment to the renter. If the cancellation is made less than 10 days beforehand, they must compensate the renter with 30% of the price of the contracted stay. 

•  If the rental is cancelled by either party for substantiated reason or force majeure, no compensation will be due.

Penalties

All properties that are not registered or have not filed a declaration of responsibility and are being rented out for tourism purposes could be fined up to 180,000 euros. Also, any property that does not meet the requirements of this decree may also be fined.

© Paul Whitelock

Further reading:

How to obtain a tourist rental propery licence in Andalucía (secretserrania.com)

Acknowledgements:

Fuster & Associates

Gestoria Jimenez, Ronda

Junta de Andalucia

Ministerio de Turismo