Good news in Spain!

Hey Baboal I am not as young as you think .I do remember the 78 world cup . I was at school that day and all the boys in the school were allowed to go to the gym hall to watch the football while the girls were allowed to go outside for a netball tournament  .

No choice boys football , girls netball  !!!!!!    two of my pals dads were playing in the team  and of course they were not at school that day . I was gutted.Wish I had chucked a sicky  or plunked off . Don't know if it was the anger but I am  pretty  good at netball and still play today  !!!!!!!  

Viva Espana !!!!!!!!!   If Spain go out I may well be as gutted as "78" bring on the the good times  
 

This message was last edited by julie anne on 06/07/2010.

Re: Julie Anne  Has anybody else noticed that she is a big David Villa supporter?  She's even got his name under her stars...

We will be going round our local market in about half an hour, choosing lovely fresh fruit and vegetables at lovely low prices.  Last week we bought huge juicy cherries - the best I´ve ever tasted.  The stallholders now know us so prices get rounded down and sometimes we get something extra thrown in, which is good news for those of us living on pensions in Spain!  Everybody is friendly and says "Hola" to us.  By the way the President of the Ruta del Vino put some photos of us on facebook, taken at the Música entre Vinos event on Sunday, calling us "Los Ingleses" even though we keep telling people that John is Scottish!

Sue

A POR ELLOS OE A POR ELLOS OE A POR ELLOS OE A POR ELLOS EOE

Some Good news in Spain for those of you who have lost their jobs and want to go home. UK councils are spending a fortune on bizarre ‘non-jobs’, a few listed below. 

£3,032 for teaching nursery children how to clean their teeth,

£19,887 a year for a street football co-ordinator

£17,000-a-year 'street mediator' to deal with teens hanging around on street corners
£17,800 florist.

A £13,000-a-year 'bouncy castle attendant

A 'composting supervisor', attracting a salary of up to £23,470

Saturday night 'disco coach

A roller disco coach

Ceremonial sword bearer

A befriending co-ordinator

Breastfeeding peer support co-ordinator

Falls prevention fitness adviser to help the elderly

 Pat and Roy, that is the whole point.  You do not have to support him.  It is not a national sport and he is not representing England or Scotland or anything else.  You can support anyone you like.   The Fantastic news for Spain, is that they have Rafa Nadal, a player who has NEVER shirked his responsibility to play in the Davis Cup - (hence they keep winning it), or the Olympics.  Yes, I know he has just withdrawn from the up coming game, but he has led his country to victory twice, and no doubt will be back later in the year if Spain get through to the next round.  MORE GOOD NEWS for Spain.

And let's hope there is more tomorrow - God knows the country needs it at the moment. 

Vamos!!!

Hi floella

I had a similar experience with a traffic warden. I had parked and just nipped into the bank, but got delayed for a few minutes. She was stood by my car looking very fierce, but I smiled and apologised and she smiled back and jokily waved her finger at me before walking off. What anice surprise.

redsam79

well if those ''non-jobs'' as you call them?, are putting food on a table then they might well be 'good news' for those who have got to come back to England because Spain can't even provide them with a  ''non-job''......... Don't knock it!!

goodstich said ''well if those ''non-jobs'' as you call them?, are putting food on a table then they might well be 'good news' for those who have got to come back to England because Spain can't even provide them with a  ''non-job''......... Don't knock it!!''

It was not I who called them ''non-jobs'' but the Bristish press as reported in several newspapers and also BBC Breakfast News. And I am not knocking it, merely passing on information as reported. All reported the vast waste of money that UK councils spent on some of these meaningless jobs, but unlike youself also managed to see the funny side, my reason for posting.

It is true that Spain cannot offer them a non-job, but when you look at some of the job descriptions, below, well, need I say more. Lighten up goodstich and take the blinkers off, you might just see things as they are intended.

Breastfeeding peer support co-ordinator

Falls prevention fitness adviser to help the elderly

teaching nursery children how to clean their teeth

A befriending co-ordinator

redsam79

it's you who needs to lighten up and take the blinkers off .  Of course it's all 'tonque-in-cheek'', but there is a serious side, in as much as how daft are these silly jobs, if they provide some sort of income?

Can't really see how this non-job topic has appeared in the "Good News in Spain" bit, however, never let a good story get in the way of a good thread drift.

Good news on the health front (which has already been mentioned in the Health in Spain section) is that all Spanish residents may be entitled to free healthcare in Spain.  The Spanish system is currently contributions based which also applies to the Spanish who are self-employed but currently with no job hence no contributions.  Also those Spanish who have been working abroad and have now returned as well as the expats who are residents but not contributing. 

A bill was introduced into Congress in May requiring the Spanish government to introduce free healthcare to all residents regardless of contributions paid.  Currently, it is a requirement to pay into the Social security system (except for those under 18 and those over retirement age) and this bill explicitly removes this requirement.  All major parties agreed to this back in September last year and the government gave its support in April.  The bill will be voted on in November and, if agreed, free universal healthcare will be available to all residents wef 1 Jan 2011. 

The other significant change is that this will apply nationwide and not, as now, left to the autonomous regions to set the policy.

goodstich, you accuse me of knocking it and calling them non-jobs, then when you realise you where wrong, you point out it is toungue and cheek, my initial reason for posting!!

Then you finish of by saying ''how daft are these silly jobs, if they provide some sort of income?''

Well the UK Communities Secretary Eric Pickles thinks they are daft as he has declared war on "council non-jobs" in a strongly-worded speech challenging local authorities over whether all their staff are providing value for taxpayers' money.

Two other jobs on offer-''cheerleading development officer",and an "audience development officer"

Making jobs up to provide an income is that not known under another guise, most modern countries now choose to form thier government by democracy.

redsam79

Oh for heavens sake, why do you take this so seriously??  The point I'm trying to get through, is that though we know full well about ''silly'' jobs, and how we need to trim to get out of the debt crisis, there is also an argument for providing an income for those without jobs. What might well seem a ''silly'' job, could be one less on the dole?  Depends which side of the fence you sit?

bobaol

that sounds like good news about the health system, but there was a huge move against it in the USA recently. Do you think Spain can afford it in the current situation without raising taxes on contributions that will upset many already fearing new employment laws/workers rights etc?

The USA isn't the same as they have an insurance based system.  Although the Spanish system is considered universal, there are many Spanish excluded from the system as pointed out here.  The article is from El Pais and you can translate if you have the Google translate tool

The actual cost of including those disenfranchised (including expat residents) has been estimated at 0.5% of the current budget, so not a massive increase.  The funds would come from Central government as opposed to the regional governments which is why it floundered in the first place (Valencia province had this system until quite recently when it became too expensive for the regional government to administer).  Much of this money will come from the host country.  This money currently goes into Central government coffers but there have been problems with it trickling down to the regions.

The good thing is that all the main parties have given it their approval.  One group, especially, pushing for this are the professional classes, such as lawyers, who are not covered by the Social Security payments.  There are also those who have private incomes and do not pay into the system but I would assume they would be covered by private health insurance.

It will be interesting to see the results of the vote in November.

Goodstich, at least I know on which side of the fence I sit. You have a cheek on both sides!

What might well seem a ''silly'' job, could be one less on the dole?

If that is your view on job creation, then please there is no need to reply, that tells me enough.

redsam79

If you just want an argument for arguments sake then please take it elsewhere. I would like to think we can discuss the options of employment without getting insulting.

bobaol

thanks for that info'.  Yes it will be interesting to see the results of the vote.  As a comparison, I think many feel the UK system is a bottomless pit, to which no budget could fill, but I find it hard to see a fairer system despite the various problems?

redsam79 said It was not I who called them ''non-jobs'' but the Bristish press as reported in several newspapers and also BBC Breakfast News. This could not possibly be political propoganda banded about by the press on behalf of the new Con Dem government  (pardon the pun)  to make the UK public see the cuts as fair and reasonable.

None of these seem like non jobs to me and I would be slightly dubious of the spin we are getting from the press and politicians .Have they worked out what these 700 thousand job losses  will mean in lost tax  revenue .It all seems like madness to me 

As for the non jobs -:

Breastfeeding peer support co-ordinator  ,,,,,,,,,,    to support new mums to breastfeed thus saving on midwives time / Benefit is money saved on midwives /health benefits to future generation/health cost saving in the future

Falls prevention fitness adviser to help the elderly
In one Scottish health board alone this saved £400k from the bill for treating eldery people who suffer fractures and worse from  falls

on teaching nursery children how to clean their teeth Reduced dental decay in children age 5 and above by 70% in trial /a huge financials saving to nhs resources

A befriending co-ordinator/This was for disabled and mentally ill  /it was supposed to co ordinate befrienders and  to give the disabled person some support thus giving a break to carers it was much cheaper than respite places and was a life line to many carers  who were at the end of their tether /Saved a fortune in social work and NHS  respite and residential care budgets .

Bobaol

That does sound like good news in Spain!  We know a British couple who live outside Jumilla who are under retirement age so they had taken out private health insurance, however when the wife became ill the insurance company said they would not pay out for the treatment as it was a "pre-existing condition".  Not as far as they were concerned, as it was a real shock when she was taken ill. They have now looked at making social security contributions however it is a lot of money, especially when you aren't working.  This could definitely be good news for them.

Do you, or anybody else, know whether this will negate the necessity for self-employed people to pay social security contributions of over 200€ per month?  I am a qualified reflexologist and complementary therapist, and initially hoped to work for myself when I moved to Spain.  On investigation, it appears that if I want to work legally I need to make these contributions.  I am over 60, living on my UK state pension, which means I don't need to pay contributions for health care or for a Spanish pension.  As anybody who is self-employed knows, it takes time to build up a client list, so I decided that I could not afford to pay this money when I had no guarantee of earning enough to cover my outgoings!

Apologies all, as I have digressed a bit, however any replies might help other people in a similar situation.

Back to good news.  We were able to watch the Tour de France live again on Spanish TV and were impressed by Geraint Thomas who has now moved into 2nd place overall and has won the white jersey as the best young rider.  All of this is available on TDT at no cost and we don't have to pay a TV licence fee!

Sue

 More good news - the octopus has picked Spain to win!!!!!

You're right Julie Anne, dredging up these unusual job titles is just further propaganda to make us all think the job cuts are fair (you mentioned 700,000, but it will be double that at 1.4 million).

ps Sorry, I've been guilty of joining in the 'off subject' posting