Torrevieja? or any where else?

The Cafe in the same plaza as my office has been ordered to turn off their music which normally adds a nice atmosphere and cheers up passers-bye. Now one of the things that made Spain attractive for me was this nice easy-going nature compared to the nanny-state that is the UK, however back in the motherland, the city centre cafe culture is developing rather nicely and Spain is becoming ever more a place of rules and regulation for petty reasons....Anyone else noticed the transition?

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when i was back in the UK recently i noticed that there were a few street cafes starting to appear,not sure this will really work though,sitting in the rain eating a soggy sarny doesnt really hit the mark...................

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Mmmmm, sounds like Tower Hamlets hasn´t yet caught up ;+))

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Georgia, try negotiating eating a bag of fish & chips & holding a brolly.

 birthday boy.

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Thanks more,21 again!!!!!!!

I always try the fish and chips when i get back,the only problem is i was shivering that much i lost most of them(gone soft since i moved here)

Gillespie-Elephant and castle actually,the ambience wa s perfect,all sat on tables chained together with the brollys blowing down the street watching the bag snatchers sprint past you!!!!,they came out of the market stalls like the greyhounds at walthamstow!!

ahhhhhhh,home!!!

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  Yes that is true Georgia, we have a few cafe's in Hemel where you can sit outside not that we have ever done it not the same atmosphere, but a lot of people do what turns you on I say.  Pat 

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"gone soft since i moved here" ??  You must look at my thread  However do I get rid of unwanted emails ? Anyone with ideas other than what we're doing already ?  I have been inundated with cures.

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Where have you lot been! We have had the outside cafe culture in Canterbury for many years- even good old M&S got in the act last year. Mind you most tables disappear in the winter- just as well. They have become even more popular since the indoor smoking ban was introduced. I suppose that they  are mostly there for the hundreds of tourists that descend on Canterbury every day of year, but they are used by locals as well.

Gloria

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Gillespie: "Spain is becoming ever more a place of rules and regulation for petty reasons....Anyone else noticed the transition?"

Impossible not to. Trouble is, they only seem to apply to the general public, and not to the authorities. Used to be that we could shrug and ignore the corruption, because we could all get away with all sorts, but not any more. Although I know these schemes are not targeted specifically at foreigners (well, I have to say that at least) it's particularly galling when the tourism sector is hit, since without mass tourism and the foreign investment that came with it, most of these corrupt officials would still be picking olives for a living.

I saw the beginning of the end of the fun culture in Spain at least 10 years ago, when walking down the Punta Balena in Magaluf you could hear a pin drop because all the bars and clubs had been forced to take in their terraces at midnight, close their double doors and lower their sound limiters - all this in a purpose built resort where anybody who isn't actually on holiday and out clubbing every night, is ony there because they're working the clubs! At that time, Calvia Council was reportedly the wealthiest in Europe. Clearly a case of "we've 'ad yer money, now p*ss off". Seems that the same thing is spreading rapidly throughout Spain.

Still, thanks to Ryanair and the newest EU members enjoying their first taste of freedom for many years, you can still have fun in places like Riga!

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Roberto, I couldn't agree more.  We haven't yet actually lived in Spain, but took over our apartment last June and have so far only spent a few weeks there.  We intended it as a holiday home so that we could spend some free and easy retirement days away from the knife / PC / Elf & Safety culture now dominating the UK (not to mention Gordon Brown and his heap of jail fodder).

Instead we have found, nice as the individual natives might be, that Spain is riddled with corruption at the upper end and by the theiving dregs of society (not usually Spanish)at the lower.  I don't know about the last 10 years and I have never been to Calvia or Riga, but having been burgled once already, an experience I have not had to date in 65 years in the UK.  I have become very sceptical that there is any such thing as the Spanish dream.

That having been said, there are many who really enjoy the life.  Maybe they have the envious ability to ignore the every day impact of criminality upon our lives (wherever we are), but I can't and frankly think that within a few years the Spanish Government will turn a blind eye to regional / local authourities inventing still more devious ways to disposess foreigners of their legal rights by rediscovering property laws they conveniently forgot whilst their was a plentiful supply of brown envelopes.  Of course the EU will happily fiddle away whilst Rome(Europe) burns.

God, I do sound negative, but I really am A N G R Y !!! at mess politicians of all nationalities have made of this world whilst we, the public at large are just expected to pay up and keep refilling the trough. 

Not if I have my way!

Mike

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(Calvia Council is the municipality with jurisdiction over Magaluf, Palma Nova etc etc. - I should have made that clear, sorry)

Oh dear, Xetog, I didn't mean to fuel your disillusionment, so at the risk of being branded yet another British ex-pat who constantly slags off the Mother country, I'd just like to mention that, although frankly I find it astonishing and abhorrent that Spaniards still drive / ride around with no seatbelts / crash helmets, ignore red lights on pedestrian crossings, chat away on mobiles while driving home from a p*ss up at the local etc etc., at least I know I can still drive at 31 mph through an urban area (conditions permitting) and enjoy the thrill of recklessly hurtling along an empty motorway at an obscene 75 mph, without fear of losing my one last freedom.

Before departing the UK 12 years or so ago, I must have clocked up hundreds of thousands of miles, fortunately without major incidents, and without any blemish on my driving record. The last time I returned (a little over a year ago) the short drive from Luton airport to North London reduced me to a quivering wreck and I was completely unable to concentrate on my driving, due to the unbelievable proliferation of sinister looking cameras everywhere I looked. I have honestly never felt my own freedom to be so threatened.

So it's a bit of swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I hear Costa Rica is very nice...........

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Roberto,

I didn't need any fuel, I was burning already!

Mike

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I 

This message was last edited by san miguel on 2/4/2008.

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I don´t see your point san miguel? The thread is called "Torrevieja? or any where else?" The essence of the thread is to highlight how pedantic and unsympathetic the Spanish authorities are being regarding petty or even obstructive legislation, in this case to certain bar owners. But the thread is not restricted to Torrevieja. And the references to the UK are for relative occurances of the petty rule ethos permeating through our lives in general. The anywhere else bit would take in the UK!

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This message was last edited by san miguel on 2/4/2008.

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I still can´t see it san miguel! The thread is called "Torrevieja or any where else"? Prior to morerosados post about the bar in Torre, there were subjects discussed ranging from Blackpool to Guardamar. This thread was started as a chit-chat about Torrevieja or anywhere else and not about the beach bar. Unless probably you perhaps didn´t catch the previouse page button at the bottom of the page and consequently have´nt related the earlier posts to some more recent ones. There, as clear as mud ;+))

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I'm with Gillespie on this one. More posted an article about an apparent injustice taking place in Torrevieja (could have been anywhere else though), and someone responded by saying it's typical of the cr*p that's happening in Spain now. That in turn prompted a reply drawing comparisons between Spain and the UK. This will always draw various conflicting views and comments - which is after all what an open forum is all about. So what's the problem? It's only a discussion about perspective. As for comparing Spain and the UK, well San Mig, look at your own profile for a clue: "I'm in Spain & UK". This is a forum about Spain, visited mostly by British people. What don't you get about that? We could, I suppose, discuss the relative differences between life in Latvia and Guatemala, but I think that should perhaps come under a different thread.

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This message was last edited by san miguel on 2/4/2008.

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Again, I agree with Gillespie - what's your point? Something has obviously got your goat today. Best pour yourself another San Miguel - tomorrow's another day...........

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This message was last edited by san miguel on 2/4/2008.

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