Spanish football: Estadio La Roselada, home of Málaga CF

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Marianne under Laws and Customs, Places, Slice of Life

Málaga Club de Fútbol is based at Estadio La Roselada in Málaga. The team currently plays in Spain’s top football league, known as La Liga.

If you are staying in Málaga Province and you love football, why not look out for match during your stay?

[Image credit: (cc) Miwipedia]

The 29,000-capacity La Rosaleda Stadium (The Rose Garden) is a two-tiered bowl with a great atmosphere on match day. Located to the north of the city, the stadium is well-served by public transport.

If you’re travelling by car, you should be able to find a free parking space in La Rosaleda Shopping Centre Car Park – a couple of hundred metres away. Failing that, there is usually plenty of space to park on local streets.

For most games, getting seats on match day is generally fairly easy – the obvious exceptions being the FC Barcelona and Real Madrid games.

When considering the list of home fixtures and ticket availability and pricing, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Spanish Football Association only release information regarding which games are to be televised one week before the fixture. So when you are planning your visit, you need to ensure that you are in Málaga between the Saturday afternoon and the Monday morning for your chosen weekend. Confirmed kick-off times first appear at the Spanish FA Website.

If you can’t get to the match, you can always watch live coverage of most English and Spanish football matches in many bars around the Axarquía.

Have you ever been to a football match in Spain? Who did you support?

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Pretty in Pink: The Almond Blossom of Andalucía

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Marianne under Axarquía

Can you see some of last year’s almond nuts still clinging to the tree?

Nature provides a wonderful backdrop to life here in Andalucía. There are the brilliantly coloured wildflowers in Spring, the snowy peaks of the winter mountains and the baking heat of the summer sun.

But perhaps the most stunning display of them all is happening right now – the blossom of many thousands of almond trees carpeting the valleys and slopes like freshly fallen snow.

It´s a sight to behold!

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A Celebration of Fried Breadcrumbs: Migas Festival in Torrox pueblo

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Fiestas and Festivals, Laws and Customs

You might not expect ingredients for the perfect Christmas party to include 2000 kilos of flour, 500 litres of olive oil and 3000 litres of sweet Moscatel wine, but that´s exactly what´s required to cater for the 40,000 guests who visit the annual Migas Festival in the village of Torrox.

Many towns and cities throughout the world have unique dishes that encompass their overall culture and tradition. Migas is a traditional Andalucían peasant dish often made from breadcrumbs, although in Torrox the migas are made with flour. Normally served as an accompaniment to a main dish, of fried fish for instance, migas comprises of fried bread crumbs liberally laced with garlic, and may also contain small pieces of chorizo, ham or peppers.

Each year, on the last Sunday before Christmas, (so, this coming Sunday – December 23rd 2012) this gastronomic festival which has been declared of “National Tourist Interest” by the Junta de Andalucía, will serve more than 40,000 visitors.

Whoever said “there is no such thing as a free lunch”, obviously had never visited Torrox pueblo!

From early in the morning, teams of cooks prepare the migas for free distribution to local residents and visitors to the festival. The ringing of a bell is the signal for everyone to come and collect their plate of migas, which is served with a glass of local wine and an “arriera” salad (made with oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, onions and olives) to accompany the meal.

There is plenty to do during a day at the Migas festival because as well as free food and drink there are many craft stalls, traders selling fine cheeses, chorizo, cakes, nuts and sweets, the opportunity to enjoy guided walks through the village, and street artists, as well as choirs and local dance groups, who all help to create a wonderful festive atmosphere.

Of course, in true Spanish tradition, this is just another excuse for a party, but on a warm, sunny December day, why would you not pursue that with some vigor?

(BTW – didn´t they do well getting Angeline Jolie to pose for last year´s poster? 😉

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Cost of Living: East of Málaga, Spain – November 2012

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Cost of Living

Whenever I travel, I´m always interested to know how much things cost and, every day, people from around the world find my blog by searching for the cost of living in Spain.

Back in August, I posted some receipts for groceries I had bought here in southern Spain, which proved to be a very popular article.

I also wanted to do something a bit different, so I decided that rather than post the prices of random items of shopping that you may, or may not be interested in, I would come up with a list of standard grocery items, which I will update the prices of, three or four times a year. This list can easily be changed, so if there are any other basic items you would like me to include, please let me know in the comments section, below. This way, if anyone else wants to do something similar, we can have a direct comparison between countries.

For this month´s prices, and to make direct comparison simple, I have once again used the Spanish Supermarket – Mercadona in Torrox Costa.

I must admit – I was pleased that I had noted down these prices in August, or otherwise I wouldn´t have known about the pleasant surprise awaiting me – THERE HAD BEEN NO PRICE INCREASES AT ALL, AND MANY OF THE ITEMS HAD ACTUALLY COME DOWN IN PRICE! YAAY!

This was even more of a surprise as there was a hike in IVA/VAT tax rates at the beginning of September. Whilst it´s fair to say that four of the price-reduced items are “seasonal fruit and veg” , six others are not, including a whopping 1.07 € off a packet of washing powder!

So, here´s the Standard Grocery List I used last time (with prices as they were in August) – now with November´s prices in RED alongside.

Standard Grocery List

Milk (semi –skimmed UHT, own brand), 1 litre 0.54 €      0.54 €
Loaf (white, baguette 250g)   0.45 €    0.45 €
Eggs (12, own brand caged, medium) 1.35 €     1.35 €
Chicken breasts (1kg, boneless, skinless) 5.50 €     5.50 €
Apples (1kg, green, Golden Delicious) 1.35 €     1.00 €
Oranges (1kg) 1.39 €     0.89 €
Bananas (1kg) 1.25 €    1.15 €
Potatoes (1kg) 0.92 €    0.89 €
Lettuce (1 head, Iceberg) 0.85 €    0.85 €
Water (1.5 litre bottle) 0.45 €    0.36 €
Domestic Beer (1 litre bottle, Cruzcampo) 1.29 €    1.20 €
Fish (1kg Salmon steaks) 8.75 €    8.75 €
Toilet rolls (pack of 6, own brand) 1.95 €    1.95 €
Washing powder (Box, 35 washes, Elena brand) 5.94 €   4.87 €
Olive oil (1 litre, extra virgin, own brand) 3€    2.75 € (5 litres 12.99€)
Coca-Cola (1.5 litre) 1.09 €    1.00 €
Butter (250g, own brand) 0.98 €    0.98 €
Sugar (1kg, white) 0.95 €    0.93 €

New items on the list:

Coffee (ground, 250g, Santa Cristina) 1.79 €
Beef mince (Store brand, pre-packed, 1kg) 5.43 €

I´ve also included my store receipt for a few groceries I bought from the German supermarket Lidl which has stores throughout Spain. Most of these items not included on my standard grocery shopping list.

Currency Conversion from XE €1 = 1.27 USD
0.80 GBP
1.22 AUD
1.27 CAD
1.55 NZD
11.15 ZAR

Other household expenses

Gas: We don´t have mains gas here – we use bottles of butane gas. In August, a 12.5kg bottle of Butane gas cost 16.45 € – they are now 16.10 € . One bottle used to last (on average) 21 days (for two people… though around 4 weeks in summer) for all hot water, showers and cooking. During September we had a new gas water heater fitted and, even though it has a larger capacity for water heating than the previous one, it appears to use significantly less gas. It´s early days yet, but the first bottle lasted five weeks (rather than three weeks). I´ll keep my eye on how that goes.

Electricity: Last time I told you that for a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom detached house in the countryside with a swimming pool, we paid an average of 90 € per month. I may have underestimated this a bit. The cost of consumption for us is slightly lower in winter with heating/lighting, as opposed to air conditioning/lighting/swimming pool pump running for 8 hours a day, in the summer months. Our electricity company Sevillana Endesa has raised their prices significantly recently and monthly bills now appear to be averaging 120€.

Water: We are not connected to mains water, so when we bought our house part of the purchase cost was for a share in a local water company. We have a water deposit to store our house water. Our water share gives us an allowance of up to 17,500 litres of water each week at reduced cost, after which the price rises steeply. Needless to say, we don´t use this amount of water, even allowing for swimming pool top-ups and garden irrigation. The water company, Patamalara, doesn´t always sent out their bills regularly and much of the cost appears to depend on the amount of repairs that have been undertaken on the system, but over the past twelve months our annual water bill has amounted to 92 €.

IBI – Council Tax: Paid yearly to the local council. This year´s bill is 338€

Internet: 29 € per month with unlimited downloads (within reason). Speeds up to 3 Mbps

Petrol/Gasoline: In August 1 litre of 95 octane petrol was 1.49 € – now that price has fallen to 1.40 €

Vehicle excise duty: We have a Peugot 307 and pay 51 € per year.

Eating out: Glass of wine or beer, including one tapa is 1 € – 1.50 €. Menu of the day (three course meal, served at lunchtime, including bread and one glass of beer, wine or a bottle of water) 8 – 10 €

How do prices compare where you live?

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Menú del Día: Great food at a budget price

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Laws and Customs, Slice of Life

For much less than the cost of an evening dinner, most restaurants in La Axarquía have a cheap, fixed-price meal available at lunchtime only.

Because the normal Spanish working day has a 3 hour break in the middle, many Spanish workers take advantage of this time (often referred to as a siesta) by catching up with friends or colleagues over lunch.

Why eat a sandwich at your desk when you can enjoy a leisurely lunch with friends?

Known as “Menu del Día“, you can usually enjoy a two or three course meal, including bread and your first drink, for around 8 – 10 euros. It´s usually a set menu, though there is often a choice of three or four dishes for each course.

A typical menu might include soup or salad to start, followed by fish or pork with flan or coffee to finish. Bread, plus your choice of first drink (beer, wine or water) are usually included in the price.

Look out for a board outside the restaurant, advertising the Menu del Día, which will usually be written in Spanish, and always remember to look out for restaurants and bars frequented by locals rather than tourists.

My choice in Torrox Costa:

** Ferrara Asador on the N340, near to the Repsol garage. At only €8 with great service, good choice and quality of food, it´s well worth a visit, but go before 2.00pm as it gets very busy, especially in August.

** Fancy something a bit different ? Try the Jing Chinese restaurant on the Paseo Maritimo along Ferrara Beach. Their menu del día is even cheaper at €6, but drinks cost extra. Again, excellent food and service.

Where´s your favourite place to eat, east of Málaga?

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Let´s talk about tapas!

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