“You See Only What You Want To See”

Personally speaking, it has been a funny old couple of weeks really, although not funny in a ‘ha ha’ sort of way, it is difficult to put the feeling in to words as it isn’t a tangible thing, I suppose the English expression would be to say that ‘Things have just seemed to be a little bit out of kilter’ recently, not majorly so, just a case of us not quite being in our more usual chilled zone, or our more usual relaxed daily, or even weekly, routine 🤷‍♂️

It started when we were taken completely by surprise, when I received a telephone call from the UK Tax Office (HMRC), advising me that they had commenced processing my Tax Refund Application, which was just 10 days after they had received it, this of course was great news, or at least that had been my first thought, but that early elation was swiftly halted by the more worrying thought of “Why were they then contacting me this early into the process ?” 🙄 So, that initial perceived piece of good news about them already starting to process my refund application was cut extremely short when, after providing some clarification of the information that I had provided, the Tax Officer, a very pleasant man as it happened, declared that I had placed a tick, in answer to a question, in the wrong box, I had ticked the ‘Yes’ box instead of the ‘No’ box, although he confirmed at that time that there was nothing else on the form that had been completed incorrectly or lacked the information that they required. I had, it appeared, simply misinterpreted, or misunderstood, the question and No, of course he couldn’t just amend it, and Yes I would have to re-submit the whole form again, apart from the Spanish Tax Certificate which he said they would keep on record. So, I have now completed the form again and, as you read this, it is already winging its way back to them, but of course my refund application will not go back directly to him, the system doesn’t work that way, it goes back into the queue then waits to be processed again 🤷‍♂️ On a positive note, it is a good job they had already started processing the form and discovered my error, rather than in the projected six months that they had initially stated it would take to process it, which would have then created an even longer delay. I do try to turn a negative into a positive when I can 😉

We have also been spending a lot of time, and I do mean a lot of time, the ‘We’ I refer to being myself and my OCD Buddy, perusing ‘Google Maps’ and ‘Booking.Com’ and other such travel websites, looking at lots of ‘potential’ routes, and accommodations, for our ‘potential’ road trip, I say ‘potential’ because my beloved hasn’t made up her mind whether she wants to drive around exploring more of mainland Spain for a couple of weeks or so, which had been ‘our’ original intention, or whether now she would prefer to fly to the Balearic or Canary Islands for a couple of weeks, spent lazing around a pool at an ‘All Inclusive’ hotel or, she has now even suggested that maybe we could perhaps do a city hopping trip through Italy, flying direct to Bologna, before taking a train to Florence, and then on to Rome, using the local public transport rather than hiring a car 🤷‍♂️ So ‘we’, myself and my OCD Buddy, have been exploring ‘all’ options and locations, looking at different routes and destinations, Hotel and ‘Casa Rural’ accommodations, Flight availabilities, train timetables, sightseeing attractions, the whole nine yards 🤯😵‍💫

However, the biggest one single problem that we actually currently have, this time the ‘we’ being Shazza and myself, is that we just cannot book ‘anything’ in advance, as that could present a whole set of other issues if we had to change bookings or cancel them, whether that be with either travel, flight or accommodations, simply because we cannot do anything until we have had the bi-annual mandatory vehicle inspection done on our car, and got the official mandatory new window sticker, to confirm that our vehicle is road legal. But if, for whatever reason, it fails the test, we will then have to get, whatever the issue is, rectified before then taking it back to be re-tested, subject of course to their appointment availability 🤷‍♂️

So of course, we are ourselves pretty confident that there is nothing wrong with the car, it was fully mechanically serviced at the end of May, and they found nothing wrong, they just conducted the usual oil, filter changes etc. and they did a pre-ITV inspection check and didn’t discover anything that may effect a positive outcome. I had replaced all four tyres in May, whilst we were back in the UK, and we replaced the wiper blades just this week, although I am not personally convinced that they needed replacing as they still clear the windscreen, but we were advised that this is a common reason for a vehicle failing its test here in Spain, something to do with the UV rays and the dust and sand wearing out the rubbers much quicker than usual, so we thought that it was better to be safe than sorry. So, I should be feeling pretty confident right ? Well, anywhere else in the world and my answer would be an emphatic ‘Yes’, but not here in Spain 🤷‍♂️ You learn pretty quickly not to take any Spanish Bureaucratic Systems for granted, so subsequently, no holiday bookings of any description can be confirmed until after the test, because you just know who will be looking over my shoulder if I dared to even think about taking the risk of doing so, yup those bloody ‘Dark Forces’ 😡 We only have a relatively short window of opportunity to take this holiday, as Shazza’s mum arrives right at the beginning of October and we will need a few days to get sorted, after our holiday and before her arrival, but even so, that should still give us a possible twenty-one day window of opportunity, provided of course that we (Shazza) can decide exactly what type of holiday it is that she prefers 🙄 and then of course being able to find the availability of the accommodations, or flight’s that we want 🤷‍♂️ So, as it stands, me and my OCD Buddy do have a sort of Plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ although, I am already anticipating Shazza coming up with one of her own, a Plan ‘D’, the one where she say’s that it is all too much hassle and let’s just stay at home in our own holiday location and accommodation 🫣

Another reason for it being a funny old couple of weeks was due to our Annual IBI Payment (Council Tax) not being debited from our account on the due date. Now the Town Hall are pretty keen when it comes to taking money off you, they are usually as regular as clock work, especially when it comes to local tax payments, but it was overdue by several weeks. Now if it wasn’t for my OCD Buddy continually prodding me in the ribs about this, I would probably do what anybody else would do, even Shazza was saying, “If they haven’t taken it, that is their problem and not our’s” and yes I guess she was right, but, it was in my advance financial accounts as a payment that was due, and on a certain date, the same date as it had been for the past 11 year’s and now, this irregularity was wreaking havoc in my head, and my OCD Buddy was continually in my face about it and refused to just pi** off and leave me alone 🤷‍♂️ “Do you think that I should contact them ?” I said to my beloved, “No, I am certain they will take the money at some point, when they get around to it, you never know, perhaps they have given everyone a tax break this year”, then she laughed, very, very sarcastically. But she was right, as always, for a few day’s later, our bank account was finally debited 🤷‍♂️ In the end it was actually a nice surprise, as it was ‘exactly’ the same amount as it had been in 2024, and even that previous years bill (2023) it had only gone up by €2 from the previous year, no that wasn’t a typo, an increase of just €2 in the last three year’s 🤗

Shazza commented that it was a good job we had opted to come and live here in Spain, rather than remaining in the UK where, without any exception, everything just keeps going up year on year, Council Tax, Insurances, Electricity, Gas, Water, Groceries, Fuel and, almost all subscription services whether that be Telephone or TV Services, so the question we now ask ourselves is whether we could even afford to return to live in the UK, even if we wanted to 🤷‍♂️ To be honest, yes we probably could, but there would almost definitely be a drastic downturn in our lifestyle to the one that we currently enjoy here. Shazza, who as you probably know by now, keeps a constant eye, and ear, on all things happening back in UK, both Politically and Financially, which naturally includes the ‘Cost of Living’, told me that this year in the UK, Council Tax Bills had been hiked by 10%, some areas a little lower but some even higher, however, generally speaking, that can involve an increase of between £100-£200 which, on its own, doesn’t sound like very much over a year, but that is just an increase in ‘one’ bill, add the rest of the household bills and cost of living increases together and you do not have to be a financial expert to realise that increasing outgoing expenditures, over the small annual increases in income, which in our case would just be from our Pension incomes, makes people very much worse off year on year 😲 Yes I know, welcome to the real world Eric.

Why ? I continually ask myself, does it not appear to be the same here in Spain, yes the cost of some Household and Vehicle Insurances go up each year, but not astronomically so, Electricity bills only really vary on how much we use the Air-Con system in the Summer, or heating in the Winter, but again, they don’t appear to be anywhere near as expensive as in the UK, additionally, you would expect Water Bills here to be much higher, considering that it is generally a very scarce resource with the number, and frequency, of the drought’s, but they are not, I don’t know why, are we missing something obvious 🤷‍♂️ Dare I even suggest that a factor could possibly be due to the UK now actually feeling the long term economical impact of ‘Brexshit’, however, and in all honesty, I really do not know the answer to that, but we are certainly glad that we live here, although not just for financial reasons 😉

Anyway, I will continue to leave Shazza to worry, and she does, about the state of the UK and all the things that she has absolutely no control, or influence, over. Whereas, I am selfish, yes I admit it, I am only interested in the here and now, and with what I can actually control and influence, and that I have to say does appear to be working out just fine for us, at least at this moment in time.

As for the here and now, we’ll another funny old thing has happened over the last few weeks, it has started to get very much quieter, devoid of the crowds and the noise, not just around the communal pools, our own and the one opposite us, which I view on a daily basis from my balcony vantage point, but their are not so many on the beaches, on the seafront promenade, in the Marina, their are even empty parking spaces in the town’s car parks, and the Supermarkets are not as choc-a-blok as they have been, their are now more empty tables in the restaurants and Cafe/Bars especially at the peak times. It just seems a little too early for the tourists to be leaving just yet, we know that some of the schools go back during the first week of September, but the European and International tourists are usually still here until the last week of August and, in previous year’s, even right up to the middle of September, the end of the Tourist Season isn’t officially until the 30th September when the majority of the beach Chiringuitos shut down 🤷‍♂️ Could it be that with tougher financial constraints, people just cannot afford to come on holiday for as long as they usually would, a week instead of two, or a month instead of six weeks ? Has it perhaps been due to all the Wildfires ? Or perhaps the ‘unusually’ hot Summer that we have experienced this year, not helped by the increase in the number of ‘Terrell’ wind events that we have also experienced, and which have caused and increase in the number of heatstroke related deaths amongst the Spanish and Tourists alike.

Or, perhaps it is because of the arrival of the ‘Blue Dragon’ in Spanish Waters, and no, before you think that I am suffering from heatstroke myself, or that perhaps I have consumed far too many Anti-Covid Vaccines causing me to hallucinate 🤭 These ‘Blue Dragons’ are not figments of my imagination or mythical creatures, they are very real and, extremely dangerous to humans, even causing fatalities as they are highly venomous 😲

So, whatever the reason, whilst the end may be in sight to this year’s Summer Season of tourist’s, and I am attempting to not sound too joyous about that fact, the summer temperatures and extreme heat, well at least down in this part of Spain, does not look anywhere near beginning to relent 🥵

That said, they then went on to state, “The mercury could reach 35C in parts of Andalucia, Murcia, Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and the Ebro Valley”, well all that I can say to the ‘Works of Fiction’ is that there use of the words ‘Could Reach’ should be changed immediately to, ‘Continually Reaches’ temperatures in excess of 35 degrees(c) during the afternoons and into the early evenings. Although to be fair, it is now beginning to get slightly cooler in the early hours of the mornings, and I know that without even having to look at the temperature gauge, because I have to get ‘into bed’ and under the duvet at around 3-4am, rather than sleeping on top of the bed all night as it get’s a wee bit chilly and, during the later morning’s, on our walks, which are still not quite back to being on a daily basis, the temperature, at around 10:00am is only between 21-23 degrees(c), nearly time to start digging out the winter woollies 😂

There is some very good news, I do much prefer good news stories, it assists with maintaining my more usual positivity and Karma 👍 It has been announced that the majority of the Wildfire’s, throughout Spain, are now either completely extinguished, or at least are now under control. Even so, I would hazard a guess that those that suffered the most, those in the North of Spain, will probably appreciate the heavy rain that is now forecast for their area’s, it should extinguish any areas that may still be smouldering and also encourage Nature to commence restoring the thousands of acres of destroyed habitat. As for us, well even in the heat we have experienced, and continue to do so, there is also some good news down in our neck of the woods ………

You may recall in my last ramble that I mentioned that Shazza expressed a desire to go and visit the ‘Van Gogh Exhibition’ which is still currently on display in Estepona. Although right on our doorstep, being just a 15-20 minute drive away, we do not go to Estepona that frequently, only when I need to re-supply my E-Cigarette supplies or we want a change of scenery from our own seafront promenade. Anyway, we decided to get up and moving slightly earlier than normal, so that we could get a parking space in the area we wanted to be, as it happened, we found a new parking area, ‘Free’ of charge (my favourite word 🤭) and midway between the town centre, where my E-Cigarette shop is located, the seafront promenade and the Exhibition Centre. We started by stopping at one of our favourite seafront Cafe/Bars, a bit touristy, but with good views of the sea, Gibraltar and the north coast of Africa and so we had breakfast, Cafe con Leche and Tostado’s. From there, a leisurely walk through the town centre where I purchased my necessary supplies and then, after a brief stop in the large ‘Carrefour’ supermarket, where we were looking for a couple of ‘Microfibre’ towels which are lightweight and so dry quickly, useful for our ‘potential’ road trip where I had planned some stops at Reservoir Beaches and small Waterfalls, unfortunately we were unsuccessful in our acquisition, so normal cotton towels it would have to be then ☹️ From there, it was just a short walk to the exhibition hall which is right behind the Estepona main bus station.

As I mentioned in my last ramble, I am not really one for visiting Art Galleries or Museums, so this was something that Shazza had wanted to do, it obviously wasn’t a Gallery of his ‘actual’ physical art works, there would have been an army of Police and Security Guards around the place if that had been the case, no, the artworks were all holographic images but the exhibition itself was amazing. There were several rooms to walk through but it started with information boards and a timeline of Vincent Van Gogh, from birth to death (In both Spanish and English). He lived a short life, dying from an ‘alleged’ self inflicted gun shot injury at the age of just 37 year’s, although there was an alternative theory suggested as to how he suffered his gunshot injury 😳 He didn’t start painting until he was 27 year’s old and had no formal training and, in his lifetime, he only actually sold just one painting, for a small handful of French Francs but now they sell for Millions. If the information provided was factual, it would seem that he led a quite interesting but disjointed and sometimes ‘colourful’ life (although not colourful in an artistic context) with a few romantic interludes along the way, none of which lasted very long, it was only in his latter year’s when he became insular and depressive and an explanation was provided as to why he cut off part of his ear, but I will leave you to discover that for yourselves 😉 To be honest, and somewhat quite surprisingly to myself, I actually enjoyed this ‘different’ kind of art exhibition and would not rule out going to similar one’s in the future, Shazza is already making murmurings about a ‘Picasso’ exhibition in Malaga 🤔

After wandering through different rooms, where his artwork was displayed in different holographic formats, we came into a large room with seats spread around in small groupings. Huge 3D images were reflected on all the walls and, at times, also on the floor, in the centre a large display on which a verbal and written dialogue of his life was provided, the verbal dialogue in Spanish but the written bit was provided in English.

I have to confess, it was a unique and fabulous experience, and coming from me that is praise indeed !! The entrance fee was a mere €24, Shazza still classed as a youngster had to pay full price(€13) whilst Senior’s, like myself, got a €2 discount, sometimes this ‘age’ business has its advantages 🤭 There was no time limit, no audio visual machines or ear pods to pay extra for, you just wandered around at your leisure and it did not finish after you left the large hall.

One of the things that remained in my thoughts, long after we had departed this exhibition, were some of the words that Van Gogh had put into a final letter sent to his brother about his paintings, his brother, who he was very close to, had supported him, both emotionally and financially, throughout his short life “You Only See What You Want To See”, which was referring to his art work and how ‘other’s’ viewed them, for he was the first to acknowledge that he was frustrated that the pictures he had in his mind he could not transfer perfectly on to canvas. But I believe that his words can also be transferred to today’s world in general, along with the addition of, “You Only Hear What You Want To Hear” 🤔

So all in all it had been a relaxing , productive and interesting day out and, for the most part, we had managed to stay out of the intense heat. Throughout the last couple of weeks we have of course been doing the same routine stuff, which you are more than familiar with by now, so I won’t bore you with any of that and hopefully, in a few more days, after the publication of this current ramble we may, or may not, be elsewhere 🤷‍♂️ One thing is for certain, I will tell you all about it in my next ramble so, until then……………

In Other News…………….

It may not be considered as newsworthy material anywhere else, but here in Spain the humble ‘Tortilla’ is taken very seriously.

Something that caught my attention in the local news media and, after watching a TV programme, ‘Kerridge Cooks Spain’, which, as the title suggest, was a six episode series where Chef, Tom Kerridge, visited several ‘Regions’ in Spain, promoting the produce from those areas, and using them to create his own twist not seen or tasted before by the Spanish. Now these sort of programmes do not generally interest me, but Shazza told me that he was travelling around in an old Mercedes Campervan and that the programme wasn’t just about cooking, so I sat with her and binge watched all six episodes. Anyway that isn’t the main focal point of the subject I want to mention, but it is about the products that Spain produces, loads of it, Meat, Fruit, Vegetables, Various Beans and even Rice (Well they are famous for Paella). One of the products grown here and allegedly eaten in great quantities by the Spanish, are the ‘donut’ shaped Peaches. Now I like Peaches, but generally eat the more usual roundish shaped ones, so when we went to do the shopping, shortly after watching the programmes, I went to pick up a pack of these Spanish delicacies, only to discover that they originated from ‘Paraguay’ 😲 A day or so later, again, in the local news media, I came across this article…….

Our small local Municipality of ‘Manilva’ within the larger ‘Malaga Province’ rarely gets a mention in the Local or National media, and to be honest we tend to like it that way, heavens forbid the greater outside world should ever get to hear about this haven of peaceful tranquility, apart from those who already do know about our location of course 😂 But anonymity also has its disadvantages, places like Estepona, Mijas, Fuengirola, Marbella, Benalmadena and Malaga are constantly in the news and, as major tourist resorts, they get lots of money from both Local and Central Government to keep them maintained. So it was rather nice to read that at last, some funding is coming our way to improve a small Plaza in our local town of Sabinillas.

Well here endeth another ramble where I didn’t have much to talk about 🤭 God help you when I do 😂😂

The car has been washed and waxed, sparkling clean ready for its Inspection. Shazza has done all the washing and ironing so we are ready to go, well apart from the bits that we don’t know, like when we will be leaving, whereabouts we are heading to, or how long we will be away and the small matter of having made absolutely no bookings whatsoever 😂 Living life by the seats of our pants, not sure my OCD Buddy is a big fan of that and I worry that he may have a meltdown before too long 🫣😳

Until the next time…………..

Hasta Luego mi Amigos, La Vida Es Buena 😉