The two traditional social vices; smoking and drinking were back in the news this week. With Spanish smokers already feeling the pressure of a planned ban in all public places coming into law this summer, one wonders what they will think about a proposal to ban smoking in cars!

Raquel Peña and her outstanding Flamenco Dance Company will be returning to The Capitol Theatre in Rojales on Sunday, May 23rd, curtain-up at 5:30pm. Tickets at €10. The charity chosen to receive a generous donation from this performance is the Alzheimers Association of Torrevieja.

Until the PSOE took over the mantle of power in Spain, the former PP government had proposed to redirect water from the Ebro Valley to the drought-ridden areas of Valencia and Murcia. The idea was two fold; on the one hand, the area around the Ebro, which has a history of flooding, would have a better water management program put into place while the drought ridden agricultural areas on the coast would have a plentiful supply of water.

Last week the mayor of San Javier, Pepa García and the director of Jazz San Javier 2010 Alberto Nieto, presented the poster and a preview of the programme for the XIII edition of the San Javier International Jazz Festival.

Just like in the world of Houdini’s illusions, not all is what it might seem in the ever popular world of statistics manipulation and ‘spin’, as has been pointed out by Spain’s motorist advocacy organization ‘Dvuelta’. They have announced their "astonishment" by recent statements by the Director General de Tráfico, Pere Navarro, who said that it "makes no sense at all, to install radar in city centres” even though it is there and NOT on the motorways, where more than three-quarters of all road deaths occur!