Cuando termina el mes de Agosto, comienzan en Santa Pola las fiestas patronales de Moros y Cristianos. Durante una semana, la ciudad de Santa Pola se engalana y sus gentes ofrecen a los visitantes un espéctaculo de color y alegría que transmite la personalidad y tradición de la población. Desfiles, embajadas, recreaciones de las batallas libradas y fuegos artificiales nocturnos acompañan a la amplia oferta turística permanente en la ciudad pesquera.

Sin embargo, no tenemos que esperar hasta entonces para disfrutar de múltiples actividades y atracciones. Santa Pola propone una amplia programación dentro de sus ‘Fiestas de Verano‘ que se desarrollan en lugares emblemáticos de la ciudad, como el Auditorium El Palmeral o el Castillo Fortaleza.

Te ofrecemos aquí la información disponible. Si estás pensando visitar la Costa Blanca para disfrutar de tus vacaciones, en nuestra página web www.bythesea.es puedes encontrar múltiples opciones de alojamiento en bungalows, villas y apartamentos, cerca del mar y con piscina,  donde poder relajarte y participar de las actividades culturales y de ocio que desees, y vivir las Fiestas de Santa Pola como no pensaste que lo harías.

Agosto - Festes d’estiu

Sábado 1 22’30 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Entrada gratuita
“Nit de Tradicions”, Grupo de Danzas Sal Marinera, Rondalla y Coro el Castell y Colla El Freu.

Miércoles 5 20’00 horas Biblioteca Municipal de Gran Alacant
Hora del cuento, GRUPO ARENA, organizada por las Bibliotecas Municipales.

Miércoles 5 22’00 horas Gran Alacant
Concierto a cargo de la Coral Levantina de Santa Pola

Jueves 6 20’00 horas Parque el Palmeral Entrada Gratuita
Hora del cuento, ACTIVA3 organizada por las Bibliotecas Municipales

Viernes 7 22’30 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Entrada Gratuita
Concierto a cargo de la Coral Levantina de Santa Pola

Sábado 9 21’00 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Acceso con entrada
Espectáculo de Magia.

Miércoles 12 20’30 horas Gran Alacant
Actuación Magic Dexter con el espectáculo “25 años dextermillandote”

Viernes 14 20’30 horas Castillo Fortaleza Entrada Gratuita
Teatro Infantil Familiar. Espectáculo Superecos a cargo de la Banda del Drac.

Sábado 15 22’30 horas Castillo Fortaleza Entrada Gratuita
Presentación Oficial del Libro de Fiestas 2009. Concierto Banda Unió Musical de Santa Pola.

Miércoles 19 20’00 horas Centro Comercial de Gran Alacant
Hora del cuento, PAMPOL, organizada por las Bibliotecas Municipales.

Miércoles 19 22’00 horas Gran Alacant
Actuación Rondalla y Coro El Castell y Grupo de Danzas Sal Marinera

Jueves 20 20’00 horas Parque el Palmeral Entrada Gratuita
Hora del cuento, PAMPOL organizada por las Bibliotecas Municipales.

Sábado 22 22’30 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Acceso con entrada.
Elección Reina Mayor Fiestas Patronales 2009 con la actuación de “MALÚ”.

Venta Entradas: del 17 al 21 de agosto en el Centro Cívico (966 690 745).

Domingo 23 20’00 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Entrada gratuita
Elección Reina Infantil y Presentación Cargos Infantiles Asociación Festero-Cultural de Moros y Cristianos, con la actuación de la Escuela de Danza Inmaculada Jaén.

Lunes 24 20’30 horas Auditórium El Palmeral Entrada gratuita
Elección Reina de la 3ª Edad y su Corte de Honor.

(1) Imagen tomada de www.upv.es/cv

Half marathon of Santa Pola

The half marathon of Santa Pola.

Today the 18th of January was the Half marathon Santa Pola, the twentieth yearly edition with more then 5800 runners.

A great day for a marathon and a great day for a nice time in the sun, nice and sunny but not extremely hot. We arrived at 10:30 in Santa Pola just at the start of the marathon, parking was no problem.

The nice thing about the town of Santa Pola is that it is situated in the coast and the route of the marathon is alongside the sea so lots of sun for the visitors.

We first cheered at the runners and walker along the route, the route is 21,7 Km long and goes from the east to the west of Santa Pola. We stayed mainly in the city centre of Santa Pola, where the start and finish were. In the centre of the town there was a good atmosphere, a band playing all afternoon, an oyster bar with oysters from the bay of Santa Pola and of course an Amstel beer stand to complete the set.

After the marathon wwe walked along the beach to a beachbar and had a “cafe con leche” in sun on the beach, what more do you want on a sunny Sunday in January!

If you also want to come and enjoy the winter sun in Alicante or maybe you want to come to enjoy also the summer sun? Please feel free to contact us or have a look at our website www.bythesea.es for a nice holiday home in Spain.

More photos of the half marathon of Santa Pola on our photosite.

Resident in Spain

Any resident of the European Union living longer than 6 months in a country of the European Union should reported to the police as a resident. The police registers you as a foreign resident in the “registro central de extranjeros” and you receive a” certificado de residencia “.

The previously handed out “tarjetas de residencia” no longer exist, the residents that still have a “tarjeta de recidencia” can simply use until the caducation date and thereafter apply for a “certificado de residencia”. Since the 2nd of April 2007, this is mandatory throughout the European Union and failure to comply with this rule in Spain can result in a fine.

Unfortunately, there are still many foreigners living in Spain who have not registered as resident in Spain. Many people think that too much hassle, or that there are only disadvantages (tax payments) but there are obviously also benefits.

Once you are resident in Spain than you can enjoy in the municipality where you live things such as voting rights for the local elections, including improvement the services for example: garbage collection, post office, medicalpost of the town / city where the property is will improve as the local government knows how many people live in the area where they are responsible for.

When your driving license expires and you’re living in Spain, you will need to apply for a new license in Spain, this is only possible with the “certficado de residencia”, in other words registered as a resident in Spain. Also all drivers with a not European driver license will have have to change when they come to live in Spain, even when it doesn´t expire yet.

In each autonome community of Spain the benefits of the resident are different, we will show you some of the advantages for when you live in the Comunidad Valenciana.

In the Comunidad Valenciana the resident heirs of a deceased resident pay less inheritance tax.

The working mothers living in the Comunidad Valenciana can also count on extra support from the Gobierno de la Comunidad Valenciana, the amount of help dependents on the income.

The residents in the Comunidad Valenciana, who sells his 1st home can count on a lower tax rate and the resident older than 65 years has no tax t pay on the profit on sales.

Of course, these benefits vary per person depending on income, for more information you can always make an appointment with a lawyer to consult the tax advantages.

When you are a resident in Spain, of course, you will have to pay taxes in Spain. When you pay your taxes in Spain than you will have to ask to the former resident country (UK, Ireland, Sweden, etc.) for a tax return. After a year being tax payer in Spain it is also possible to the ask for an exemption from taxation to your former resident country, this to avoid double taxation.

This sort of things you might want a solicitor to arrange on your behave, he can make for you an annual return and also apply for the tax return to avoid the double taxation for you.

To register as resident in the police station is a time-consuming and sometimes complicated task, sometimes long queues, a lot of complicated paperwork and a language problem. ByTheSea is a service agency that specializes in such applications in the county´s of Alicante and Murcia. Please contact us to speak about the opportunities that being a resident can have for you.

Source: You & the law in Spain, David Searl

Photo´s: César Astudillo

View Larger Map

When you decide to visit Alicante for holidays or move to Alicante to live there we would like to remind you that the county of Alicante has a great selection of fine restaurants to take dinner.
There are various restaurants with different styles and regional kitchens. On the map above you will find the restaurants in Alicante that are known for their fine kitchen.
Their fame is based on the well known dishes created with the finest products from the area.

There are lots of products with a denominacíon de origen: the packed grapes of Vinalopó, the medlars of Callosa, cherries from the mountains of Alicante, the ñoras or round peppers of Guardamar, honey from the Marina Alta, red gamba´s from Denia, echinoids of the coast of Alicante, dates from Elche, fresh goat & sheep cheese from La Nucia and oranges and lemons from the Vega Baja.
Also something not to forget is the nougat (turron) from Jijona, the chocolate from Villa Joyosa and the ice cream and soft drinks from Ibi.

In the restaurant, let yourself be carried away by the local kitchen and ask if you want a good wine from the region: there are white, and sweet red wines that correspond to the three officially recognized appellations of origin in the Valencia region: Alicante, Utiel - Requena and Valencia. Modern sweet muscatel from Marina Alta with its international reputation. To accompany your desserts, ask for a Fondillon. You will not regret it.

ByTheSea has various nice homes for rent and for sale in the county of Alicante for both the holiday maker as the ones planning to come and live in Spain. The houses are situated in both coastal region as the beautiful inland of the county of Alicante.

Mountainhiking in Alicante

The mountain hiking sport is one of the healthiest sports. Mountain Hiking in Alicante enables you to see the wonderful nature of the Alicante province from another side through mountain paths, b-roads and old cattle tracks. The only thing you need is a couple of solid shoes, easy clothes, a backpack or bag for some food and water.
Do not forget to take the sun cream because even on a cloudy day in Alicante, you can burn easely.
In Spain, the marked paths as the Pequeno Recorrido, short routes (PR), routes of 10 to 50 km long. Some have a length less than 10 km if there is a lot of height or a difficult piece inside. The walking tours will take an average of 1-2 days. The routes are indicated by means of poles with horizontal white and yellow stripes.

In Alicante, there are several mountain hiking routes (PR Pequeno Recorrido) in or near the towns: Agres, Banyeres de Mariola, Benasau, Benifato, Biar, Bigastro, Callosa de Segura, Castalla, Castell de Guadalest, Cocentaina, Confrides, Crevillent, Denia, Elda, Finestrat, Guardamar del Segura, Ibi, Xixona, L’Alfàs del Pi, Pego, Petrer, Polop, Quatretondeta and Sella.

The interior of the Costa Blanca is one of the most beautiful environments of the Mediterranean part of Spain. The landscapes, valleys and mountain areas,
with mountains up to 1500 meters, canyons, caves, archaeological sites, castles, old farms, fortreses, churches, palaces and public use buildings as: irrigation ditches, waterreserves and public laundry facilities that you can see or visit during a trip.

A mountain walk in the Costa Blanca region in Spain is a beautiful experience and we recommend everybody to try this.
ByTheSea has several holiday homes available for rent or for sale in this region. We are more then happy to inform you about the rental and sales possibilities.

Source: Wikipedia and Costablanca.org

Photo: Nuberu_na

Your own property in Spain

Which cost you have to take in account when you are an owner of a property in Spain?

Just like in every country also in Spain you will have to pay monthly cost like water, electricity and taxes. We of ByTheSea housing and services get a lot of questions from clients asking us to make a calculation of the monthly and yearly cost that they can expect as owner of a house in Spain.

ByTheSea can help you with setting up a direct debit with for instance the water company, provide you with a quote of one of the insurance company´s that we work with and our solicitor can assist you with the annual tax return. We arrange tax return for both residents as home owners that only use their house as a second home.

In you want to make an appointment you can always send us an e-mail on info@bythesea.es.

•    Payment of the community fees:
This payment is usually done each year or half year, the easiest way to pay this to set up a direct debit for this. The amount is somewhat between 300,-€ and 550,-€ per year. This amount varies per urbanization depending of, for example, the amount of gardens, street lights and swimming pools.
•    Electricity bill:
In Spain the electricity is paid for each 2 or 3 months, this depending on the region. The best way to pay the electric bill is to give the electricity company a direct debit.
•    Water bill:
The water company will send you an invoice each 2 or 3 months, this depending on the region. The water in the cost area of Spain is a little bit more expensive than in most countries, this due to the low rainfall. The easiest way is to set up a direct debit for the water company.
•    Home and content insurance:
Obligatory for each house in Spain a home insurance, the cost depend on the size, the area and the construction. An average price is for a duplex with 2 bedrooms near Alicante is 250,-€ per year. A content insurance, depending on your wishes, the size, etc. will be around 200,-€ per year

TAXES, LOCAL AND STATE:
•    I.B.I. (Impuestos sobre Bienes Inmuebles):
Counicil taxes, to pay each year in September/October. The amount depends on the county where the house is and the value of the house. For this payment the easiest is a direct debit.
An average price for a duplex 2 bedroom house near Alicante is around 250,-€ per year,
•    Renta non-residentes (Tax for non residents):
As a home owner of a second home in Spain you will have to pay wealth and income tax over this house to the Spanish tax office. The amount that you will have to pay depends on the value of the house. This tax is due to be paid each year before the 31th of December.
•    Fiscale representation:
As a home owner of a second home in Spain it is advisable to contract a Spanish solicitor as your fiscal representative in Spain. He will then calculate your yearly tax and arrange the payments on your behalf and will be available for any other difficulties that you might have on this subject. The cost of this service is 139,20€ per year.
•    Monthly property check of your Spanish property:
Advisable for every homeowner that is not using his house all around. This service secures you of someone checking your property monthly using a checklist reporting all damages, advisable repairs and further things out of order. Beside that, all window will opened for ventilation, all taps will opened to check their condition and to flush the drainage system, lights bulbs will be checked and the air conditioner will be switched on to see if it is still cooling.
When damage is noticed a report will be send with an solution or advise and when needed with a breakdown of the expected repair cost included in the report. When the damage is something that is covered by the home insurance in most cases the company taking out the property check can act on your behalf. When you ask the company to act on your behalf or to supervise repair works normally the working hours will be invoiced to you, the fee is mostly between 17,-€ and 25,-€ per hour. The cost for a monthly check are mostly calculated per year and the price will be around 250,-€ a year depeding on the size and the location of the property.
On the Costa Blanca a company that offeres this service is ByTheSea housing & services.