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November 26, 2012

Wine tasting at Villa Matilda 1st December 2012

Filed under: Lifestyle,Local Events & Culture — Lucy @ 2:32 pm

Manilva’s Foreign residents department has organised a wine tasting event at Villa Matilde (near Supersol) next Saturday 1st December from 12 noon.

It is in collaboration with Funmades – Fundacion Manilva Desarrollo – (The Manilva Foundation for Development) which has the task of promoting activities that help to advance Manilveños (people from Manilva) in terms of training and research into new sources of employment.  One such task is to boost the recovery of the wine making sector in Manilva which it is doing with Manilva Town Hall by providing professional training: The High School Wine Workshop and the Higher Degree in Wine at Las Viñas for young people between 18 and 24 years of age are course now available and launching the new ‘MOMA’ Moscatel wine of Manilva, a white wine made from 100% young Alexandrian moscatel grapes.

Ana Lamora, the teacher of the above courses will be talking about this initiative and the wines of the denomination of origin Sierras of Malaga, which Manilvas own locally processed wine MOMA, Moscatel de Manilva, intends to become part of.

Wines from the cellars of Malaga Virgen and Cortijo Los Olivares will be tasted aswell as Manilvas MOMA.

Diego Urieta explained that the objective pursued with this initiative is to foster the coexistence and participation of foreign residents in the activities of the municipality and also let them know about the products that are being developed in the province in a sector such as the wine industry.
Registration to participate in this tasting and later tasting of typical products from Malaga that go with the wines is 8 euros per person and places are limited to 30 people.

For more information and to register,  interested parties can contact by telephone 952893548 or visit the Foreign Residents department office at  Castillo de La Duquesa.

November 21, 2012

Weather in Spain – Autumn

Filed under: Lifestyle,Weather in Spain — Lucy @ 8:25 pm

Autumn is a time when I often remind myself how lucky we are to live here in Manilva.

Yes it does rain sometimes but between these periods of rain we have the most incredible weather with bright blue skies and the sunshine lighting up the now lush green countryside.

Sunny Manilva one Autumn Morning

I prefer these days to the heat of the summer as the temperature is more or less a very comfortable 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 degrees Celsius. This is the perfect temperature for enjoying outdoor activities such as horse riding, cycling, hiking, playing tennis, golf and football or just taking a walk along the paseo (promenade).

View down La Duquesa Golf course to Sabinillas

View down La Duquesa Golf course to Sabinillas one Autumn morning

I particularly love taking in the scenery in the autumn mornings when I take the kids to school as the sun lights up Manilva and Casares and their beautiful countryside.

Stunning Manilva and Casares countryside in Autumn

The beautiful Manilva and Casares countryside in Autumn 2012


November 16, 2012

Autumn walk in Jimena November 25 2012

Filed under: Lifestyle,Local Events & Culture — Lucy @ 4:19 pm
Manilva’s  Environment department or Medio Ambiente has unveiled the program of hiking or senderismo for the autumn 2012.
Manilva Department for the Environment organised walk in Jimena de la Frontera

Manilva’s Environment Department has organised a hike to the vine presses  in Jimena, Cadiz, Spain

The next activity is scheduled for November 25  and they will travel to the winepresses or LOS LAGARES DE LAS VIÑAS in Jimena de la Frontera.

Distance: 11,000 m.
Difficulty: medium – low.GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Participants must be older than 10 years unless accompanied by an adult.

The physical condition of participants must be appropriate to
the distances and difficulty of the routes to perform and may
be refused access if the organisers deem necessary.

The deadline for reservations or requests will remain open until
Wednesday 21st November.

Departure time: 8:00pm approx. (There will be a bus taking those that need it to the route.)The price per route shall be EUR 5  which needs to be put in the account of Unicaja no. 2103 0153 23 0230000044

For more information Tlf: 951 27 60 50 – 952 89 38 78
E-mail: mambiente@ayto-manilva.com
Maximum 50 places available so please reserve your place as soon as possible.

This is a wonderful walk for nature lovers and those that appreciate the countryside.

November 9, 2012

Manilva Town Hall supports integration of cultures

Filed under: Lifestyle,Local Events & Culture — Lucy @ 6:09 pm
Today  Manilva Foreign Residents department organised a coffee morning to encourage residents to participate in a language exchange to improve their skills. If you are learning Spanish and would like to improve your spoken spanish visit the Foreign Residents department at El Castillo or telephone 952893548 to find out more.

Things to do when its raining

Filed under: Lifestyle,News — Lucy @ 3:03 pm

Things to do when its raining.

Manilva hit the news today as having had the most rainfall in Spain last night

It doesn’t rain very much in Manilva but when it does you certainly know about!

Its a bit of an inconvenience in that you can’t do the things that you are used to doing in the good weather,  your washing takes ages to dry and the kids go a bit stir crazy inside – but there are benefits.

Apart from the obvious benefits in that our reservoirs need filling up and our crops need watering, it makes us change our plans and think of other things to do that we don’t normally do because we are outside enjoying the good weather.

For example on Sunday we went out for a lovely Sunday lunch at The Clubhouse in Los Hidalgos and enjoyed a lovely meal ( try their vegetable soup it is delicious).  While waiting for the food to come we taught our two children how to play the card game Rummy.  They learnt quickly and we all enjoyed playing the game and interacting with each other rather than seeing them lost in their world of Nintendo DSi’s and iPods!

We were able to do that because our kids are old enough to play cards now but a few years ago it was a different story and what we really needed when it rained was an indoor play park for them to run off their energy.  There weren’t many about when my kids were really little but thankfully a few have opened up in recent years within a 20 minute drive of Manilva.

I have decided to compile a Top Twenty of things to do when it rains in Manilva but l need your help so please can you email me at Lucy@barringtonhomes.eu with your suggestions or add a comment at the bottom of this blog.

Off the top of my head the things that we would do and the places that we would go when it rains in Spain are as follows: (in no particular order):

  • Go shopping to Palmones in Los Barrios -Bahia Azul in Algeciras or  La Canada or Puerto Banus in Marbella
  • Watch a movie – any suggestions for family films associated with Spain?
  • Go to the cinema – we are lucky that we have Gibraltar only 30 minutes away which shows the latest cinema releases in English.  There are also cinemas at Guadacorte (Los Barrios),  Puerto Banus and La Canada in Marbella but you need to go to the VO (versión original) or VOS (versión original subtitulada) screenings which  show English language films with Spanish subtitles. .
  • Do the housework or declutter!
  • Go Ice – skating in Gibraltar
  • Go to indoor play park  – AgroJardin in San Roque has a great indoor play area for kids.  There is also Kidz Kingdom and Blue Planet in Estepona.
  • Do some arts and crafts
  • Play Chess, cards, Monopoly or other board games or have a family game on the Wii
  • Learn to play Basketball or handball as they are generally played indoors
  • Go for a walk on the promenade and watch the waves and get wet!
  • Teach your kids or yourself to cook/ bake
  • Read a book – can anyone recommend some good books with a Spanish link to it?  I will compile a list of good ones to read.
  • Learn Spanish – yes you really should try as it makes living and visiting here so much more rewarding.
  • Go to a museum – what museums are near here?
  • Take kids swimming at Estepona indoor swimming pool
  • Go chocolate making in Mijas
  • Go to a spa and get pampered
  • Go to the Butterfly park in Benalmadena
  • Go to the Sealife centre in Benalmadena
  • Look on www.yougodo.com for things to do

Any other ideas would be gratefully received 🙂  Please email them to me at lucy@barringtonhomes.eu or leave a comment at the end of this blog.

November 17, 2011

Casares Costa Golf Resort

Filed under: Lifestyle,Sport — Barrington Homes @ 10:28 am

On the Costa del Sol and in the Duquesa area alone we have many beautiful golf courses to choose from when considering a good walk! Duquesa is a very popular area for holidaying golfers and  now is the peak season, due to the high quality and choice of golf course available and the beautiful weather we experience here during the Autumn and Winter months. From Valderama in Sotogrande to Finca Cortesin in Casares Costa and La Duquesa in-between, we are spoilt for choice.

Casares Costa Golf is a beautiful 9 hole golf course on the Casares Costa, close to Duquesa, Estepona and the world famous Finca Cortesin.The course first opened in January 2008 and is designed by Juan Carlos Martinez. It is a private course with teeing times for visitors and has a practice area comprising of a chipping green, a putting green and bunkers.

The 9 holes consist of 1 par 5, 5 par 4 and 3 par 3 holes.

In the gym there are a range of facilities including a fitness room with a fantastic range of equipment from state of the art machines to free weights and a cardiovascular training area along with a Wellness area and Turkish bath and sauna. The fitness centre also has a fantastic choice of fitness classes available and a beauty room.

The Brasserie is the beautiful restaurant located on the upper level of the Club House and as such has the most stunning terrace area with breath taking views of the Manilva area. It is the perfect location to sit and unwind after a good game of golf or work out. Or take your lunch inside to the immaculately designed dining area; it is a sumptuous environment in which to enjoy the first class cuisine either during the day or for a beautiful dinner with friends and loved ones.

Barrington Homes have some beautiful properties for sale close to Casares Costa Golf Resort including a beautiful 2 bedroom penthouse for only €115,000 and an immaculate 2 bedroom ground floor apartment for €110,000. To view these and all other properties in the Casares Costa area take a look at the Barrington Homes web-site.

November 9, 2011

Duquesa, a fantastic base for workers in Gibraltar

Filed under: Lifestyle — Barrington Homes @ 9:35 am

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located off the south coast of Spain and only approximately 20 km from Duquesa. Gibraltar has historically been an important base for the British Armed Forces and is still the site of a British naval base. However today, Gibraltar has set its sights high and is set to transform itself into a second Monte Carlo. I blogged a while ago about the new airport under construction in Gibraltar and once open this will improve national and international links to the Duquesa  area bringing more tourism and business to our coast.
More and more British and international companies have their operations based in Gibraltar, including banks, accountancy companies and more recently gaming companies. This, coupled with its strategic location has encouraged many people from all over the world to move here but because of the limited space it has made Gibraltar a very exclusive and expensive place to live. Both our long term rental and sales departments have seen an increase in enquiries from clients, working in Gibraltar yet wishing to live in Spain.
The Duquesa area, is the ideal place to live when working in Gibraltar with fantastic road links making the commute just 30 minutes. For families living in Duquesa, Sabinillas or the Casares Costa areas, Gibraltar can be an opportunity to watch a film in English or to do a weekly shop in the hugely popular Morrisons. So whilst we are close enough to Gibraltar to enjoy all of the benefits of working in our own language and for multi national companies, or to relish a dip into Englishness occasionally, those of us who live in the Duquesa area can sit back and bask in the wonderful Mediterranean sunshine in the beautiful and hugely undiscovered Andalusia.

Barrington Homes have some wonderful properties available at fantastic prices in Alcaidesa, just 15 minutes drive form Gibraltar and in an area of outstanding natural beauty, these apartments have been reduced in price by up to 67% and have up to 100% FINANCE offered.

If you are working in Gibraltar and looking for a place to call home, please contact Barrington Homes and we will be very happy to help find your perfect place to live.

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