Barriej

We were in Calpe the other day and walked around the salt lake there. There are fewer flamingo's than this time last year.
Most of the ones here are last years fledglings..
The lake is smaller than previous years but they are still expecting large numbers to fly in next month.

Ive just been for a walk out of the village and, while there is water coming down from the mountains through the baranca and flowing along into the trough in the village square. Its a lot slower than previous year.
The Nispero's, which this part of the Costa Blanca is famous for have already been harvested and those that grow wild are smaller than last year.
But they should not be harvesting them yet, they dont really ripen until mid may (so thats another indication of the issues)
Ive also noticed that the Pomegranate bush (tree) has flowers on it which is also early... Doubt that will fruit this year.
The Mulberries in the village are growing slower as well.

There is an Avocado farm just up the road and the owner has been moaning about the irrigation water not reaching him so he has to pay more and has been trucking it in.
I dont think anyone was feeling very sorry for him to be honest....

Lynn R

Strangely, right down in the South of Spain today it is notably cooler than it has been for the past few weeks, with more cloud cover (but not humid). Very pleasant, and more like normal for the time of year. We have just been sitting alongside our town's main Paseo, 5 weeks ago just before I left for a short visit to the UK the trees had hardly any leaves on, now they are absolutely bursting with them and as green as can be.

I read an article the other day about a young student who was predicting an end to the drought in a few weeks' time, based on his study of how ants behave, of all things. He thinks we are in for a gota fria lasting a few days. it will be interesting to see what comes of it, if anything.

And here is the article

La última predicción de Jorge Rey sobre el fin de la sequía en España y que él ve en las hormigas (lavanguardia.com)

spainrico

I wish I knew how to convince the micro ants to leave my kitchen and not (amongst other things) use the water reservoir in my Nespresso machine as a swimming pool!

rbs_gb

That just shows you have modern ants. Used coffee grounds used to be a defacto ant repellant........... must be evolution!

Snapper2000

About the environment protestors that were jailed. They closed the Dartford Bridge for 4 days, causing chaos all around London and Kent. It carries 160000 vehicles a day. It given a slap on the wrist countless others would be doing the same. Society would break down totally if we all did as we saw fit as part of a protest. Rules and laws are there for a reason

Mark604

Lynn R - "I wonder how much all these people zooming about the place in their cars in search of entertainment because they can't bear public transport."

Even climate campaigners acknowledge their own failings are due to necessity and no alternative as to why they are not emissions/carbon neutral. No bus where I am either as mentioned above. I'd love to use it, but there isn't one. I certainly don't zoom about in a car looking for entertainment. I try to use mine once a week to do a shop but a car is essential where I am.
Also, wondering regarding your "short visit to the UK" - you went by train?

Lynn R

People who say "there is no bus where I am" have almost always made the decision to live where they do regardless of the lack of public transport, so it is their choice to have to use their car all the time. I chose where to live in Spain because of the fact that the public transport is good enough for me to get around without a car., and all the amenities I need are within easy walking distance of home. No I did not go to the UK by train - but in the 50 years since I would have been old enough to get a driving licence I have never once driven a car, nor have my husband and I owned one except for a few years in the UK when his employers unilaterally changed his working hours and it was impossible for him to get there by public transport. I commuted by bus, 1.5 hours each way and a lot longer whenever I had to go to London for meetings, which was fairly often. So I don't think my carbon footprint over the years has been particularly high. Whenever we travel within Spain we do so by train and bus (and occasionally taxi if we can't get somewhere in time by public transport).

And I am not one of those always commenting on the imminent "desertification" of parts of Spain. It just strikes me as ironic that so many of those who do are the same people who claim it is so "essential" for them to use their cars even purely for leisure purposes and don't think others can have an enjoyable and fulfilling lifestyle without one.

Mark604

You certainly can have an enjoyable and fulfilling lifestyle without a car, no doubt about that. I lived for many years in another European country close to a city centre for work and used public transport and didn't have a car. But - according to your logic of where to live and I choose to live out in the campo in Spain for the peace and quiet, I should have only bought somewhere where there is public transport? Quite restrictive that is in many countries and especially so in Spain.
You also seem dismiss how a car can be needed for mainly essential travel, not just for leisure purposes. Nice if you have a bus stop on the street with a regular service but there are many other factors involved in where to live and some are for some people more important than having public transport within easy walking distance, especially if you don't need to commute to work.
I doubt, especially amongst residents, many often just decide to go out for a drive for leisure purposes as their main use of a car and living not in a town or city or village is one of the attractions of Spain (to me anyway. I'll never live in a city again).

By the way, the car I have is fully electric and charged by solar power. I'm not on the national grid.

Moses2013

Now that's ironic: People who say "there is no bus where I am" have almost always made the decision to live where they do regardless of the lack of public transport, so it is their choice to have to use their car all the time. And then you say your husband needed a car for work and you spent 1.5 hours commuting which also produces CO2, so why didn't you make the decision to move closer to London?
You also said you have flown to the UK several times in recent years and are constantly flying abroad. You were in Malaga for lunch this week and even said you go every few weeks just for shopping and lunch. So I really don't know why you started this as I haven't flown in years. I think you have read too much into my comment which was not aimed at you (reply to Ronnyone) and are now frustrated.

Lynn R

I do indeed go to Malaga every few weeks, always by bus, as I said not having a car does not mean that we are just stuck in one place. I used to travel to the UK twice a year, which I have now cut down to once (unless we have go back unexpectedly for something like a family funeral, which we may have to do shortly). Other than that I am certainly not constantly flying abroad.

Why didn't I move closer to London? Have you ever seen the difference in house prices between Lancashire and anywhere within commuting distance of London? I actually applied for a job (a promotion) at our London HQ but decided not to take it as I would have been worse off. That's why we didn't move closer to my husband's job when his working hours were changed either, the difference between house prices would have been considerable, nor could he have found a similar job closer to where we lived. Getting the car was the lesser of two evils. We didn't have a car before they changed his hours (he, like me, had never owned one) nor have we ever had one since he left that job.

The pandemic may have helped people in similar circumstances a lot, and cut down on CO2 emissions, as there is now widespread acceptance of working from home in many roles, and people are probably not being summoned to largely pointless meetings in London nearly so often.

Lynn R

Exactly, they have made their decision about where to live, putting other factors like peace and quiet at the top of their list. But it is not an accident that there is no public transport where they live so they are forced to use a car, they have made that choice for whatever reason. I had different priorities and being able to get around by public transport was pretty much at the top of mine, along with easy access to facilities like healthcare.

Moses2013

Of course I've seen the difference and just showing the argument you make can just be turned around. You jumped onto a comment that had nothing to do with you personally and were trying to make an argument. Yes, I like driving to places here in Ireland and when I'm in Spain I enjoy my holiday, but there's a lot more that contributes to CO2 emissions than 2 people in a car. As I said, at least I planted thousands of wildflowers and planted trees in our garden. Next we can look at how we consume (makeup, food, clothing etc.).

philat98

Cordoba broke the European heat record for April yesterday by an incredible 5C. Very destructive for farming and wildlife in the region.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65403381

Ronnyone

Today is the start of the puente. 6.5 million spanish will take to the roads this afternoon. The majority heading to the south. Each year this number increases. Torrevieja is now saturated each holiday like this- and parking is impossible, Cordoba was 38.5 yesterday. Locusts in Mecca!.!!!. ( You know what that means))

Ronnyone

You post great links Lynn. I love these slightly querky stories about things Spanish. They are a great way to spend 10 minutes improving my Spanish instead of reading stuff translated into English. Everyone can get a bit from these things even if it's just learning stuff like words for Ants, forecast, drought, earth, rain. Keep posting them, please. We live in Spain and should make an effort to learn some of the language and culture.