Spanair Collapse

Spanair advises that on 28th January 2012, the airline suspended operations. Due to these exceptional circumstances, all flights were canceled.

The company has issued the following announcement:

Refund options:

"Spanair is finalizing an agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to facilitate the refund of purchased but not yet flown tickets of Spanair.

This agreement will let the travel agencies refund the complete price to those passengers that paid the ticket in a travel agency by bank transfer or cash.

All other passengers who bought their tickets by credit card directly at www.spanair.com or in a travel agency, they will need enquire for refund options with their card issuer.

In the following days we will inform the travel agencies about the procedure to follow.
 

For the latest information, please consult our website www.spanair.com

The Spanair contact center (Telephone number within Spain: 900 13 14 15 and from outside Spain: +34 971 916 047) and our Spanish sales offices in the airports will remain open to attend to customers as far as possible.

Changes at the Health Centre

From 1st February a new and improved timetable will come into effect at the Pinoso Health Centre.
The Centre will continue to open as usual from 0800 until 1500 each weekday.  However, in the afternoons, there will be a new service consisting of a general practitioner, a paediatrician and a nurse who will all be on duty until 2100 each evening.
The emergency night service will be continue, only from 2100 to 0800 the following morning.

Considering the many cutbacks being made in a number of services, this is a remarkable addition to the services available to the inhabitants of Pinoso and Algueña.

Día del Villazgo

Sunday 12th February 2012

Throughout the morning, until 1430 there will be organised visits to the interior of the Torre de Reloj (the Clock Tower).  Inside the tower there will be two exhibitions of photographs.  There will also be a on-going demonstration of lace-making in Cánovas del Castillo.

0900    Musical procession around the town by the Town Pipe and Drum Band
          (Colla de Dolçaines i Tabalets Municipal)
0930    Musical procession by the Town Band (Unión Lírica Pinosense) from the
           Casa de Música to the Church, accompanied by the town dignitaries and
           the Fiesta Queens
1000    Sung mass accompanied by the Third Age Choir (La Ilusión)
1100    Official address and opening of the Gastronomic Fair
1130    Beginning of traditional games, including Valencian Pelota and Caliche
1200    Performance by the Pinoso Dance Group (Grup de Danses del Pinós)
1230    Awarding of prizes to the best stalls, followed by music from the “Unión
           Lírica Pinosense”
1315    Performance by the “Monte de Sal” dance group
1600    Performance by “Tres Fan Ball” (playing Valencian folk dance music using
           traditional Valencian folk instruments)
1800    Chocolate and Toña (cake) for all those still present

Electricity Bills

A proposal has been made by the Government that all electricity readings and bills should revert to the previous bi-mensual arrangement.  Providers will be required to read meters every 2 months and produce bills arising from those readings.
This is not yet law, but is likely to be so in the near future.
The aim of this change is to ensure that consumers pay for what they have actually used and that estimates of consumption should be abolished.

As an addendum to this, providers have lobbied the government proposing that electricity prices will need to rise by 12% this year to cover increasing generation costs.

Fuel Price Rises

Fuel prices in the Comunidad Valenciana have risen as the result of a separate charge (el céntimo sanitario) applied to fuel by the Generalitat.  In brief, 4,8 cents has been added to the price of a litre of fuel. 
This charge applies to both petrol and diesel, but agricultural and heating fuel is exempt from this charge.
It would appear that some less than scrupulous providers have taken the opportunity to add further rises to fuel prices under the cover of this extra charge.  In addition, in some locations it is reported that this extra charge is being added to heating fuel. 
If you find that there has been a significant rise in your heating fuel, make sure that your provider is reminded that heating fuel is exempt.

Alternatively, buy your fuel in Murcia!

Back to Life

After a longer than expected break, the UCL HelpDesk Blog is back on-line.  The calendar for February is now available on the page and, hopefully, there will soon be more news and posts of interest to the Pinoso community.