Where's Bertie? He's sitting in the street of a long-ago abandoned housing development on the edge of Puerto de Mazarrón. Exact location: 37.57327, -1.26547.
Weather: Overcast for much of the day, finally clearing late this afternoon.
Just before the shop at La Azohia closed yesterday afternoon, I nipped in for some bread for today, as shops just don't open in Spain on a Sunday and it's unusual even to find a bakery open unless in a large town.
Then this morning, as I ran through Isla Plana (the next settlement along the coast from La Azohia), a van was just being loaded outside of the Panaderia. As I ran past the shop in La Azohia some while later, that same bread van was unloading and it was clear that the shop was open. Harrumph! We could have had fresh bread!
The chapel in Isla Plana, snapped mid-run
Then we drove to Puerto de Mazarrón and as we passed Lidl (behind which we are parked) we saw a big banner saying 'Open on Sundays'. What is going on? It's such a universal truth that shops are closed on a Sunday. Why is this area proving to house exceptions?
We nipped into Lidl for some pastries for elevenses and every voice I heard was speaking English. Could the Sunday trading purely be due to the demand of holidaymakers/immigrants who are used to being able to shop 7 days a week?
View from Bertie's door. Two blocks towards town the houses were finished and are inhabited. One block along (as visible on the right of this snap) the houses were abandoned before completion. All the other blocks are lying empty as wasteland, but with all of the roads and pavements having been constructed.
Continuing the shopping theme, we visited Tesco this afternoon (called 'The Food Co', but fully stocked with Tesco labels). It's apparently currently the only Tesco store in Spain and on the one hand my gut reaction is: Why? What's wrong with shopping in local (even if German in origin!) supermarkets? But, on the other hand I completely understand that holiday makers and British immigrants like to have certain familiar products that just aren't available out here - which is exactly how we came to visit the store: in search of squash (as in cordial; pumpkins are widely available). Our squash mission was successful*, I was served by Shiela who spoke with a Scottish accent, and it felt wrong to complete the transaction with 'Thank you' rather than 'Gracias'.
In between shop visits, we took ourselves off for a wander and found ourselves at a small but pleasant beachside and port, where the restaurants were doing a roaring trade (some even had queues) and it was all bustling.
Looking along the beachside promenade
(*We drink local tap water, which on this trip has generally been different levels of 'swimming pool' in flavour. Squash has become highly desirable to mask the taste of the water.)
Weather: Overcast for much of the day, finally clearing late this afternoon.
Just before the shop at La Azohia closed yesterday afternoon, I nipped in for some bread for today, as shops just don't open in Spain on a Sunday and it's unusual even to find a bakery open unless in a large town.
Then this morning, as I ran through Isla Plana (the next settlement along the coast from La Azohia), a van was just being loaded outside of the Panaderia. As I ran past the shop in La Azohia some while later, that same bread van was unloading and it was clear that the shop was open. Harrumph! We could have had fresh bread!
Then we drove to Puerto de Mazarrón and as we passed Lidl (behind which we are parked) we saw a big banner saying 'Open on Sundays'. What is going on? It's such a universal truth that shops are closed on a Sunday. Why is this area proving to house exceptions?
We nipped into Lidl for some pastries for elevenses and every voice I heard was speaking English. Could the Sunday trading purely be due to the demand of holidaymakers/immigrants who are used to being able to shop 7 days a week?
Continuing the shopping theme, we visited Tesco this afternoon (called 'The Food Co', but fully stocked with Tesco labels). It's apparently currently the only Tesco store in Spain and on the one hand my gut reaction is: Why? What's wrong with shopping in local (even if German in origin!) supermarkets? But, on the other hand I completely understand that holiday makers and British immigrants like to have certain familiar products that just aren't available out here - which is exactly how we came to visit the store: in search of squash (as in cordial; pumpkins are widely available). Our squash mission was successful*, I was served by Shiela who spoke with a Scottish accent, and it felt wrong to complete the transaction with 'Thank you' rather than 'Gracias'.
In between shop visits, we took ourselves off for a wander and found ourselves at a small but pleasant beachside and port, where the restaurants were doing a roaring trade (some even had queues) and it was all bustling.
(*We drink local tap water, which on this trip has generally been different levels of 'swimming pool' in flavour. Squash has become highly desirable to mask the taste of the water.)
No comments:
Post a Comment