HELPFUL INFORMATION

Places of Interest

Almeria

Almeria is the main city of the province of Almeria. Its main tree lined, park lined boulevard takes you from the motorway all the way down the main shopping areas and the port, which is where you can hop on a ferry to Morocco in north Africa (to do even more shopping!). It's a city that has a lot to offer, from its small narrow streets filled with boutiques to some fine architecture in its churches and old buildings. The castle is a fine sight to see too perched high above the city. Almeria has all the usual benefits. Its home to an ever increasingly popular airport, hospital, colleges, shopping malls which will cater for all your needs. The old fishing port town of Adra lies further west. In spite of the interesting castle and assorted archaeological remains, it is often missed by tourists travelling along the coastal motorway to or from the Costa Tropical.

Nijar

Much of Andalucia's attractive and unusual glazed pottery is made in this small town north east of Almeria and it's worth making the detour as it's a very charming pueblo and there are several reasonable hostels and restaurants located in and around the town centre.

Roquetas de Mar

Situated 8 kms along the coast, this is a popular resort for tourists with some good beaches. It offers a small marina surrounded by Tapas bars and restaurants, specializing in fish dishes. There are excellent facilities for the water sports and sports enthusiast. You can practice all kinds of aquatic sports such as water-skiing, jet-skiing, swimming, fishing, diving, boating and yachting. From the 23rd August to the 1st September Almeria celebrates its fair in honor of Our Lady of the Sea, with open air dances, sports competitions, the traditional Flamenco Festival in the Plaza Vieja, its fun guaranteed into the early hours of the morning. For the shopper, there is also a large shopping complex, so your never far from a bargain. There's everything from children's toy shops to computer warehouses and even all the usual car dealerships.

San Jose

The little resort of San José is built on a beautiful sandy bay surrounded by spectacular mountains in the heart of the Parque Natural. San José has superb beaches, a small marina and a good selection of bars and restaurants. By day the main attractions are the glorious beaches and the watersports available. Night life centres around the little bars and restaurants near the marina. San José remains a Spanish resort with no large hotels or apartment blocks and tourist accommodation is mainly self-catering in houses and small apartment buildings. One of the great attractions of the Cabo de Gata is the beaches which are some of the best on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. In particular, the village beaches in San José are sandy and shelve gently. An unmade road leads from the village to the Cabo de Gata lighthouse, passing a number of superb beaches and coves where you can swim or sunbathe undisturbed.

Airports

Alicante Airport

Contact no: (0034) 966919100 / 966 919 600

Alicante Airport is located 11km south of Alicante. It is a modern, well served airport with 38 check in desks and a annual capacity of 7 million passengers. Access from Alicante is via the autovia Alicante-Murcia where you leave at the airport junction and take the road N 340 to the airport. This airport is approximately 2.5 hours from Bedar.

Airlines that fly to Alicante:

• Air 2000
• Britannia Airways
• British Airways
• Easy Jet
• Monarch
• Ryan Air

Almeria Airport

Contact no: (0034) 950213700 / 9502137009

Almeria Airport lies 10km east of the city of Almeria. It is a small, modern well kept airport with 17 check in desks in total. There is an annual capacity of 1.5 million passengers passing through the airport and there are plenty of facilities including a duty free shop, gift shop, newsagents, café bar and information desk. This airport is served by daily flights from Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and London Gatwick and flying time is approximately 2.5 hours.

Airlines that fly to Almeria are:

• Britannia Airways
• British Airways
• Easy Jet
• Excel Airways
• My Travel
• Monarch
• Ryan Air

Almeria airport is approximately 45 minutes from Bedar village.

Murcia Airport

Contact no:(0034) 968 17 20 25

Murcia airport lies 45 km from Murcia on the north shore of the Mar Menor. It is a small compact airport, newly built in 2006 and has 4 check in desks and an annual capacity of 1.5 million passengers. It flies from the UK's smaller airports such as Southampton and Cardiff International.

Airlines that fly to Murcia include:

• BMI Baby
• Flybe
• Jet 2
• My Travel

Murcia airport is expanding due to the introduction of more low cost airlines. The airport is approximately 1.5 hours from Bedar village.

Golf Courses

Valle de Este

This course is located just outside the town of Vera only 7km from the beaches of Vera and Garrucha. The 18 hole course has been designed by Jose canales, paying careful attention to every detail and integrating the course into the surrounding landscape by making use of the indigenous vegetation giving it the spirit and character of Andalucia nd the magnificent surroundings that bring to mind the American courses of Arizona. The course design and setting make it quite spectacular. A characteristic of the course is that the tees are positioned on small raised platforms surrounded by volcanic rock, as well as wide generous fairways.

Marina Golf

This is a new existing Levante Alemeriense golf course, surrounded by Mediterranean seas, located between Garrucha and Mojacar. Situated in the Marina de la Torre development, the course opened in Spring 2000. The relatively short 18 hole course was designed by Ramon Espinosa whose golf course design included three lakes strategically situated. The course also offers wonderful and diversified views of the Mediterranean sea an the colourful desert like landscape.

Desert Springs

Desert Springs captures the essence of what it is that sets golf apart from other sports and will have travelling golfers anxious to sample the desert golf experience.Bult to comply with full USGA specifications and quality standards of the now famous desert courses of Arizona and California.The Indiana is the first od two 18 hole courses to be built on the resort.When stretched to its full length of 6,173 metres, the layout is built to challenge the worlds best players. However, the bunker placements and positioning of hazards allows the design to present a more accommodating challenge when played from the yellow tees.The 18 hole Indiana course opened in 2000 and another 18 hole is due to open next year.

Cortijo Grande

This 9 hole course is set in unbelievable beautiful surroundings flanked by 1000m high mountains and is very popular with locals wanting a quick "knock". The course has plans to develop into an 18 hole course in the future. This area is known for its natural beauty and the course is scattered with orange and lemon trees.

Schools

Schooling is compulsory in Spain for children age 6 to 16 years. Public education is free, but books and materials are not provided free (but in Andalucia, grants are available for families on low incomes). The teacher from each class will provide you with the relevant list of materials and books required. Lessons are conducted in the Spanish language only, however this does not present a problem to young children who tend to pick up languages very quickly.

Attending a Spanish school is definitely one of the best ways of ensuring that both the child and in most cases the family, become integrated into the local Spanish community. Education from 0- 6 years is referred to as infants education (Educación Infantil), from 6 to 12 years, Primary Education (Educación Primaria) and from 12 to 16 years, Secondary Education (Educación Secundaria Obligitar).

Infants education below the age of 3, that is, in the first "cycle" is hard to find and likely to be non existent in the province of Almeria. Provision for infants between the ages of 3 and 6 years varies, is likely to be part-time in Almeria province and is not compulsory. There are specialist schools too, e.g. for music, dance and art. Also, for parents who find it impossible to get their children to school, residential units.

Children with special needs are integrated into mainstream school where possible. Secondary education (ESO) starts at 12 years (as opposed to 11 years which is generally so in England) when children attend a secondary school (often called an IES or Institutio Educacion Secundaria).

Some schools in Almeria are effectively combination schools and take children from or during the second "cycle" of Primary (age 3 years up) through to the second year of ESO at 14 years. These children then go onto Secondary school. 14 is an important age as this is when students start the last cycles of compulsory education and the outcome of studies will dictate the route at 16. Post 16, students can undertake vocational training or carry on with their studies for a further 2 or 3 years.

Translation Services

Olive uses two local translators, both who can help with anything from translation of legal documents to accompanying clients on hospital visits. Translators are necessary in a country where documentation can be complicated and the use of a well recommended translator can save the client a lot of time and trouble.

Contact Olive for translator names and details.