It is strange how expats suddenly develop a craving for something that reminds them of life in their countries of origin. I guess it is not that surprising really, as Christmas is a time of the year when our memories, particularly as we get older, recall times gone by, both happy and sad. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', Christmas, mince pies

It was a hot, sunny day and the boys and girls in the village school were enjoying their lunchtime games as usual in the schoolyard. However, today, tempers seemed a little more frayed than usual during this particular ball game. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', euro, Summit, Paris eurozone

It is rowing across the Atlantic time again! Why anyone would choose to row across the Atlantic Ocean in a small boat is beyond me, and particularly when there are some very pleasant liners that follow the same route, and with at least three decent meals a day thrown in...

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', rowing, Atlantic Ocean, Challenge, Caribbean, Trade Winds

The Canary Islands have a history that is, quite literally, littered with explosions. Each of the seven main islands was created by hot volcanic lava pushing through the cold Atlantic Ocean in the last million years or so. It therefore does not seem surprising that an occasional ‘belch’ can be heard, and seen, every few hundred years or so. One of our islands has been in a bit of trouble over recent weeks, but first, a little background…

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', El Hierro, volcano, Eruption, volcanic, magma

One of the worst things that the newly arrived expat quickly faces is the sudden inability to complain if things go wrong. Spain may well be a member of the EU family, but when it comes to complaining, the expat would be wise to remember that it is a very different culture and pace of life. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', Costa Blanca, Complaint,

You may remember Horatio Nelson from school history lessons as the jolly little man with the big hat and equally inflated ego; his costume goes down a treat at fancy dress parties. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, General Gutiérrez, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', Horatio Nelson, Admiral, Lord, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,

Listening to the UK Prime Minister and the Energy Minister’s attempts to help consumers with their fuel bills this year brought a mixture of indignation, amusement and cynicism from many UK consumers. Some would say that the issue cannot truly be resolved simply by endlessly switching energy companies and tariffs, together with the odd roll of loft insulation. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', energy, wind , solar,

I am very fond of pizza; that is if I can find one that is vegetarian. Being vegetarian, I have sometimes found it very difficult to get across the message that a ‘pizza vegetal’ is pizza without the inclusion of flesh of any kind. I have been presented with supposedly vegetarian pizzas laced with generous dollops of tuna, a fried egg and even a generous sprinkling of ham, which I thought was red pepper, before my stomach started heaving and I headed like a bullet for the door...

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', pizza, Juan, Costa Blanca

Regular readers of my ‘Twitters’ will recognise that I am a great fan of Marmite, which I understand is very similar to Vegemite in Australia. Yes, I readily accept that Marmite is rather like Blackpool or Benidorm - you either love it or hate it; in my case, I like all three. This ‘Twitter’ concerns my recent discovery about the thwarting of these miserable little beasts, mosquitoes, with a healthy dose of Marmite. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', mosquitoes, marmite, Costa Blanca

I have to confess that I am not a great lover of gnomes. No, I don’t mean the real ones that appear in fairytales, but the depraved garden variety. Toadstools, seagulls, fairies and wishing wells I can take quite happily, but the grinning garden gnome, wearing that totally impractical, ostentatious and irritating red hat really makes me see red (if you excuse the pun)…

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Tags: Canary Islands, Barrie Mahoney, Garden, Gnome, Gran Canaria, Spain, 'Twitters from the Atlantic'

Regular readers of ‘Twitters’ may recall that an emaciated, flea ridden and sickly kitten burst into my life last year, and a number of readers have been asking about what happened to him...

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', cat, kitten, Costa Blanca, vets, 'Letters from the Atlantic'

Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that their pupils can read and write, and are numerate. It is a stated aim that they should do well in their SATS and achieve good grades in their GCSEs and beyond. However, education is much more than this and wise teachers place learning about life, learning to being happy and fulfilled human beings, as well as daring to dream the unthinkable at the very top of their priorities. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, Georges Mougin, water, polar ice caps, Costa Blanca Canary Gecko, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', iceberg, Costa Blanca, Costa Blanca, Drought, Costa Blanca, Africa, Costa Blanca

It was not that many years ago that Dot and Bert from Wigan, and others like them, managed to achieve their life-long dreams of opening a bar or a small business in the Spanish Costas and the Portuguese Algarve. They, and many like them, discovered that a pound went a long way in the countries where the peseta and the escudo were king. It was also a time when the equity locked in many British homes was substantial, and could be released to fund a new lifestyle and a new home in the sun. ..

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', reession, Poverty, Costa Blanca

Shortly after moving to the Costa Blanca, we discovered that a small town close to the urbanisation where we had made our home had been destroyed by an earthquake in the nineteenth century. Nowadays, we live on a volcanic island in an archipelago where there are still several active volcanoes...

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', volcano, Eruption, Costa Blanca, earthquake, El Hierro, Costa Blanca, Costa Blanca

‘The Seven Year Itch’ is often a term applied to relationships between people that have begun to fail. The early excitement and romance of the first few years of a new relationship have soured, and been replaced by mistrust, disappointment and betrayal. New responsibilities, work pressures, children and financial difficulties are often the root cause of many problems within a relationship…

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Tags: Barrie Mahoney, Canary Islands' Day, Costa Blanca, Gran Canaria, Spain, Atlantic Ocean, twitters from the Atlantic, Divorce, relationship, recession, Costa Blanca

I had a ‘significant birthday’ a few days ago. Birthdays are strange things, and I guess I now take the view that if we are lucky enough to celebrate one, it means that we are still alive which, I guess, is something of a plus. However, what to do and where to go was initially something of a problem...

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Tags: Canary Islands, Spain, Gran Canaria, Barrie Mahoney, 'Twitters from the Atlantic', 'Letters from the Atlantic', Parador, Mountains, Cruz de Tejeda, Pousadas