Spain, Bankinter v Common Sense

I  got back from Spain and so back to work, Friday evening was very welcome, I  was anxious about what was going to happen about the court case in Spain and the general rigours of running a business in very difficult times, I  was ready to relax and enjoy the weekend with a beer or two, But late on Friday I  received an email from my solicitor, it was a surprise, I  thought everybody had finished for the weekend, especially in Spain which is an hour ahead of the UK.

My solicitor says the court summons is about Bankinter (that would have been my only guess anyway). Basically they are suing me for the full amount of my mortgage, and their legal fees, why ? my mortgage is up to date, everything is OK, BUT two years ago when I  was in the worst phase of my incurable cervical dystonia they froze my account while the insurance was being sorted out, some mortgage payments were not paid (because in effect I  was about 90,000.00 € in credit with he bank, my mortgage arrears have been settled with interest, but now there is a little equity in the property they want me to pay for it outright, which is impossible as I  have no money, so of course, they will take the property away, I  will lose all I  have.

I  have already lost a 350,000.00 € property to the bank, and two cars, but my Bankinter payments were all up to date so I  never expected this, I  don't understand at all, you would think the bank would be happy I'm making my monthly mortgage payments on time, instead of re-possessing the property and then them not being able to sell it along with he thousands and thousands of property that cannot be sold.

As there is no way I  can pay the bank, and Spain has good and bad points, I  feel the decision has been made for me, I  have to give up the fight, and the struggle to make the monthly payments

On The Other hand

I  have very mixed and confused feelings about Spain, I  have lost 100,'s of 1000,00 of £ GBP in Spain, and yet I  feel happy and relaxed when in Spain, as I  said last week was a mission to see my solicitor because I  never broke any laws or committed any crimes that I'm aware of, and yet I  got a court summons, so I  wanted to get the matter wrapped up and concluded, All I  seem to have lately are problems and bills from Spain, Torrevieja is beautiful, I  really like Torrevieja, it's majestic, clean, romantic, vibrant, sexy and yet still relaxing. I  would be happy to sit in the harbour, enjoy the sun and a beer everyday, if I  could., but I  can't, I  have to work every day.

I  don't spend much time in Torrevieja for practical reasons, in real life, when in Spain I'm at Villamartin, unfortunately it's been neglected there lately, it has a beautiful square by two fantastic golf courses, in a wonderful location near so many great things, BUT the Villamartin square is very dirty and tired, it's needs repairing and cleaning, the businesses seem unconcerned, maybe now nonchalant after a few years of bad trade, but the trade is not helped by the run down and neglected appearance, I  realize that it's easy to criticise but I  also feel it would be an easy problem to fix. Now things are so bad in public areas that I  would be embarrassed to take member's of my family there, when I  used to be proud, I'm now ashamed and embarrassed at the filth and neglect. Most mornings if I  go to my local café for breakfast on  the square there is broken glass on the floor, lots of it, and many places the floor has fresh blood, not the amount of a cut finger, but a lot!.

When I  go to town, Villamartin, or Caba Roig, there are very few Spanish, or Spanish things, the brits have made almost every bar a run down, empty bar showing sports all of the time, or disco music, thousands of them all copying each other, all the same, and all nearly devoid of customers and being surprised . No Spanish is spoken, the signs are in English and they serve low quality food (with very few exceptions). Caba Roig is the nearest I  have to town, it used to be great, but now it's all Chinese supermarkets selling low quality goods, Russian bars, and English "sports" bars each with it's own couple of fat English guys sitting about all day, and hardly ay other customers

On the other hand, the day before I  have to fly back to England I  went to the beach (5 minutes away), it was nicely busy, not crowded, but vibrant and exciting, I  had a beer from a bar on the beach, for the same price as I  pay in my local pub, but this was much better, ice cold, lovely view and fresh air, I  went in the sea, it was crystal clear, calm, and warm, like a bath, it would make me take up religion or something, it was so beautiful. So I'm confused, I  have contradictory feelings

The blobs in the water are fishes, they are so close you can stroke them, the water must be clean and healthy for the fish to be so abundant, They look strong and healthy, this seems like paradise to me and I  never knew anything better.

Court case in Spain

I spent yesterday morning at the notary and the solicitors in Torrevieja, the court won't tell me what I am accused of unless I go to them face to face, this is in case its a bad charge and I decide not to come to Spain to face the charges, anyway now my solicitor will go to court on my behalf, so I have two days here until I return to the UK
I found a nice seat on a quiet beach, so you know where I am if you need me.

Market Harborough Art Fresco

I  don't usually get involved in politics, but I  had to say how disappointed I  was in the Market Harborough arts fresco, I  have been to them before and always found them entertaining and original, this year was just a waste of time and money, and to be honest, embarrassing. Usually the town is full of life and brings business to local traders, which is fair enough because they sponsor the even, but this year there was very little in the town, the "main" event was at a local park and no longer walk able for many, and so did not help traders, and then one bit of the event went off to Kettering, are we supposed to follow them there ? I  don't get it at all :-( All I  could see in town were silly sellotape models, at the time I  didn't even know that they were anyrthing to do with the "festival".

I  will not bother going next year and I  would be surprised if the traders rush to put money into the event

Spain V Columbia

I'm going to Spain in one weeks time, I'm only going for a few days. I  would rather be going to Columbia, so why am I  going to Spain, I  have to go to Spain to attend court, why ? I  don't know but I  got a summons, Spain will cost about £50.00, Columbia about £2,500.00 and Spain is a short flight about two hours so I  can go for a short trip but Columbia is a long trip, also I  can drive in Spain, I  want to try driving again after a three year of non driving due to my illness cervical dystonia. I  wanted my solicitor in Spain to sort the summons and court out, but apparently they cannot do it for me, this is what they wrote

"According the normal procedure you should go to Court and let them know that after being back to Spain (as you live currently in the UK), you have just to find out their letter requesting you to collect some documents in last June. Then, they would inform you about the reference of your court case and the exact Court, from all the Court offices there, where the documents can be delivered to you. In a regular basis, they will not inform you about the aim of the court documents unless that you collect them, since once the aim of the court notice is known by you, the delivery of the documents could be done by you, in order to delay as much as possible the Court case.

Therefore, although our colleague Fernando is trying to get the information, it can not be done following the normal procedure. Actually, different people should make some favours to Fernando. As it can be easily understood, after making his own enquiries, somebody of the chain could inform him that to obtain more information you should collect the documents by yourself or by close family living with you).

Please note that according to the Spanish Law, if the Court intended to contact you to inform about a Court case and you did not receive the court notice, in a regular basis, the other party involved in the court case will ask to the judge for making a public advertisement of the court notice. That way means that the court case will be followed without advising you any more, which also implies than you will not be allowed to respond or to object the arguments of the claimant and the final court decision.

In the light of the above and considering that you will be over here next weekend, it is advisable that you personally go to Orihuela Court and collect the documents by yourself and bring them to us in the same day. Otherwise, we would have to allow Fernando to proceed as advised, which can take some time and even can be a waste of time."

Return to Spain

I have not been able to get any information from the Spanish courts about the summons, it appears that they won't even discuss it with my solicitors so I'm going to Spain next week for four days

I need to get this matter closed and legal

If you don't get another blog update after next weekend you will know I'm rotting in a Spanish prison.

Hospital Appointment

Spooky really; I  just complained about the lack of news from the hospital concerning my stomach pains / exploration follow up, and today I  finally got another appointment, it's for 25th October, so only five months wait since my GP's referral :-(

And coincidently Spain has announced
"A Royal Decree has come into effect which aims to reduce waiting lists for operations.

It stipulates a maximum wait of 180 natural days for cardiac, valvular and coronary surgery, cataract operations, hip and knee replacements. "