Today is World Consumer Day

JIMENA (Press release) Given the significance of this day, the municipal Consumer Department headed by Councillor Juana Jiménez, invites residents to make use of the resources available at municipal level regarding the rights of consumers. There is an information service that has been attending to complaints for a number of years at the Reina Sofía Cultural Centre in Los Ángeles, which works in cooperation with the Unión de Consumidores de Andalucía (UCE-Cádiz, or Consumers' Union in the province of Cádiz). This is where several hundred people>

Consumers Union magazine features Jimena

The November/December issue of Sucede!, the magazine of Unión de Consumidores de Andalucía (UCA-UCE), Andalucia's Consumers Union, contained two articles on Jimena. One of them was about the Fiesta de los 18, a party for those attaining 18 years of age, which this year was dedicated to consumers' rights. The second article referred to the Council's programme for offering 'green spaces' and the infrastructure for outdoor exercise. Particular mention was made of the 'yellow brick road' that runs from Jimena to Los Ángeles, where a series of machines are used daily by people wanting to exercise, especially pensioners. The article points out that a Consumer's Centre is located at the Reina Sofía Cultural Centre and is open on Thursday mornings, although complaints and advice are available by phone on 956 641 236.

Electricity and VAT on the rise...

The government regulatory authorities, i.e. the Industry Ministry, are planning a rise of an average 4% in electricity bills for later this year. This coincides with a rise of 2% (from 16% to 18%) in the Impuesto de Valor Añadido (IVA, the equivalent to VAT) set for July 1. At the bottom end of the scale of electricity rises are small and medium companies (pymes, including the self-employed, about 5% rise) with households at the top (approximately 10%). While the rises are in the planning and pre-approval stages, consumer organizations are already saying that the price of electricity has risen by 26.1% in 30 months, which is six times the rise of the cost of living index (IPC in its Spanish acronym). See more on CampoPulse.