Anti-tax evasion measures, medical co-payments and more children in the classroom

King Juan Carlos's accident made the really big news of the week move over (Prospero's well-exercised cynicism wonders about smoke screens). Three significant things will be approved by tomorrow's weekly Cabinet Meeting, or already were at last week's: co-payment for medicines by pensioners -free medication until now- depending on their income, and the long-term unemployed; anti-tax evasion measures against under-the-counter cash payments to the self-employed; more children in the classroom. We will be looking at each of these, and more, measures being taken over the next few weeks. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ITEMS SUCH AS THIS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSCRIPTION IN THE FUTURE but you can make a donation NOW, too! Please click here for more information on how to help us continue.

¿Dónde le duele?

LA LÍNEA (Europa Sur) It's a brilliant idea. If you don't know what the title means, you can use the pictogram designed by two young nurses at the La Línea Hospital.  Amanda Muñiz, 23, and Óscar Carretero, 29, work in the Emergency unit at the hospital, where crucial questions are asked as a patient is brought in to triage. But if the patient has a speech impediment or doesn't understand Spanish, those crucial minutes can have a drastic result. So an idea was born. There are tables of words in different languages, translated, but pictures are much quicker. ¿Dónde le duele? becomes Where does it hurt? in seconds rather than minutes. Their idea has been taken up by the health service of Andalucía, and may well expand to others throughout the country. Now then, can you find ¿Está embarazada? on the chart? Don't be embarrassed if you can't...

Global Hand Washing Day today

Yes, that's what it is today. The thing is that so many of the people this global message is aimed don't even have water to drink, let alone wash their hands. But then, the 'first world' is more concerned by things like there being fecal bacteria on one's mobile phone, in the UK anyway, though there's no reason to suppose it's any different here - that's caca in your ear, OR MOUTH! Or that those wretched cucumbers that  were supposed to have had E.coli on them but didn't. (Memo to monkeys: This is an unpleasant subject! Just make sure you wash your hands every time you ... Jeeeez!)

€55 raised for La Estrella from a First Aid morning

The local handicapped group, La Estrella, the only true charity in Jimena, is to receive a donation of €55 raised from donations during a First Aid 'chat' that was held at the Campoy Restaurant this morning. The chat was held in English by a qualified First Aid instructor resident in Jimena. The unadvertised event was a great success and it is hoped that another one will take place in other parts of the municipality.

Gibraltar pharmacy withdraws Nurofen alert packets

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle / Press releases) GHA has followed a notification of a drug alert UK by issuing a statement yesterday in regard Nurofen Plus tablets. One local pharmacy, Ocean Pharmacy, has withdrawn six packages from one of the batches identified in the alert, officials said. The alert was sent by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This medication is not prescribed by GHA doctors, but rather it is an over the counter preparation available in pharmacies. The GHA immediately notified each of the Gibraltar pharmacies of the recall of the product and the affected batch numbers (below).>>>

Kiosk gets a tenant

JIMENA Just the other day we (and Melissa González-Morgan of Henrietta's, whose orginal idea it was) suggested a use for the forlorn kiosk on the main square, which has remained empty since it was finished last year. Now the Town Hall tells us that a tenant has been found for it. Apparently Francisco Manuel Jiménez met all the requirements (of which there were very many) to sell sweets, ice-cream, refreshments, more sweets, candy, nuts, pipas (sunflower seeds aimed at giving jobs to street cleaners) and other such items that delight dentists all over the world. The same note from the Town Hall says that the last remaining spot up at the El Mirador 'shopping centre' has also been adjudicated, to Josefa García, who will be selling similar items in what can only be seen as a plot in conjunction with the dentists of the upper village. (Prospero note: Glad to see how well the Council is taking care of our children's health - or are our Councillors in on the same plot?)

Comments in support of Javier Rodríguez Conejo and in demand of a better emergency service at the health centre

As might be expected, the village is buzzing with comments about the unfortunate death of José María Caracuel, the young man who died recently at the Health Centre. A petition is doing the rounds and is available for signature at most bars and other establishments in Jimena. There are very few signatures on those papers. The fact is that it would seem the entire town has come out in support of the doctor involved, Javier Rodríguez Conejo (whose name we didn't want to put up in our editorial on the subject, below, but that is now common knowledge). We have not a single comment that does not include condolence to Josema's family and friends, and not a single one that says anything other than good things about Dr. Rodríguez Conejo (known affectionately among expats as 'Roger Rabbit'). TioJimeno is brimming with the same, some written by learned writers, by politicians, by the more erudite, and many more by the ordinary people of Jimena. Aside from the feelings mentioned above, most if not all the comments demand better medical coverage for emergencies at the health centre. As TioJimeno says in the headline to his latest article on the subject: 'The problems at the centre have a long history.' Indeed, we at JimenaPulse have been on about it for a while, too, the latest earlier this month. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHOW a) YOUR SUPPORT FOR DOCTOR RODRÍGUEZ CONEJO  and/or b) YOUR DEMAND FOR BETTER EMERGENCY COVERAGE AT THE HEALTH CENTRE, please write in by e-mail or write a comment below. You are part of this community, this is the time to show it.

How's the smoking ban doing? Where can you smoke? Where not? What could you be fined?

SPAIN (Source: El Pais.com) The majority of smokers are abiding by the new anti-tobacco law, which came into force on Sunday. Spaniards were "reasonably" compliant with the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, according to Dionisio Lara, of the Spanish Service Industry Federation, who reported that drinkers had shifted to outdoor tables en masse. Regulations forbidding smoking within 100 meters of health centers were less rigorously observed and smokers could be seen puffing away at the entrance to various Madrid hospitals.(See the full article on CampoPulse, with all the information on where you can and cannot smoke, what the fines are, etc.)>

Jimena demands better Emergency service for health centre

JIMENA (Agencies/Press release/Photo: JimenPulse files) Mayor Pascual Collado and Councillor for Public Helth, Mercedes Sgovia recently held a meeting with the head of tha local health area, Inmaculada Cosano, to repeat a long held request for improvements to the emergency services at the municiplity's health centre. A lack of human and material resources causes a shortage of medical staff when an emeregency has to be attended to outside the health centre, leaving it without adequate staff should there be need for an emeregency doctor at the centre. This is an ongoing problem that has been constant for some years now (Prospero note: ... and always comes up in an election year. However, the last time we mentioned it was in early November last year.)

La Caixa subsidises new programme for carers

The El Despertar Federation of Women's Associations received €18,000 yesterday from La Caixa's Obra Social ('social foundation') to finance 'an ambitious programme' aimed at teaching carers of dependent relatives in the rural environment to 'guarantee that they work as efficiently as possible and within the demands of the law'. The programme was among the 256 such ideas selected by the building society throughout Spain. The head of El Despertar, Mari Luz Rueda (l.), said that her organization had found that the carers with which it deals had very little physical or psychological support for a very difficult job they felt obliged to carry out. Present at the meeting during which the subsidy was the Regional Director for La Caixa, Francisco Molina (r.) and Jimena Councillor for Social Services Mercedes Segovia (c.), as well as the manager of the local branch of La Caixa, Alberto Piña.>

IU lambasts PSOE on electoral promise of geriatric centre for Jimena

A press release from Izquierda Unida, quoting Fran Gomez (photo), its local representative, says that this is the third time the political organization has had to resort to the media to deenounce the 'lack of commitment' by the ruling PSOE. This time it is about a geriatric centre, including day care and more, that was 'an electoral priority' but has now quietly been dropped. Gomez apparently saw the building that was to be used being bricked up and all work stopped on it. The communique asks several questions: "How long has this building been in execution? In how many more electoral manifestos will it be appearing? What happened to the agreement signed with ASANSUL (the company that was to run it)?"

They're synning at Oba

No, it's not a mis-spelling. 'Synning' has to do with a new lifestyle, we're told.  The number of people Slimming with Sue (that's her in the photo), about which we have written on several occasions (example here), has grown considerably since we last visited a meeting. One of the reasons is that they are now getting together on Tuesday mornings at 10, at the Oba on Calle Sevilla. (We probably shouldn't say so but another reason is that many of the new members first heard about them here on JimenaPulse - but we won't blow our own trumpet.) Some members prefer not to be photographed, which we respect absolutely, but we have to say we were astounded by some of the results!

Mayor demands 'reinforcements' to health centre emergency services

(Press release) Mayor Pascual Collado has requested an urgent meeting with the provincial health delegate, Hipólito García, to demand improvements to the Emergency services at the village health centre. Several important incidents have occurred over the last few days as the result of insufficient staffing and lack of resources at the centre. Collado points out that these resources are not enough to adequately serve a municipality as dispersed as Jimena. It has often been the case that when the present emergency team is called out, the centre is not equipped for any other emergency that might happen in the meantime. Another consequence is that all too often a very ill patient has to be transferred from a local ambulance to a regional one, usually at the roadside in La Almoraima at Castellar. Jimena Council has>

'Sport and Health' programme to get under way mid-October

(Press release) MayorPascual Collado and Councillor for Sport Fernando Gómez met recently to announce some changes in the 'Sport and Health' programme that has undergone some considerable changes due to budget cuts. The Council has taken over its financing from provincial authorities. The programme, aimed at pensioners and 'people of medium age' (Prospero included) and open to residents of the municipality, will begin its new phase sometime in the middle of the month, at a cost of €5 per month for pensioners and the handicapped, and €8 to the rest. This year the programme will include maintenance exercise with other activities such as walks to different areas of the municipality, according to Gómez.

Tesorillo medical centre to house physiotherapy centre

(Press release) The health centre at San Martín del Tesorillo is being extended in order to house a physiotherapy centr that will be available not only to Tesorillo residents but also to those from San Enrique, Montenegral an Sotogrande, according to Councillor for Health Mercedes Segovia. The project, financed by the Junta's Plan E with a budget of €120,274 and is being built on municipal land next to the health centre, was created following prescriptions by the Health Authority of the Campo de Gibraltar and will provide an up-to-the-minute service that until now has been housed in rented facilties.

USA Guatemala venereal disease tests in the 40s - nothing new

The above headline is the same as on The Alexander Bewick Soap Box, which deals with the past and future of medical experimentation on humans, including that as related to the book that illustrates this item, written by the author of the study on Guatemalan people that hit the headlines all over the world yesterday, Professor Susan M. Reverby. There are many more such experiments than we care to remember, or that we are allowed to know about. The article ends with the words "Are we ready for more outrage stemming from the most arrogant country in present history?"

Aerobithon this Friday at sports pavilion

JIMENA The first edition of what is hoped will be an annual Aerobithon is scheduled for this Friday, September 25, starting at 10pm at Jimena's sports pavilion. Aimed at aerobics fans but open to everyone, the two-hour event  will be run by two monitors, Paula Blanca and Belén Contreras, who apparently do this all over the country. There is a fee of €5 but it seems a much healthier -and cheaper- way to spend a Friday night than propping up a bar or being a couch potato, we thinks.

Expat freeloaders in the Spanish health system

(Source: Expatify) British expats living in Spain use their European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) to get free healthcare in Spain—even though the card is designed to be used only for emergency care while tourists holiday in European countries. In Alicante, 15-20% of all hospital admissions are British expats. Some Britons are looking at the Spanish hospitals and the British hospitals and choosing where they think they will receive the best, or quickest treatment and either going back to Britain or turning up at the Spanish hospitals with their Ehic. (Full story on Campopulse)

Remember 'Something smells bad in the Campo de Gibraltar'?

On May 3rd we published Something smells bad about a national TV report on pollution in the Campo that was to go on air that night. On May 5th, we published Something smells very, very rotten in the Campo de Gibraltar, saying that the broadcast had been cancelled at the last minute and replaced. Well, it was finally aired last night (See it here). The programme, called Repor and originally cancelled as 'incomplete' after a phone call from CEPSA, owners of the refinery, comes up with a lot of information. Interviewed are not only representatives of the Junta, the Mayor of La Línea, a scientist specialising in air pollution, a local gynecologist of long standing and environmentalists in Gibraltar itself, among others, but also, significantly, a representative of a curious pressure group (See the full story on CampoPulse)

Something smells very, very rotten in the Campo de Gibraltar

The programme on air pollution in the Campo de Gibraltar that we announced on Monday (two items down) was supposed to be broadcast on Monday was substituted by an old one after the state-owned television station received a phone call from CEPSA, the company that owns the refinery that is considered to be the main pollutant (photo). A report on periodismohumano, an 'alternative media', gives the full story, which we have translated/summarized below. There is definitely something very smelly going on. See for yourself on CampoPulse.