Paella by the pool - for just €1

The enterprising girl running the bar at the municipal pool has come up with an excellent idea - and great value! On Sundays, she will give you a plate of freshly prepared paella for just €1. Sounds like a bargain, doesn't it?

Aaaaah, cool! The pool opens at last

JIMENA All (well, some of) the difficulties evidently surmounted, Jimena's municipal swimming pool opened at last this morning. We were out all day but got a photo when we came back in the heat of the day, when there weren't too many people. We were told that there was a long queue for swimming lessons this morning, although those that didn't happen earlier this week -having been scheduled to start on Monday- will be held at the end of the eriod. We will have to confirm this, and the when the municipal facility is due to close for the summer.Opening hours are as follows: 9am to 2pm, swimming lessons (check your hours). 2pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday, open to the public. Weekends, Saturday & Sunday, open to the public from 12 noon to 8pm. Entrance is €1 for under-15s and €2 for the rest of us.

No news is not good news

The pool this morning

Yesterday evening, Prospero headed up the hill to a friend's house (for a magnificent curry!) without crossing the square because he knew ... yes, he was nevertheless accosted by several people demanding to know when the pool would be open -there was an accusatory tone in at least two enquiries- as though he was responsible for it not being so. He returned in the dark by another route and managed to avoid further accostings (?). So this morning he went down to the pool to see for himself, but not before calling the Ayuntamiento for news. There was no news, which is not good news. (See also: Summer swimming pool ...) (NOTE TO ACCOSTERS -you know who you are: Not a single one of you has ever made a donation to this blog, so IF YOU FIND THIS ARTICLE INTERESTING, USEFUL OR ENTERTAINING, PLEASE CONSIDER THE WORK, EFFORT AND COST IT TAKES TO BRING IT TO YOU. WE WOULD APPRECIATE A DONATION TO CONTINUE A FREE SERVICE.

Pool is still not open

(Photo: JimenaPulse)

An announcement from the Town Hall: "The swimming pool, which we had scheduled to open today, Tuesday, remains closed for reasons beyond our control, such as lack of electricity and pool products unavailable because the (previous) Council still owes the supplier. We want people to know that we are working as hard as possible to find a solution to the problems."

Pool full of water, but still closed to swimmers

JIMENA We heard the noise yesterday evening; it sounded like the pumps were being run. They were but we know not if power had been restored. This morning the municipal pool was full of water. People gathered at their appointed times for swimming lessons and such, only to find it closed. We took this photo a little before 1pm and there was no-one there and no explanatory note on the door where the lessons lists are. The Town Hall is closed today so there's no information there, either. Watch this space ... (and keep the new handicapped space free, too!)

Will the pool open or won't it?

Jimena's empty pool

JIMENA Prospero gets stopped in the street with the question. He was told by 'someone who knows' that it would open this weekend. He was told by 'someone else who knows' that there is no electricity for the pumps, etc., that the power had been cut off. So, intrepid that he is, he set off this afternoon, in the extraordinary (actually, not unusual) heat, to ... what? ... take a picture of the pool. There is nobody in the Town Hall who can even talk about it. No information, none. So we still don't know if the pool will open or not. It is all nice and newly painted, the grass around is being watered (does that pump have electricity?) and it looks inviting - except there's no water in it. Well, we'll just have to ask the Mayor when we interview him tomorrow. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE MAYOR, SEND IT IN NOW: THE INTERVIEW IS AT 11 TOMORROW MORNING!

Medals for little swimmers and fun for everyone else

This year's swimming programme came to a close this morning when the smallest got their medals. Before that it was the turn of the adults - mostly of the 'third age', to use a lovely Spanish euphemism for 'elderly' - who had taken aprt in the Sports & Health programme set up by the Junta. Over 300 people have taken part in some aspect of this programme, at Jimena, San Pablo and Estación. As for children, 240 of them were distributed among three different categories, plus that created for members of La Estrella handicapped association. The pools at Jimena and San Pablo offered a total of 13 daily schedules under the aegis of 3 monitor/teachers.

Jimena pool opens tomorrow, Tuesday; San Pablo's on Monday next

Jimena's municipal pool opens tomorrow, according to a town hall press release. Access tomorrow, Tuesday June 29, the first day, is FREE. However, general non-classes access will be restricted to afternoons only, from 2 to 7.30pm. Over-14s will have to pay €2 per day, and under-14s, €1, as from Wednesday. Mornings are dedicated to swimming lessons for children and for adults of the Deporte y Salud programme (See photos of timetables below). New this season are a series of improvements that include renewal of the pool's depth, shallower now (from 1.20 to 1.75m - photo), as well as new sunbathing and shade areas. The San Pablo pool is scheduled to open on Monday, 5th, after the village feria.>