September-2015

As many readers may know, this is the final issue of El Campello’s only professionally
published ex-pat magazine. It has always been a profitable and completely legal business, and
we have been asked by several people if we'd be interested in selling it. However, we've decided
that should anyone wish to take up the challenge and continue in our footsteps they should be
able to do so with complete freedom; and, because of the fantastic feedback we've had, we hope
someone will copy our style and start a new large format, full colour magazine with affordable
advertising, verifiable distribution numbers, and great content. Hopefully that person, or those
people are out there somewhere - you deserve to have a good, local publication!
Last September (2014) we learned that Mellow Magazine (which we began in 2006 and
ran profitably until 2012 when it was sold) had ended, and so we thought it would be great to come
back to El Campello with a brand new magazine, back to the place where we first met and where
we started the first successful English language ex-pat magazine!
Tickled Squirrel was a hit from day one, and although profits from such a venture are
never going to be very large, we made a comfortable living producing a magazine which many
have said is the only one they read. We avoided pointless jokes and stuck to the successful format
we had previously had with Mellow Magazine – interesting articles and puzzles, well designed
low cost advertisements but this time with cheaper adverts and also no extra charge for full
colour, or for premium advert position.
El Campello is not the same though, and many of our old friends have moved on.The town
itself has become dirtier (it's not just the summer rush), cut backs are obvious in many
places, and our observations have even been echoed by some local businesses . . . in
short, it’s no longer a place we wish to live. This was made even more apparent when
we travelled to the north of Spain in April and then to Andalucía in May. We found both
areas to be nicer, friendlier and cleaner than this part of the country. So we made the
choice to leave here but to go where? Should we go north, south west, or to the
other country we love, Scotland? Our final choice was for Scotland, a country
where the people are friendly, the scenery is breath-taking and the peace
and quiet is almost tangible. Hence we made the decision to make this, the
September issue, the final one.
We thank all our loyal advertisers who have stayed with us through to
this final edition. We thank you, our readers, for your kind words, and
for the fact that so many of you have kept every magazine we have
ever produced. A big thank you also to our contributors past and present
for their wonderful work producing articles that people asked for and
enjoyed every month.
Our very best wishes to you all and perhaps we'll see some of you
when we return on holiday!
3