September 2012 - Costa Calida Chronicle

In association with Costa Cálida International Radio and www.angloINFO.com
Electricity Bill Rise in September to be
Backdated to March
Electricity bills will go up by at least 10 per
cent in the next fi ve months, and that a review
of price structure between March and
October 2012 will mean this increase is backdated.
Leading consumer organisation OCU says the
average household will fi nd they have to pay
a sudden extra 50€ after the retroactive rate
review is carried out. This will apply even
to those consumers who are billed by other
companies but whose fuel comes from the
State-owned Iberdrola.
Bills for fuel consumed prior to the upcoming
IVA rise will still be taxed at 18 rather than
21 per cent. This will mean the third electricity
bill increase in 2012, and will apply from
March rather than from September.
Patients can Check Healthcare Entitlement
via Online Database
Residents of any nationality can fi nd out
whether they are entitled to free State
healthcare. Where a person’s details are
not listed, the system will give the possible
reason. You can enter the Social Security
website https://sede.seg-social.gob.es/
Sede_1/index.htm
Click on Ciudadanos (‘citizens’) and from the
left-hand menu, Asistencia sanitaria: comprobación
del derecho (‘healthcare: checking
your right to assistance’).
Next, click on acceso al servicio (‘access service’)
just below the title.
At the bottom, click on the icon Consultar
derecho asistencia sanitaria (‘check your right
to medical assistance’).
If you have already made a consultation, you
can choose the option Ver resultado consulta
(‘see result of enquiry’) and enter the reference
number you would have been given
when submitting your details.
Fill in the form with your name, date of birth,
NIE number and email address. The NIE number
should not include any spaces or hyphens,
only the letters and numbers.
Your 13 digit Social Security number will be
required and should be typed without any forward
slashes or the letter at the end.
Page 6
The next section requires all the same information,
except the Social Security number,
for the ‘benefi ciary’.
Finally, click on the icon Consultar (‘consult’)
and you will be given a número de referencia
(‘reference number’) on the next page, normally
starting with several zeros.
You can check the present position of your
consultation on the website using this number,
as explained above.
If you have included your email address, you
will receive a reply within a matter of minutes.
Fee for Healthcare for Foreigners and the
Unemployed
Foreigners and Spaniards who are not entitled
to free healthcare and are not allowed to
pay Social Security may be able to get treated
by paying an annual or monthly fee.
There remains a grey area as to whether unemployed
persons whose dole money has run
out are able to get healthcare - and non-EU
immigrants without resident rights can pay
710€ a year to be treated via the public service.
This would be split into monthly payments
of 59.20€, but would rise to 155.40€
for the already-strapped over-65s, based
upon the fact they will probably need more
medical attention on average than younger
persons.
Those who are not self-employed are unable
to make the monthly Social Security payments
which would have entitled them to free
healthcare. This means even those early retirees
who could afford to pay it would not be
allowed and would be unable to obtain free
medical assistance.
The idea is to prevent so-called ‘health tourism’,
whereby immigrants put their entire
families on the padrón - even though they are
living in their country of origin - in order to
bring them over to Spain to be treated free
of charge. Visitors from the UK to Spain can
rely on their EHIC cards - formerly the E111 -
for emergency or urgent ongoing treatment,
which is claimed back from the UK government.
Fees proposed by the ministry are practically
as high as insurance premiums for private
medical care and, they will even apply to permanent
residents who are not ‘in the system’.
Speed Limits on N-roads to Come Down,
but Could go up on
Motorways
Secondary, or N-roads,
are where three-quarters
of all fatal accidents
take place and
the speed limit will be
reduced here. The limit
on these will fall from
100 to 90 kph, and
in other parts will be
‘adapted according to
the layout’ of the road.
To compensate, speed
limits on motorways
will be increased ‘where safety would not be
compromised’ - although by how much has
not been confi rmed.
Other moves include making cycle helmets
obligatory for all and banning bikes from the
pavement and there are plans to ban alcohol
altogether at the wheel.
Retuerta Horses Released into Salamanca
Nature Reserve
Wild horses in danger of extinction will be
released into the open hundreds of miles
from their native stamping ground in a bid
to increase its population by casting their net
wider.The Retuerta, thought to be the oldest
breed in Europe, runs wild in the Doñana National
Park in the province of Cádiz, and there
are now only around 150 of them left. About
20 of these will be taken north to Salamanca
and set free in the Campanarios de Azaba reserve
as part of an attempt to repopulate the
Spanish countryside with wildlife.
Unlike most native breeds of horses and ponies
in the western world, there are no known
cases of Retuertas being bred privately, and
even if caught – which is extremely diffi cult
– breaking them in for riding, driving or working
the fi elds is usually nearly impossible due
to their feisty character.
Forestry Brigade Workers Killed in Fire
near Relleu
As fi res continue to rage throughout much of
Spain, two forestry brigade members have
died fi ghting a massive inferno near Finestrat
(Alicante) which has already wiped out 300
hectares. Another two have been injured and
have been taken to hospital, whilst 130 children
were evacuated from a camp in nearby
Relleu.
Three forestry workers were taken to hospital
in Alcoi and Alicante. Hundreds of people in
the village and surrounding hamlets - including
Relleu, Benifallim and Penáguila - have
been evacuated. The fi re is thought to have
started after a car broke down and the engine
caught fi re when the owner lifted the bonnet
up.
An exploding fi rework display in the shape of
a palm tree which went off 10 minutes too
early has left three people seriously injured
after Elche’s fi estas.
Roller Coaster Derails
6 people were injured when two rollercoaster
carriages veered off the track at a fairground
in Guardamar del Segura. A 34-year-old
woman, thought to be an expat or a holidaymaker,
is in hospital with various facial
fractures, although her life is not in danger.
The other fi ve only suffered minor wounds,
according to emergency services.
Two coaches which formed part of the ‘Witch
Train’ ride fell off the track due to a suspected
mechanical breakdown and then tipped over.
The fairground was set up on the Avenida Ingeniero
Cordoniu as part of the annual summer
fi estas. All permits, licences, insurance
and safety certifi cates to be able to operate
were correct.
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