I picked up a copy of this flyer from the El Ejido Es Mi Prioridad Facebook page.
I believe that the beach rugby competition takes place on the Poniente (West) beach. Not far from the rugby pitch. looks like there is probably a concert on the rugby pitch afterwards.
Jacqui and I were away from Almerimar for most of last week. So we missed this year's pirates event.
You can read more about it here on the Ideal site. The article also has a photo and some video of the pirates.
Read More for a Google translation of the article.
The story here on the La Voz De Almería site might be of interest to a couple of Almería season ticket holders I know.
The local council has now published a list of August events for Almerimar. I got these images off Facebook.
Read More to see the details on the other images.
The article here on the Almería 360 site has details of the regional government recognising the San Marcos event in April each year in El Ejido as a tourist event.
The article also provides a little bit of history about the event.
Read More for a Google translation of the article.
One of our readers is having problems accessing their Spanish bank account online. Apparently the Banco Popular site now redirects to the Santander site. Following the merger of the two banks.
The person cannot access the Santander site using his credentials for the old Banco Popular site. He is wondering whether other are having the same problem. If yes, please can you get in touch. Particularly if you have managed to resolve this issue.
PS A secondary problem is that the Santander site is not available in English.
The article here on the town hall website has details of the 3rd edition of the Sun Market in Almerimar. To be held on Friday night through to Saturday morning. On 26 and 27 July 2019.
Read More for a Google translation of the article.
In the period from Wednesday 17 July through to Sunday 21 July 2019 Jacqui and I played golf 4 times in 5 days. We played on Wednesday at Playa Serena. Followed by twice at Almerimar on Friday and Saturday. Then yesterday at Alborán. This has given us a good opportunity to compare the courses.
The first thing to mention is that all 3 courses were in pretty good condition. When comparing them we were looking at the two 18 hole courses plus the 9 hole Master 3 (Classic) course at Almerimar.
There was not much difference between the 3 courses when comparing the tees and fairways. In the case of the bunkers I feel that the quality of the sand in the bunkers at Playa Serena and Alborán was better than at Almerimar. However the quality of the maintenance of the bunkers on all three courses was just about the same.
The big difference between the three courses was the speed and receptiveness of the greens. The greens on both of the other courses were similar to how the greens at Almerimar have been in the recent past. Particularly comparing them with the greens in the early part of summer in the last few years at Almerimar. They were very receptive and true. However they were pretty slow. Particularly when putting uphill.
The greens at Almerimar are now much firmer than the other two courses. Although they are less firm than when the Master 3 (Classic) course re-opened in September last year. At least you can now stop the ball reasonably quickly when playing a full wedge into the greens.
The Almerimar greens are also much faster than the other two courses. This is most noticeable with the last few metres of putts of all lengths. At Almerimar the putts just keep on rolling several metres further than at the other courses. It is really difficult to judge the length at putts at Almerimar. As a small variation in strength of putt leads to the ball rolling at least 2-3 metres further. While at the other courses it feels like I need to use a driver rather than a putter to get the ball to reach the hole. As the grass on the greens seems to have a lot more resistance.
Finally, the photo above is from last Saturday morning. When I was making my way up to play an official competition on the Master 3 (Classic) 9 hole course at Almerimar. On the way there I popped across to the 12th hole to have a look at how they have changed the bunker in front of the green. As you can see they have filled the bunker in a lot. To make it a little easier to get out of there when the Master 1 (18 hole) course opens with new greens in September.
