The civic centre in Calpe on the Costa Blanca has a number of elderly users and at the moment they are being offered free eye and hearing tests.This service applies to march only .The campaign is being done ,as in previous years,to help detect problems which can be overcome if detected early enough.Blindness and deafness can be helped and treated.

Optica Abargues are giving their time and expertise free of charge and have explained that they begin with a simple eye test followed by tests for glaucoma and cataracts.

The hearing tests will be carried out on March 8 to 12 and the eye tests are on March 15 to 18.Appointments can be made at the Civic Centre. Last year more than 150 people took advantage of the free eye tests and about 100 had the hearing test.That was a very successful result and the organisers are hoping for assuccessful a turn out this year.

Don Quijote is one of the best known Spanish novels in the world.The author Miguel de Cervantes is one of the world´s best known authors.The novel was published in 1615.Cervantes had led a very difficult life.He was born ,they think,born on September 29,St Michael´s Day.He was christened on October 9 1547 in Alcala ,near Madrid.His father Rodrigo de cervantes was a barber -surgeon.The family was moving constantly and so Miguel led a nomadic sort of life.Miguel was the fourth of seven children.His mother was Leonor de Cortinas.

His education is not recorded in any detail.He was a student of the Spanish humanist Juan Lopez de Hoyos in Madrid  from 1568 to 1569..then he went to Rome to study with Guilio Acquavita .Acquavitawas ordained as a cardinal in 1570.He went to Rome to find a better life as did many Spanishmen,He wanted to write and needed money so he joined the Spanish infantry in Naples.It appears that he enjoyed his military service .He fought in the battle of the Gulf de Lepanto and was badly injured .On his passage home he was captured by pirates and kept in slavery for 5 years.

He was released after his family and others managed to gather enough money to get him released.It is thought that it was in prison that cervantes gathered his material for his first works.In 1584 he married  but it didn´t work out and when they parted he led a very difficult life and found himself in prison a number of times.In 1605 the first instalment of Don Quijote was published..It met with immediate success.In 1615 the final instalment was published .The work was translated into French,English and Italian.He did not prosper from this success as he had sold the rights to the book but it did help with his finances,even though it didn´t make him rich.His literary success came after his death.He wrote other things but none with the success of his famous novel.

May 25 to 27 will see the 10th Primavera Sound Festival take place in Barcelona this year.They will have the Pet Shop Boys,Marc Almond,Gary Numan,Lee Scratch Perry and the Fall ( this is a group that is ever changing but still as relevant today as they were ten years ago).

This event is less mainstream than the Benicassim Festival but what the barcelona festival is able to do is look for all of those cutting edge bands out there that are the sounds of tomorrow.The bands can be challenging and also exciting.For example they have Jeffrey Lewis who graduated from the State University of new York with a degree in literature .He did his thesis on the comic Watchman.He is now a comic book writer and also a recording artist.He produces autobiographical works in both genres.

The festival have two of the 80´s and 90´s cult bands The Pixies and Pavement.These two alone will give those attending the idea of what this festival is all about.There will be around 100 bands .There will also be many other bands playing in and around Barcelona.This is a festival which appeals to the eclectic tastes of those who love music in all of its forms.There is no camp site so visitors will need accommodation.The music starts early in the evening and goes on untl morning ,not leaving much time for sleep.o

May 25 to 27 will see the 10th Primavera Sound Festival take place in Barcelona this year.They will have the Pet Shop Boys,Marc Almond,Gary Numan,Lee Scratch Perry and the Fall ( this is a group that is ever changing but still as relevant today as they were ten years ago).

This event is less mainstream than the Benicassim Festival but what the barcelona festival is able to do is look for all of those cutting edge bands out there that are the sounds of tomorrow.The bands can be challenging and also exciting.For example they have Jeffrey Lewis who graduated from the State University of new York with a degree in literature .He did his thesis on the comic Watchman.He is now a comic book writer and also a recording artist.He produces autobiographical works in both genres.

The festival have two of the 80´s and 90´s cult bands The Pixies and Pavement.These two alone will give those attending the idea of what this festival is all about.There will be around 100 bands .There will also be many other bands playing in and around Barcelona.This is a festival which appeals to the eclectic tastes of those who love music in all of its forms.There is no camp site so visitors will need accommodation.The music starts early in the evening and goes on untl morning ,not leaving much time for sleep.o

The time has arrived for those processionary caterpillars in Alicante province.Town Halls all over the province are alerting everyone to be on the look out for them.This year there has been an increase in the number of nests to be seen in the pine trees.There was a major project last summer to kill the eggs in the trees but the numbers have still increased.possibly due to resistance to the insecticides.It is possibly the interludes of mild wet weather which has caused the problem.

These caterpillars can be extremely dangerous to pets,even causing death if the allergic reaction isn´t treated quickly.In rural areas the most effective way of dealing with the problem is spraying from the air but for most councils this is too costly and is seldom carried out.Insecticides transmitted in this way can also be highly dangerous to humans and livestock.

However these animals are very hazardous to people and their pets so the councils do need to come up with a solution of some sort.