Picudo Rojo, the Red Palm Weevil

On several occasions recently, I have noticed red palm weevils (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) flying across the garden. I have come across one or two dead ones on the tiles around the house, too, and just a couple of days ago I was able to capture a live one. I took it to La Torre garden centre to confirm that it was, indeed, a Picudo Rojo. This being the case, I bought some insecticide suitable for dealing with possible attacks by such creatures in young palms.

The insecticide that was recommended is called Insecticida Llanero, sold in a bottle of 100ml.This is different to that which I have been using up until now, which was made by Bayer and sold as a set of four individual doses of 2ml (Insecticida polivalente, with the specific announcement, "Protege las palmeras").

I have already been spraying the one young palm in our garden every few weeks for several months, as I was aware of the dangers of the Picudo Rojo, so hopefully our palm is relatively safe. If you are worried about your own palm(s)—and you should be, for the Picudo Rojo is a huge threat in this area—get some preventative spray, such as one of those mentioned above, and use it on each palm, thoroughly soaking the trunk, leaves and centre of the plant every ten days or so.

For more information (in English) on the Picudo Rojo, see this page in the Gardening in Spain website. The information dates from mid-2009, but is still relevant, though now it is thought better to bury infected palms at a depth of at least two metres, rather than burning them.

An interesting film, showing the unsightly, monstrous larvae of the Picudo Rojo can be seen here.

David Neale

Garden Rubbish

Since the election of the PP (Partido Popular) to power in Guardamar, the collection of garden rubbish in El Raso has been painfully inadequate. Rotting cuttings, branches, bags of garden debris and other unpleasantness have been allowed to build up at previously designated collection points. The once almost faithfully regular Wednesday morning collections ceased as soon as the PSOE lost their hold on the Ayuntamiento and the PP took over. Indeed, as far as I am aware, since that time, garden rubbish has been collected on just two occasions!

Now a notice has appeared on the rubbish bin adjacent to the collecting point for our community. No doubt similar notices have appeared elsewhere in El Raso. The notice is in both Spanish and English (well, a sort of English, though it looks to me as though Google had a lot to do with it). It basically states that, as from 1 October, garden rubbish will no longer be collected from the usual collecting points and that, instead, it must be brought to the "municipal plot," which appears from the GoogleMaps screenshot accompanying the notice to be opposite the ruined finca.

Click on the small image accompanying this entry to see a larger version of the notice.

Dare I suggest a new name for the Partido Popular? I hasten to add that it will entail no change to their PP logo: Prunings Prohibited.

David Neale

Paints and tiles

We have just arranged to have some painting done to the stonework of the windows. Fortunately, I was able to find the original information note that we received, regarding the colours of paints, types of tiles, etc: used during construction. (The note is written in Spanish, is dated 4 April 2007 and titled, Circular Informativa.)

The paints used for the outside of the house are listed as follos:

• Yellow: Rokiplas Albero No.4
• White: Super-luxe Mate-extra Antimoho

(I wonder if "Mate" is a spelling error and should be "Matte.")

The walls of the houses are not painted, so I suspect the white paint listed here is that used for the balustrades on the roof-terraces.

Tiles differ in the various houses, but I shall list here the information that I have, together with a photo to give you an idea of the tiles being referred to. Perhaps some other community members can provide references and even photos of other sorts of tiles.

Kitchen

• Wall-tile: FUT 25 x 40 E Blanco Relieve 02
• Border: EQU 8 x 25 E CFA Bahamas

Bathroom/toilet

• Wall-tile: CNU 25 x 40 E Travertino Marfil
• Border: EQU 8 x 25 E CFA Hiedra Brillo

Bathroom/toilet

• Wall-tile: CPA 25 x 40 E Jaca Gris
• Border: EQU 8 x 25 E CFA Augusta Azul
• Wall-tile: CPA 25 x 40 E Moka Azul

Floor

• Standard floor-tile: FUT 45 x 45 E Gres Entrago BG 01

Unfortunately, it seems that the makes of the tiles are not included in the above list. If I am able to discover the makes, I shall amend the list accordingly.

Hope this helps.

David Neale

Rasomar VI goes digital… más o menos

Members of the Rasomar VI community have already received an email from its president, George Corrigan, regarding the introduction of a centralised emailing system, the community's very own blog, and an online photo album. (If you haven't yet received the email, it's on its way, assuming George has your correct email address.)

The email system provides a single email address that should remain valid throughout future changes of presidency. It also provides an online history of emails, both sent and received, a history which will be accessible to future presidents. (On the election of a new president, that person will merely have to change the password to the email and blog system to have access to the community's email history and blog services.)

The blog is an attempt to generate more active interest in the community. It can contain announcements, news, information… anything that might be of interest to community members. Should you wish to have something published in the blog (you are reading just such a blog entry right now), simply send it to the new community email address, which you have received in a separate email message. Please remember that what you write will be read by people for whom English is not the first language, so colloquialisms should be avoided. If you wish to write in a language other than English, then please feel free to do so: I can provide translations to English from Dutch, French, German and Spanish (Italian at a pinch). You can provide photos to accompany your blog entry, as specified in the email you have already received.

As a final digital service, an online community photo album is offered. You have received details of how to provide photos for inclusion in this album. Use it for any collection of photos relating to an event, a day out, something of personal interest, or any other topic you might wish to share with the other members of the community.

The community blog and photo album will be accessible to anyone surfing the Web. As well as offering two hopefully useful services to the community, they will also help display the community to the rest of the world. This might be useful should you wish to sell your house, for example: point potential buyers to the two areas and they will be able to see what sort of community they will perhaps be joiniing.

Should you be wondering, these services are free; they cost the community nothing at all.

David Neale