As I suspect is the case in most cities, the city of Alicante has a feral cat population. These two notices are attached to a fenced-in undeveloped area near us. We have seen cats in this area (see pictures).
Translation of the signs:
Cats are territorial animals with a lot of attachment to the place where they live. Although the ideal would be that there were no cats on the street, many municipalities maintain cat colonies. The urban environment is considered hostile to an animal that has been domesticated for almost ten thousand years. Cat colonies are managed using the CER method: capture, sterilization, and return. In this way, both the felines and the rest of the urban biodiversity benefit.
The main objective of the management of feline colonies using the CER method is to prevent animals from reproducing and to gradually reduce the number of cats on the streets.
Cats are expert hunters. To prevent them from harming other animals in their environment and to reduce the number of cats on the street, it is essential not to abandon them. Only in this way, the management protocols that are being carried out in the colonies can bear fruit in the near future. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the best option for social cats, mainly those who live in animal protectors, is to find them a home where they are adopted.
And …
Registered feline colony
Fed and controlled by responsible persons registered in the municipal database.
Feeding by unregistered outsiders is not allowed, and this action may be punishable.
If you have any questions, please contact the animal protection department.
In general, I do not like graffiti. Most of it looks pretty ugly and messy but I liked the one in this picture. I think Kepacha is the name of a local band.
A while back we had a post about the bureaucracy involved
here. We had a tough time getting an appointment to get our TIE’s (tarjeta de
identidad de extranjero = foreigner identity card) until we figured out the
secret. I’m happy to report that we both have our cards now. This is a picture of Dennis waiting in line
outside the office of the National Police in Alicante to get his fingerprints
done and submit his paperwork. The sad
part is that our cards expire when our visas expire (one year from arrival, so
January 16th 2026) and soon we need to apply for a renewal of our
visas and then go through the process of renewing the TIEs.
Another item on our current radar is getting Spanish driver’s licenses. It is a 2-part process. First, you have to take a written driving theory test (30 multiple choice questions). We have a book and an on-line study guide for that. Once you pass the written test then you sign up with a driving school for practical driving lessons. I’ve seen different information on this but I think that you have to take at least 5 lessons even if you are an experienced driver. The driving school arranges your driving test with the DGT (equivalent of the DMV) and you use their car for the test (because it has controls on the front passenger side that the instructor can use if necessary). An interesting thing I noticed when walking around is that the “STOP” signs are the same as in the US, and are in English. This is another effect of being in the EU – the signage is supposed to be uniform throughout the EU and the agreed upon language for stop signs is English. There aren’t many (any?) other signs that use words other than place names.
I include this picture just because I like that the word for
retirement in Spanish is jubilación.
Finally, there seems to be a fall season for some of the
flowering trees. I learned that my
favorite Jacaranda trees (the purple flowers) bloom in the spring, and again in
the fall. I don’t know what the pink or yellow ones are, but the close up of
the yellow one is very pretty.
