As you can see, the new small supermarket at the back of Porto Fino not far from the Minimal cafe bar is now open.

Not sure whether it will generate enough business as the opening hours are very similar to Mercadona. Something like 9am to 9pm Monday to Saturday. The only difference it that it is also open on Sundays early in the day. From 10am to 2pm.

My guess is that they will soon realise that they will have to extend their opening hours if they want to generate enough trade to keep going in the long term.

Work is continuing just next door to Cajamar on Darsena 3. I was in the area using one of the few post boxes in town and had a chat to the people working in what used to be the paper shop. Apparently it is going to re-open as a parafarmacia.

Further to the earlier story here. Earlier this week I asked one of the people working on the fitting out of the shop when it was likely to open. He said mid-late April 2016.

From a glance through the door it does not look very big inside.

Perhaps it will be looking to open longer or different hours from Mercadona to try to take trade away from them?

Please note that the Poniente Golf Discount shop in Almerimar will be closing down on Friday 18 March 2016.

Golfers who want some bargains have 5 more days to buy things from the shop. Opening hours for the final week are 10:30 to 17:30 Monday - Friday.

The shop will not be open from Saturday 19 March onwards.

Last night four of us from the Friday Golf Society had a great evening in Defontina & Uva (one of the FGS sponsor restaurants).

We had a couple of excellent shared starters between 4, then the girls each had one of their D&A gourmet burgers. While Mr President and myself shared some shoulder of pork. All of the food was really good.

While there we discussed the idea of running an FGS tasting menu evening there later in the year (probably in the autumn). The boss of the place said he would be very happy to set this up for us. Probably sometime in October.

My guess is that Jacqui and I will be going back there again well before the autumn.

Work is continuing over the road from Mercadona. Just down from the driving instructor place and the fruit shop. They have now knocked some of the front out so it looks like a shop front will be going in soon. I wonder what it will be.

With the new Coviran supermarket being worked on at the other end of Porto Fino we are slowly seeing the empty spaces being filled up.

Looks like Mercadona is going to get a little competition. The sign here on one of the locals at the back of Porto Fino (close to Defontina y Uva) shows that a Covirán supermarket is opening up.

Jacqui was well enough yesterday to leave the house for a little while. She decided she wanted to go and take a look at the new Lidl.

I have to say I was quite impressed. The store stocks more products than the old one. It also has much wider aisles so it is much easier to walk around.

The car parking was also pretty good.

The only thing I think people have to watch out for is joining the roundabout when you exit the store. We nearly had an accident there yesterday. I will be much mare careful there from now on.

Just a quick mention of an FGS group dinner we has last Thursday. 39 of us had a special deal price for the "tasting menu" at the Ikari sushi bar in the golf hotel.

From the feedback that I have heard so far everyone really enjoyed themselves and said that there is a good chance that they will eat there again at some point.

I had to drive up to El Ejido for a meeting yesterday afternoon.

On the drive up there I noticed that there were signs up saying that Burger King has taken over the old Lidl building.

It shows you how busy I have been in the last few days. The new Lidl, just by the motorway, opened as scheduled last Thursday (28 January 2016). I have only just got around to seeing an article about the opening.

The article here on the Wiki Ejido site has more details.

Read More for a Google translation of the article.

Here is another Almerimar Valentine's Day offering I found on Facebook.

For a while now a number of people have told me that the set menu lunch in the Almerimar clubhouse is worth trying out. Last Thursday we had a golf match against Playa Serena Seniors after which almost 60 of us had a set menu lunch.

We had to choose from 3 starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts. All of them were very good indeed.

It is not the cheapest around. I believe it normally costs 18 euros a person and I think this includes 1 drink. This price is discounted by 10% if you purchase green fees in bulk from the course and have one of their "membership" cards.

You can certainly get a cheaper lunch elsewhere in Almerimar. However the setting and the quality of food may make this something for people to try out.

Here is the first Valentine's Day offering I have spotted for Almerimar this year.

Today I spotted an advert on one of the signs near the Poniente hospital saying that the new Lidl is due to open on 28 January 2016. They have certainly been working hard on the new building that is located between the old Lidl and the motorway.

Work is now underway on the changing of the layout of the pro-shop in the clubhouse at Almerimar. Builders are in the process of taking down all of the windows that currently surround the pro-shop.

Today you cannot get to the pro-shop and the noticeboard area via the steps to the right just as you enter the clubhouse. You have to use the downstairs entrance down the ramp just beyond the buggy storage area.

I am not sure how long it will take for the work to be completed.

I have just spotted the menu above from the new Ikari Sushi Bar on Facebook. Click on the image to open a larger version.

I had to call in to the chemist today to pick up some stuff for a cold I have got (loads of people have a cold/cough in Almerimar at the moment).

While driving there I spotted the sign in the picture above on the corner over the road from the back entrance into Yachting Golf. It says that the current Almerimar dentist is going to open a surgery there at some point.

Funnily enough I had a dentist appointment for today. When I went to see Antonio he said he is going to take his time getting the work done on his new place. To make sure it is done properly. He said that he expects to change locations sometime after the summer.

If anyone needs a dentist in the area both Jacqui and I can recommend Antonio. He has done a really good job for us over the years. You can find his currently surgery on the street close to the exit from the Mercadona car park. The phone number for the surgery is 950 497 715.

Mr President has been drumming up support for FGS from various partner businesses for 2016. While doing the rounds he has mentioned that Nautico is closed until February.

As usual various bars and restaurants are having some down time over the winter.

There is a sign in the window of the shop behind Alcor Properties on the road behind "the square". It says that there is a flower shop opening there sometime soon.