Nov 7, 2012

Almudena Day (patron saint of Madrid) on November 9 Madrid’s regional holiday celebrating the feast of its patron saint, the Virgin of Almudena , is November 9; several cultural activities to participate in and enjoy are held around this day in and around Madrid. La Virgen de la Almudena has its history in a legend that begins with the Saint James...

Nov 3, 2012

Grow a moustache for prostate cancer As a sufferer of a prostate related chronic illness I would like to bring to your attention the following post I received yesterday from Ed Hamilton of Green Bean, a Financial and Business Coaching consultancy based in Barcelona, Spain about Movember, a charity event that challenges men to grow moustaches throughout November...

Oct 15, 2012

Annie B’s cooking holidays in Andalucia, Spain Annie B’s cooking holidays in Spain were born out of a passion for sharing the gourmet delights of Vejer de la Frontera and the surrounding areas, including its food, wine and Sherry, living in the charming and bewitchingly beautiful Pueblo Blanco of Vejer, and getting together with like-minded people while...

Letter to EU Competition Authorities (by email) re proposed settlement of agency eBook pricing model in Europe 21 September 2012 Dear Sr Alumnia, I see that the EU has reached a preliminary settlement with Apple and 4 publishers regarding the agency pricing model of eBooks in the European Union but that you are inviting comments from the industry and other...

Agency pricing of eBooks – who benefits? Originally published in August 2011 As a new player on the English language book and eBook block, Books4Spain, has been watching closely developments in the pricing of eBooks over the last year.  eBooks in fact have been at the centre of many of our programming issues since they have different VAT rates and...

Letter to EU Competition Commission re Amazon’s monopoly and eBook agency model Below is my email of 16 May to Joaquin Almunia, EU Competition Commissioner, re their investigation into the eBook agency pricing model (see my post Agency Pricing of eBook – Who Benefits?) and the fact that they should actually be investigating Amazon’s dominant...

Independent book shops going the same way as Oddbins?? (first posted August 2011) Another week and another step closer to the launch of Books4Spain  and whilst beavering away at my desk, today I listened to an interview on Radio 4 with James Daunt, of Daunt bookshops, and who is now trying to turn round Waterstones. As the creator of Books4Spain, what was...

Letter to Dept of Justice re Agency pricing and Amazon Here is the letter I wrote to the US Department of Justice in response to their request for submissions regarding their prosecution of Apple, MacMillan and Penguin re collusion in agreeing the agency model for ebooks.  My position is they are barking up the wrong tree – It is Amazon.com who they...