April 2009 News Headlines
Table of Contents

Negative NIMBY neighbours denounce decorative art

Unosvecinospidenques_665_5898.jpg

April 30th
The front of a commercial property in the Port has recently been decorated with a facade made of layers of recycled wood. Some residents of the area considered this to be unsightly and denounced it, asking for it to be removed, little knowing that this was the work of talented Xàbia artist, Álvaro Tamarit, who has recently exhibited at the Palau de la Música in Valencia. He specialises in using recycled materials in an art form he calls "Biodegradarte". The owner of the property felt that he should remove the artwork, but both the Councillor for Culture and the Mayor have expressed their support for the artist and asked him to reconsider, since the decoration is not illegal.. From XAD Unos vecinos piden que.... For more about the artist see: http://www.alvarotamarit.com/index2.htm

Town Hall approves cost overruns of 4.5 million Euros to ECISA

April 29th
ECISA (http://www.ecisa.es/) is the big construction company which built Xàbia's two underground car parks, the new ring road around the old town and the new Council buildings. Initial cost was to have been 18 million Euros. ECISA received compensation of 440,000 for not building an underground car park in the Port. It also has the car park rights for 40 years and we are now having to pay 4.5 million extra in project overruns. From Xabia al Dia : El Ayuntamiento aprueba... (More background information about this on this Wiki shortly)

Visit from twinned Thiviers

April 28th
Thiviers (France) has been twinned with Javea for thirty years and just over a year ago the Javiense formed an association called "Amics de Thiviers" http://www.thiviers-javea.com/ . This year the French are visiting Javea over the Jesus de Nazareno fiesta period. Activities will include a Pilota game, participation in the offering of the flowers, visiting the May crosses, enjoying the Xàbia folk concerts and dining on authentic local Cocas at Casa Pepe.
From XAD Visita de les Amis ...

Solar powered lights for the Green Recycling Points

April 23rd
Some of Xàbia's Green Recycling points are now lit at night by solar powered lights. These gather energy throughout the day, which is stored in a battery and can store enough energy to continue to function over three cloudy days. The lights come on at 8.00pm and then dim to a glimmer from 2 in the morning. Silvasol (which installed one of the lights) says that this type of light is becoming more popular, saves energy and requires no wiring. Each light costs 2000 Euros. Silvasol have presented a project to the Town Hall for the illumination of the windmills by Solar powered lights. The Town Hall is also looking at solar powered advertising panels. From XAD Xàbia instala sus primeras...

Talk on Wills and Inheritance

April 28th
The Foundation Cajamurcia and Xàbia's Town hall, are organizing an informative session for European residents in Spain on the topic:
" Testament (Wills) and Inheritance in Spain ".
The seminar, which will take place next Wednesday 6th of May at 5 p.m, in the Casa de Cultura, Javea, deals with the main questions related to wills as carried out in Spain, i.e. legal steps to be followed by the inheritors, the taxes and other expenses that have to be paid, as well as other matters of interest. This activity will be carried out in English and will consist of frequently asked questions on the topic. Afterwards participants are invited to raise any kind of questions or doubts, which will be answered by experts who will be present.
(Via Town Hall)

Signs of the Times

April 27th - a couple of news stories reflecting the times we live in..
The activity of gleaning left-overs after harvesting is on the increase. Levante ran a piece on people collecting potatoes from fields after the harvesters had passed. Although some were old hands, others were doing this to try and save a Euro or two. Levante also ran a double-page spread on shady areas in Valencia - places for drug peddling, areas where young people meet for street boozing, areas where it's best not to park your car, or some young "gorrilla" may come up and demand money to guard your vehicle.

Two million of the Valencia grant to be spent on the Arenal

April 24th
An extraordinary Xàbia Town Council plenary session agreed that two million Euros of the 6 million special stimulus grant from the Valencia government should be spent on improving the Arenal promenade. Other projects are road renovation (2.5 million)and the construction of a municipal library in the Port (1 million), as well as installing more underground rubbish containers (600,000) (from Press release)

Thursday market Stall Holders unhappy about pitch allocation

April 32rd
Xàbia's Thursday Mercadillo now sprawls from the Plaza de la Constitución through the Old Man's Roundabout and to the Ronda Sur. This is the closest thing to a compromise reached by the Town Hall and the Market traders. However some vendors are unhappy and they have submitted a letter to the Mayor demanding that the locations of stalls must be made on the basis of rational criteria and through a lottery before a notary. They argue that it does not make sense is that someone who has spent 25 years selling in Xàbia has now been assigned a worse position than one who has been there for only five. Neither does anyone take into account the number of people in the family, or if they are registered in Xàbia. These are just some of the criteria. The vendors remark that the number of clients has fallen off since the market moved to these new areas. See XAD Vendedores del mercadillo...

Xàbia Folk and Fiestas del Nazareno programme published

April23rd
The programme for these activities is now available for download (PDF in Castellano) from http://www.ajxabia.org/destacats/natzare.pdf. 23rd April to 9th May. Note: No parking in Avda de la Palmela car park on 23rd and 24th April due to Bull running.

Argy bargy in the Canal de la Fontana

April23rd
The canal de la Fontana is now under the control of the Valencian Government. However, it has no interest in managing the canal and the moorings itself, preferring instead to have a public tender to enable a company to do the work. The Director General of Ports, Carlos Eleno, visited Xàbia last week to explain their intention to develop a dry marina assocaied with the canal. The boat owners association, AEXAMAR has offered to take on this task rather than hand over control to a private company. They say they have a plan for refurbishment of the canal and would also finance dry docks (about 500 new berths). The Town hall would like to see some sort of joint venture. Negotiations are continuing. The whole picture is rather complicated see: Canal de la Fontana for maps and background information. For more (in Castellano see: Aexamar gestionara....

Antique market in the Old Town

April 22nd
Xàbia Old Town will host an antiques flea market to be held every Saturday starting in May. Paintings, antiques and second hand furniture will be on sale in the streets. The Asociación de Comerciantes del Centro Histórico asks interested sellers to contact them and apply for a stall, noting that the first month is free. There will be live music and other activities to complement the market . From XAD

Xàbia asks for economic aid from Alicante

April 21st
José Císcar, delegate from Alicante visited Xàbia as part of a fact finding mission to all municipalities in Alicante province. He heard the town's concerns about long pending projects such as the municipal swimming pool, auditorium and channeling the Frechinal gully. Councillors also raised the need for monetary assitance in equipping the newly completed music conservatory (opposite the social centre) whose building works valued at two million euros had been paid in full by municipal funds. Councillors form all political parties attended the meeting. (from Press release)

Controvery over Museum opening times during the holidays

April 21st
According to some, the Xàbia museums were too often closed during the Easter holiday period, and nothing (including) the Old Town Tourist Office was open on the Monday holiday. Here are the times things were actually open: Museo Arqueológico y Etnográfico Soler Blasco, Casa de Tena and la Casa del Cable, open in the mornings on Easter Thursday and Friday. On Saturday 11, open all day and Sunday 12th open in the morning and during the week followed normal hours. The only days when they were closed were the two Mondays, as is normal for all museums. Apparently these places received some 1254 visitors (from press release).

Promoting agriculture as a custodian of the land

April 19th
The "Terres Vives" programme organised by the Agriculture and Environment department of Dénia in collaboration with Avinença (a Valencian group for land conservation) seeks to enhance the role of agriculture as an economic activity in the Marina Alta, focusing on the importance of custodians of the land. A recent conference was held in the Posit de Dénia, with collaboration with Slow Food Marina Alta, Creama, the Fundación Baleària, the Parque Natural del Montgó, the Fundación Enrique Montoliu, CAM and La Caixa. The meeting was closed by the Marina Alta Slow Food Association. Vicent Martin explained some of the goals of this movement which was born in Italy. The group puts local farmers in contact with consumers, organising meals made with natural and local products. The philosophy emphasizes the importance of consuming local products, prepared according to traditional recipes, enjoyed slowly and in good company. For more in Castellano see: La custodia del territorio....

New Political grouping - "Xàbia Millora"

April19th
A new political group has launched its website and facebook group. They are starting off as an open forum: "We want to have the widest possible public participation, creating an open forum for everyone's concerns, suggestions for improvement, and to know what really concerns us in the creation of a better Xàbia." The group says it is young and untainted by the past, and if necessary will turn itself into a political alternative. See: http://www.xabiamillora.com/index.htm for more (in Castellano). From Thursday 23rd April they will meet every Thursday at Casa nº 8, Calle San Bertomeu ( next to Bar la Rebotica - Old Town ), from 20:30h

Holiday Rentals most stable sector

April 19th
Easter Holiday rentals in the Marina Alta were a little higher than in 2008, at about 80% occupancy. Tenants were mostly national, the majority coming from Valencia or Madrid, but with some visitors from other regions of Spain. Northen Europeans such as Dutch French and Germans booked stays of two weeks.
Las Provincias: El alquiler turistico....

Dramatised guided tours attract 50

April19th
Dramatised guided tours of the old town entitled "The Treasure of Xàbia" drew an interested audience of 50 people over the Easter holidays. Three actors played the parts of pirates and privateers, the architect Domingo Urtega, Sant Vicent Ferrer, Antonio Bolufer and a French soldier. The historical dramatised tours will run throughout the year. Next tour will be on Saturday May 16. In "The Treasure of Xàbia" audience and actors join in a treasure hunt for Iberian treasure which was lost for centuries until its discovery in 1904. This Xàbia's most famous historical relic Las Provincias: Medio centenar...

Easter Tourism holds up despite crisis

April 15th
Despite the poor weather over Easter, hotel occupancy in Denia and Benidorm held up. The number of Brit visitors was down (probably due to the unfavourable exchange rate), but numbers of Eurozone
visitors were good. Shortfall in foreign visitors was made up by a good turnout by nationals. There were many cheap hotel deals with discounts of 25%. In Benidorm one offer was 400 Euros for four
people for four nights. Many shops remained open over the holiday period and events such as the Artesan fair in Xàbia were a draw for visitors. Figures for Xàbia will not be available until we have the rubbish collection and water consumption data. Most occupancy here is in flats and houses, not hotels.
From Levante Print edition and Las Provincias.

Xabia Police must find new offices.

April15th
The Xàbia Police force and its resources have outgrown their present facilities (designed for 25 officers, there are now 86) and are too big for the new Town Hall quarters in Portal del Clot. One suggestion is to build a new police station on the location of the current free car park/market square near Avda Las Palmeras, but this would be costly. Another problem with the police force is a
high turnover of officers (who leave to go to higher paid jobs elsewhere) from Las Provincias: La Policía local.....

Spanish Banks seek ways to sell property dumped on their books amid slump

April 13th
Banks have found themselves with an unwanted surplus of real estate assets on their hands and lenders are offering advantageous deals to their own clients and employees. No one is saying how much property has been accepted in lieu of repayment. For more form El Pais in English see: Banks sell property

18,000 Euro tree causes controversy

April 11th
Xàbia Town Hall has spent more than 18,000 Euros on a Magnolia tree which has been planted on top of the Portal del Clot Car Park. The original died and had to be replaced. This tree has attracted much criticism on account of its cost, and the fact that Magnolia is not an indigenous species but American.

European Residents enjoy cultural trip to Crevillent

April 11th
On Good Friday, forty five European residents of Xàbia took advantage of an invitation from the Diputación de Alicante to travel by coach to Crevillente to view the Easter procession and learn more about regional culture. See Trip to Crevillent

Decree takes shine off solar industry

April 8th 2009
Photovoltaic equipment manufacturers are cuffed by government constraints and delays in approving licenses for projects are the bane of PV equipment producers. For more from El pais (in English) see Trouble in the Solar Power Industry

The 2009 budget for Xàbia is 16.50% higher than last year

April 8th
The Town Hall has approved the municipal budget for the year 2009. At nearly 41 million euros this is an increase of 16.50% over the previous year. The opposition voted against, arguing that the debt will leave the Council with no leeway, that insufficient effort had been made on savingsand that and that the spending does not take into account investments to stimulate the local economy. See Budget 2009 for more details.

Conselleria investigates dead barracuda in Xàbia bay

April 8th
Over the past couple of weeks, dead and dying barracuda have been washed up on the beaches of Xàbia bay, particularly around the port. The Regional environmental authorities are investigating. Press reports have focused on possible pollution however, since the fish kill is specific to a single species, it is more likely that disease is the cause. (From Levante Print edition and CBJ professional experience!)

Communal Urban Gardens catch on in Spain

April 6th
Taking the lead from London and the United States, more and more of Spain’s inner city residents are implanting the tradition of allotments — plots of land leased or loaned free by the local authority for those without a garden of their own, but who want to get some soil under their fingernails and taste the fruits of their labor. Fro more from El Pais (In English see) Communal Urban Gardens

Seize the day and remodel the Valencian Economy !

April 5th
The Asociación Valenciana de Empresarios (AVE) (Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs) has called on the regional Government to promote a new, sustainable, model of economic development. Since 2003 AVE has warned about the "the unsustainable growth model" of Valencia, based on construction and low value services as the main economic engines, with a decline in industry and weak development of knowledge based activities. The Valencian Community grew by only 0.5% in 2008, the lowest rate among the regions. Now is the time to change the model and the catalyst of this process should be the Government.
From Información.es AVE insta...

Luxury boats at knock-down prices

April 5th
The economic crisis has hit the boat and charter market. You can now hire a catamaran sleeping 10 persons for a week for 1,800 Euros. The cheapest charters are down to 25 Euros per person per day. Prices of boats have also been hit and reductions of 20% to 50% are available.
From Levante print edition

Dramatised guided tours of the Old Town

April 3rd
As of April 9th the Town Hall is organising a series of guided tours of the Old Town, dramatising its history by means of street theatre. The first such tour will be Thursday April 9th at 7.00pm. The language will be Castellano. Price €2, places limited to 40. Booking at Tourist Offices necessary.The possibility of offering these tours in other languages will be explored for next year. Personajes historicos...
From XAD

Xàbia Agenda21 forum provides input to Council's projects

April 3rd
Over the past few months, members of Agenda 21 have been working in small groups on various topics. These include a campaign to introduce jute shopping bags to the town. These will be printed with the words "Xàbia ecológica" and serve both as a promotion for the municipality and its green credentials, and to help people to move away from the use of plastic bags. This idea was greeted enthusiastically at the forum meeting on March 31st. The Town hall has already pledged 500 Euros and will talk to the three Business Associations. A paper on alternatives for Port Expansion was prepared to support the Town's case rejecting Port expansion in Brussels. The Environment group carried out a literature survey on the possible health issues associated with phone mast radiation. (An English version of one of the reports is available on XAD: Fear of Phone Masts ). This has helped the Town Hall to disseminate balanced, impartial information about this issue. The Tourism group suggested developing tourism events specific to Javea (e.g. a fish food festival in the Port) and improvements to the printed guides and information signs for tourists. It is hoped that these and other initiatives will be followed up. For more (in Castellano See El foro pide...

Two markets for Xàbia on Thursday

April3rd
The street traders and town hall have yet to come to a final agreement about the location(s) of the Thursday mercadillo. However on Thursday April 9th they will try out an experimental arrangement. Food and Veg in the Plaza de la Constitución (the square opposite the police station and health centre north of the old town) and clothes etc. in the car park near Avda de la Palmela (i.e. where the entire market has been located over the past few years, south of the Old Town) From Levante Print Edition

Generalities but no Specifics on proposal for Xàbia sewerage network

April 3rd
The preliminary presentation relating to proposals to connect the entire Xàbia municipality to the sewerage network was long on generalities and short on specifics. Representatives of Acciona talked about the global long term water shortage problem; their company's ideas for sustainable desalination using wind to generate electricity (interesting, but not relevant), on the need to moderate water use and how to maintain sewers and drains. Everyone received a complementary bottle of Javea water (from the desalination plant, left over from the 2008 Zaragoza Expo) and an automatic plant pot waterer. Afterwards there was a cocktail with wine and nibbles. For a map of the sewerage network see Xabia sewerage. More briefings are planned.

Teulada publishes a guide for builders

April 2nd
Teulada has published a guide describing the basic steps and requirements necessary for construction in their municipality. It is in Spanish, English, French and German. The English version can be downloaded from http://www.teulada-moraira.org/HomeTeulada.aspx?idioma=Ingles&canal=11 . Click on "Background documentational" (menu on left panel), then "Guia básica construcción" (in the middle of the page), then download "Guía en inglés"
(Info from XAD)

Xàbia Port Project "on standy"

April 1st
The Valencia authorities are pushing ahead with the development of Denia port, but the proposal for Xàbia Port is now described variously as being "on ice", delayed, and "on standby" because of local opposition and bugetary constraints.
From Levante print edition

Xàbia studies the establishment of a sewage network throughout the entire municipality

March 31st / April 1st.
In view of the necessity to address the problem generated by the discharge of waste water in Xàbia the Council has commissioned a preliminary analysis to understand roughly how to deploy a sanitation network for the entire municipality and its cost, which is estimated to be between 40 and 60 million Euros. The Mayor beleves that this is the right time to obtain grant funding and that the project will protect the sub-soil and ground-water from further pollution from septic tanks and not-so-septic tanks, as well as provide local employment. Thursday's April 2nd talk will be to initiate public debate and will be given by the water company responsible for the desalination plant (ACCIONA). Last year some 1,650,000 was paid in charges for sewage treatment, though many urbanisations are not yet connected to the sewerage network. From press release and Levante print edition.. For more about this talk see Primer on plans .

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