February 2009 news headlines

Stinks outside Scallops again

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Feb 28th
Customers at Scallops restaurant at the Arenal had to put up with sulphurous smells again last week while a crew busied itself cleaning out the new storm drain pipes which open to the sea near the restaurant. A cleaning bowser and compressor thundered away over three days while men went down manholes armed with cleaning scrapers and headlamps. A very smelly mixture of sand and rotting Posodonia grass was removed. Councillor in charge of the works, Toni Torres says that after cleaning the pipes they will be installing flap valves to prevent the further ingress of sea-water and accumulation of rotting material. For More see XAD: El emisor de pluviales..

Juvenile delinquency tops police Social Protection Unit workload

Feb 28th
The Social Protrection Unit of Xàbia police (La Unidad de Atención y Protección Social (UAPS)) has revealed its figures for 2008. Topping the list are problems with minors, including assault, consumption of drugs and alcohol, neglect, truancy, thefts and reports to Social Services. Cases of domestic violence are also a problem. Most of these are carried out by Spaniards, but Brits and Colombians lead the foreigners implicated. In addition there is the social problem of elderly foreign residents, mostly Brits, who are in need of care but who do not want to leave their homes.
From Las Provincias: Problemsa con menores...

Theives steal equipment and money from Arenal School

Feb 27th
Theives broke into the Arenal School, disabling the alarms and stealing audio-visual equipment and petty cash amounting to some 3000 Euros. They seem to have known the school well. This adds to a wave of recent robberies reported from the Port, Senioles, Tossal and the Old Town. The local police do not consider this to be an alarming situation.
From Las Provincias: Asaltan el Colegio...

800 demonstrators demand to be heard

Feb 26th

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Demonstrators bearing wreaths, a "coffin" and placards mourning the death of Xàbia Old Town began their march near the Post Office and gathered outside the Town Hall to coincide with the monthly plenary Council meeting. A representative read a letter explaining that seven months ago the Council had approved a ten point plan including moving the Thursday market back to the Plaza de la Consitución and demolishing the so-called "city wall" on on the Principé de Asturias. Nothing had happened. They also complained that new works undertaken through the State funded projects to counter the economic crisis were again affecting the Old Town as well as the Port and Arenal. One resident said: "we are not interested in politics or politicians, because they mean trouble and we want to live a quiet life." There were many calls for the Mayor to resign, but he declined.
For more see Xabia al Día 800 vecinos piden...

UK tourism campaign re-launched

Feb 25th
The Director General of the government's tourism promotion department, Turespaña, met this week with the head of tourism for Alicante Province to thrash out a plan that will see the Costa Blanca re-launched as a top tourist destination in the UK. See Costa Blanca News for more

Old Town folks organise a protest

Feb 24th
A protest meeting has been organised for Thursday Feb 26th at 5.00pm gathering outside the Post Office. Residents and Businesses of the Old Town say they are tired of the indifference of politicians to their requests. An agreement was ratified last August by the council which committed the executive to meet a number of requests. None of the points agreed has been met. For this reason, the associations have organised a protest and are considering filing a lawsuit. Fom XAD Comerciantes y vecinos.....

Bus routes back to the Old Town, Carnival celebrated and and bookie thieves nicked

Feb24th
As of Feb 23rd the hourly bus (from 8.00am to 8.00pm from Toscamar via Arenal and the Port) stops in the old town at Avenida Juan Carlos I and la plaza Marina Alta in the Old Town as before. On Saturday Xàbia celebtrated "Carnaval" (beginning of lent). Later police detained an 18 year old and two youths who robbed a "local de apuestas"..(which translates as a bookies) during the early hours of Sunday morning. (From Las Provincias)

Basura Tax reduced for 1400 Xàbia Pensioner households.

Feb 20th
Xàbia Town Council has already approved over 1,400 applications for the reduction of 50% in the rubbish collection tax. Approximately 60% of the total requests reported were from foreign residents and 40% nationals. Pensioners whose documenatation was incomplete will receive a letter asking them to rectify this within 10 days. Some 60 large families also qualified. From Press release.

Radar speed guns and and big fines for speeding

Feb 20th
From Activa Alicante Via Abusos No.
The DGT has purchased some 800 mobile radar Picasso patrol cars. These are models Citroen C3, C4 and C5. So take a look when you see a car with a deformed left back door : It houses a radar. The Civil Guard radar unit is amending its schedule and will fine drivers who travel over 133 km / h. on motorways. There is a complex table of fines and speeds. See speeding fines for details and photo of a radar car.

Mobile phone mast protests in Xàbia

Feb 19
Residents of Senioles and Pinomar have been protesting about the installation of mobile phone masts near their property, citing health concerns. Although there is no scientific evidence for a connection between ill health and microwave radiation from mobile phone masts, it is still a public concern. The masts are also rather ugly! See Las provincias: Residentes de senioles... and Vecinos de Pinomar...

Campaign for free parking at new Denia Hospital

Feb 19th
Parking fees at the new Marina Alta Hospital Beniadlà are to be charged both to patients and workers. A campaign for free parking has already collected 4000 signatures. The petition will be submitted to the Denia authorities next week. From Las provincias Aparcamiento del hospital...

Ecological Agriculture up in Spain while allotments are revived in UK

Feb 19th
For more see Allotments Revival

Euro MPs attack Spanish laws affecting expat home owners

Feb 15th - see also TypicallySpanish article on Auken report below.
Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday launched a new offensive against notorious Spanish land laws that continue to wreck the holiday-home dreams of Britons in the Valencia region.
See: Daily Telegraph

Xàbia interested in European aid

Feb 17th
Yesterday, Xàbia Mayor Eduardo Monfort, attended a conference on European funding for local bodies of the Comunidad Valenciana. Funding opportunities are offered at the municipal level in key areas such as education, promoting employment and welfare, waste management and energy efficiency. This meeting also served to share good practices experienced by other local authorities in Europe. From Press release

57 units of social housing allocated in Xàbia

Feb 16th
A total of 900 people applied for 57 low cost housing units in Javea. These units are being built by the Valencian Institute of Housing (IVVSA) near the Avenida Augusta and Parque Montaner. Applications were vetted, and then allocated by a lottery. The lucky ones now have the problem of finding money to pay the rent. From XAD El IVVEA sortea..

Time is running out for European residents in Spain to register to vote

Feb 16th
Only 10% of EU residents in Spain are currently registered to vote in European elections.
Figures were released this past week by the Electoral Census office detailing the number of European residents in Spain who are registered to vote in the upcoming European elections in June. In Spain there are 1,905,340 non-Spanish European residents of voting age, otherwise qualified to vote, of whom only 200,100 have declared their intention to vote in the elections, a shockingly low percentage of just 10.5%. From AUN Press Release. Click here for more, and instructions on how to register .

Proposed Spanish ammendments to critical E.U. report on town planning abuses thrown out

Feb 11th
See Typically Spanish

First batch of Xàbia Municipal Works awarded

Feb 12th
The first contracts for municipal works through State funding to combat the economic crisis have been awarded by lottery between competing local building firms. Camí de la Grava:18.000 euros - Roxaprom S.L. Fretxinal lighting: 41.000 euros Atanasio Blasco Cardona. La Soberana lighting: 41.000 euros - Vicente Ribes Bas Improving Sports facilities at Camp Municipal d’Esports: 20.000 euros - Construcciones y Reformas Jaima S.L. . (From press release)

Parking wins over pedestrians in the Old Town

7th February
In response to pressure from businesses in Xàbia covered market, the area nearby will be open to traffic every day except Saturday afternoon and Sundays, with some 30 parking spaces (time limited in some way). The Town Hall is also looking into moving the Thursday Market back to the Plaza de la Constitución, as requested by the townsfolk, though the traders are not so enthused with the idea.

Farewell soon to Plastic bags?

Feb 5th
Xàbia's Agenda21 Environment group is investigation the Plastic Bag issue and looking at a scheme to introduce attractive jute shopping bags both as a promotion for local businesses and environmental measure. For more in English see:
Farewell soon .... and this Wiki page on plastic bags

Guardia smashes Xàbia drugs ring

Feb 5th 2009
Following three months of investigation, a spectacular police operation on Feb 4th took place in the streets of Juan Gil Albert, Historiador Chabás, Benasau, Avenida Juan Carlos I, Avenida Augusta, Cristo del Mar, San Joaquín, En Finestrat, Arquitecto Urteaga, Metge José Bover and in Jávea Park. This resulted in the arrested of 10 people, mostly of Colombian origin for the distribution of cocaine in the municipality. This is considered a major bust. These people all formed part of a network linked to one dealer. Las Provincias: Una espectacular....

Hablemos kicks off despite the rain

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A fair proportion of the people who signed up for the conversational languange and cultural exchange turned up on 2nd February evening. Apparently there was a good deal of enthusiasm, but a preponderance of Englsih speakers over Castellano ones. Coordinators were chosen to arrange small group meetings. For details of how to join this initiative see article below.

Insurance consortium to compensate for storm damage

Feb 2nd 2009
The Consorcio de Compensaciones de Seguros, the body that handles major payments for insurance companies, has said it will be addressing claims made by people in the Marina Alta. The wind storm that swept the peninsula between 23 and January 25 reached over 135 km/hr in some places (including Xàbia), which automatically means that the Insurance Compensation Consortium will compensate for damage caused by strong gusts .
People affected should take photos of the storm damage and contact their insurance company. From XAD El consorcio de seguros....

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