January 2016 News Headlines

Granadella pine trees suffer from attacks by boring insects

Jan 29th
Town hall teams are working in the area of ​​Granadella to try to limit and curb the spread of the plague of "Tomicus" a boring insect which weaken dry pines . When that occurs there is no other choice but to cut the affected trees. The lack of rain and high temperaturesover the winter have weakened the pines and facilitated the expansion of this insect. From La Marina Plaza

Xàbia Town Council rejects development plant for the "Huertos the Montgó"

Jan 29th
The town council has finally officially rejected the plan to develop one of the remaining large areas for building in the municipality (for details see: Huertos del Montgó plan rejected). The only course for the developers now is the courts (from XAD

Struggle to get noticed at FITUR tourism fair

Jan 29th
Many of the municipalities in this area are grumbling that they don't get enough exposure under the marketing brand of the "Costa Blanca" at the FITUR international tourism trade fair in Madrid. Emphasis has been on Alicante (with confusion between the city and province) and Calpe.. So the Mayors of Denia, Xàbia Pedreguer, Pego and others are looking to create a brand for the Marina Alta. From: La Marina Plaza

Record tourism brings boost to Spain's economic recovery

Jan 29th
Spain's economy rose 3.2 percent in 2015, official figures showed on Friday. There was a record drop in unemployment which fell by 678,200 and 68.1 million tourists visited Spain. According to the central bank, growth was boosted by domestic demand, a healthy tourism sector that represents some 14 percent of Spain's GDP and external factors such as weak interest rates in the eurozone and a plunge in oil prices. For full story see: The Local.es

Yet another development plan for the Saladar

Jan 22nd
The 97 owners of land in the Saladar have come up with yet another plan to develop this area. This time it is of a "Sports City" comprised of 1000 houses, two luxury hotels, sports fields and an athletics circuit, backed by British investors. They have several hurdles to overcome. Firstly, the area, which is a former wetland, has been designated a flood prone area by the regional flood management plan, PATRICOVA (the owners say the plan incorporated two large drainage channels which empty near the southern end of the Arenal beach) ; secondly it is within 500 metres from the sea and within the coastal protection zone PATIVEL. Thirdly areas below sea level are not supposed to be built on (the owners say the lowest point is 1.72 metres above sea level)…fourthly, the Town hall is against such macro-urbanisation. From La Marina Plaza For background to the story see: Saladar

Xabia promotes itself as a diving destination

Jan 20
Xàbia will be promoting itself as an all-year round diving destination at the FITUR Tourism Fair in Madrid this week along with the Montgó Rock music festival which will be taking place in May. An elegant dive guide has been launched under the slogan "Submérgete en un mar de vida" - Dive into a sea of life - in which there are a number of reviews with photos, texts and infographics which showcase the 25 kilometres of our coastline, the marine reserve and the 22 dives recommended by the municipality's seven diving clubs, a sector that has been involved in all the positioning strategy and has endorsed the launch of the initiative. More than 30,000 dives were registered in the bay of Xàbia last year of which more than half took place outside of the high season of July and August. For full story see: Javeamigos

Here's the promotional video - pity there are (at the time of writing) no subtitles in English or other languages

Bull running in the streets loses best chance of long term protection

Jan 17th
The federations of the "Peñas de Bous al Carrer" had been hoping to have bull running designated as a "BIC" (Bien de Interés Cultural) - and item of Cultural interest . With this status it would have been protected from any moves to ban the activity. However, growing protests about the activity combined with a leftwing government in Valencia has meant that this request had been turned down. From: Las Provincias

Chairman of Montgó park governing board an eco-activist

Jan 17th
As a startling break with past precedent, where chairmanship of the the Montgó Natural Park Governing Board has been given to politicians, the Valencia Government has appointed Juan Sola, who not a member of any political party. He is spokesman for "Acció Ecologista Agró" ( http://www.accioecologista-agro.org/) in the Marina Alta - an ecological activist group and who has for years been something of a Don Quixote in his relentless defence of the Natural Park. From the day the park was protected, he has led , often alone, many battles to protect its integrity. from La Marina Plaza

Xàbia starts off process to build new auditorium

Jan 17th
Xàbia Town Hall will be bringing a modification of loans worth 93,000 euros to the next Treasury information committee which will begin the process to build a new auditorium for the municipality. This will serve to contract the drafting of specifications and the project for the cultural building. The modification will be formalised at the January plenary session with the local executive now committed to accelerate the procedures for the building of the new auditorium, a project estimated to cost €2.3 million which was announced last November after the Ayuntamiento admitted that it had decided to put the renovation of the Central Cinema on hold indefinitely. For full story see: Javeamigos

Xàbia's Advisory Committees for Tourism and Economic Development merged

Jan 17th
A new body of citizen participation has been formed to involve business people in the planning of economic policies and promotion of Xàbia. This has been achieved by the merging of two advisory panels for Economic Development and Tourism which had worked separately during the last legislature. The members of the new body met at the Ayuntamiento de Xàbia with the merger demonstrating that tourism has been considered as the mainstay of the local economy. For full story see: Javeamigos

Xàbia reimbursed €2.8 million

Jan 11th
A long-running dispute over compensation for land in Cansalades has finally been settled by the supreme court, which annulled a previous requirement for the town hall to pay compensation for not having expropriated a big chunk of green zone land. The land owners had initially demanded €10 million, but earlier rulings put the value at 2.8 million. The upshot of the matter is that something over €2.8 million will be returned to the Town Hall's coffers. From : Xàbia al Dia

Warm Winter hits fruits and vegetables

Jan 11th
The atypically high winter temperatures and on-going drought are causing diverse problems with agriculture in the Comunidad Valenciana: Artichokes, lettuces and cauliflowers need cold nights to harden off and growers expect a 50% reduction in quality; peaches also need cold nights to develop properly; some citrus fruits , notably mandarins have been over-ripening; Almonds have flowered early and a late cold snap could adversely affect the crop. Lack of rain means that growers need to spend more on irrigation and warm weather has encouraged more pests, so more expense on pesticides. From Las Provincias Sunday Print Edition. There are also reports that the Pine Processionary caterpillar is early this year: Diarioiformacion

Fishermen reject developer's offer to leave the port

Jan 9th
Xàbia fishermen met in the Posit of Xabia and voted to reject the offer by developers of €500,000 to abandon their berths in the Port. 4 voted to accept the offer, one abstained and five voted for rejection. From Las Provincias: Pescadores...

Xabia town hall to fight to retain fishing fleet in the Port

Jan 5th
Xàbia Town Hall cannot not conceive of a future port without fishermen. The mayor Jose Chulvi said that "we will take all actions necessary" to keep fishing in the dock. Developers had made moves to get rid of the fishing fleet (see story: "The End of Commercial fishing .. December 2015) but Chulvi considers the activity to give the port uniqueness and identity. The port's future depends on the Valencia government. But Chulvi said that "we are in constant contact with the Councillor for Infrastructure [Maria Jose Salvador], who has already told us that nothing will be done in the port which Xàbia does not want." The current draft project of Valencia expects to retain the fishing harbor in its current location. From : La Marina Plaza.

Driest December in the last 40 years

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Jan 5th
Spanish Met Office figures reveal that December 2015 was the warmest and driest in the Marina Alta over the last 40 years, with rainfall in Xàbia being 95% below the average. December was also the warmest year since 1950 with an average temperature of 2.3 degrees higher than usual. From: La Marina Plaza (Eds note: In a releated development, the area has been put under fire alert due to dry conditions combined with high winds (LaMarinaPlaza

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