November 2011 News Headlines

Call to turn the Riurau into a visitors centre about the raisin industry

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Nov 29th
The cultural association Xàbia Viva has suggested that the riurau d'Arnaud , which was relocated from the Golf club area to the Montaner Park (avove the Thursday market) with funds from Plan E , should be put to good use. Inspiration came after a recent visit to the Monastery of St. Jerome of Cotalba in Alfauir and the neighboring town of Rótova. This has a vistor's centre on the raisin industry which is an important part of the agricultural history of the region. It happens that a major part of photographic and audiovisual material used in Rótova comes from Javea and that it had been developed in collaboration with Jávea's municipal archaeologist, Ximo Bolufer. Xàbia Viva thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of underutilized riurau to create a centre here so that tourists do not have to travel to Rótova to know the history of Javea and its raisin trade . They would also like to see training in building restoration techniques for young people. From XAD: Xàbia Viva propone... In Las Provincias, it was noted that the riurau d'Arnaud would need to have its roof built, and that lack of funds is a problem.

Montañar pebble beach regenerated

Two birds killed with one stone

Nov 29
The national division of coasts (Costas) and Jávea Town Hall have arranged to deposit loads of fill to repair the pebble beach of Montañar, damaged in the recent bad weather. The fill has been sourced from the a section of the Rio Girona near Beniarbeig which tends to accumulate deposits. By law, deposits removed form the river have to be used either in the same water course, or to regenerate nearby eroded beaches. From XAD Regeneran un tramo....

AMJASA to subcontract local plumbers to deal with leaks

Nov 30th
The AMJASA board met with the local plumbers uniion and explained that the company does not have the provision to increase its work force, so they will instead subcontract leak repairs and installation of new water meters to local plumbers. Leaks waste some 40% of the water in the distribution system. From XAD: Amjasa subcontratra....

Jávea saves 99.6% at tourism trade fair

Nov 28th
Last year, Jávea's stand at the Valladolid tourism fair cost €24,000. This year, it cost only €100, a savging of 99.6%. This was because the town's Tourism department chose to exhibit on a 2m wide stand under the banner of the Costa Blanca, rather than on its own. Apparently the stand received many visitors, especially at the weekend. From XAD: Xàbia ahorra..

Controversial changes to rubbish collection in Adsubia residential area

You can't please everyone all of the time

Nov 29th
The streets in the Adsubia area are narrow, precluding the use of CESPA's side-loading rubbish lorries. Therefore to date, a back-loader has been used to collect rubbish from road side containers. The Town Hall has now set up a recycling point on an empty plot at the corner of the cabo de la Nao road and Calle Flor de Neu and removed the roadside containers. Residents complain that previously they only had to walk a maximum of 300m to deposit their rubbish. Now, they have to drive. The Services department realises that not everyone will be happy, but there are relatively few residents in the area the new arrangements will reduce costs by getting rid of the rear loading truck. From XAD: Ultimos contenedores...

Javea grants 8,400 euros to associations for people with disabilities

28 Nov
Javea's executive board has approved cooperation agreements with three regional associations for people with disabilities, namely the Association of People with Disabilities in the Marina Alta (ADIMA), the Association for the Mentally Handicapped Marina Alta (APROSDECO ) and the Friends of the Marina Alta to Aid the Mentally Ill (AMADEM), each of which receive €2,800 from the Ayuntamiento. Also approved were grants to several schools and colleges in the municipality: Antoni Llidó (€1,102), IES No. 1 (€1,102), Arenal school (€964) and Trenc d'Alba school (€964). All the local schools receive these grants, although the agreements are signed in stages. From Press Release

Regional police forces get together

Plans to share communications and resources

Nov 25th
Javea hosted the first meeting of Marina Alta Public Safety officials in an initiative by Javea Councillor for Public Safety, Juan Ortolá. The meeting was attended by representatives of the 13 Local Police forces in the region, and their corresponding Councillors. The meeting committed to work together and created several working committees. They plan to share communications through radio telephones and the new 112 network, (COMDES), to coordinate local security plans and establish cooperation agreements to cater for special needs, large events and emergencies. They will also consider the unification and joint editing of public information material, improving relations with the foreign residents and promoting a system of alerts to businesses through mobile messaging. Finally, information campaigns, targeting both the school-age population (about the risks in violence, drugs and alcohol, gangs and bullying) and senior citizens (con men, danger of estufas) and the feasibility of centralizing the purchase of material, vehicles and other resources will be examined.
Of the 33 municipalities that make up the Marina Alta, 13 of them have their own local police force, with a total of 462 officers. These agents serve a total population of 183,041 inhabitants, with a ratio of 2.52 police officers per one thousand people, which is higher than the average figure for the province.
From Press release.

Spain Regions Surprise With Small 3Q Budget Surplus

Nov 29
Spain's regional authorities posted an unexpected EUR192.7 million surplus in the third quarter, evidence that strong austerity measures are stabilizing public finances, the government said Monday. For the first nine months of the year, the regions' budget deficit amounted to 1.19% of Spain's gross domestic product, a small decrease from the 1.2% deficit recorded in the first half. Spain's 17 regions are targeting a budget deficit equal to 1.3% of GDP in 2011, part of an overall deficit of 6% in 2011, down from 9.2% last year. From Wall Street JournalWall Street Journal

Regions to shore up finances with drastic 2012 budget cuts

Nov 28th
Faced with growing pressure from Madrid to reduce their deficits, regional governments are planning significant cutbacks in public works investment for 2012. Twelve out of the 17 semi-autonomous regions that make up Spain have drafted or finalized their budgets, and these show an average 14-percent cut in public money for infrastructure, or 1.7 billion euros less than this year. For full article see: El País in English

No car parking on the coast ! warning from Costas

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Nov 24th
According to Las Provincias, the Director General of Coasts (Ministry of the Environment) has sent a letter, accompanied with aerial photos to Jávea Town Hall ordering the town to prohibit cars parking on the coastal strip next to the Parador, up to the location of the second chiringuito. They also want cars to be prohibited from parking close to the sea at Granadella, including the section of river-bed closest to the sea. From Las Provincias: Costas prohibe.... Note: The mayor later explained that Costas had issued the warning to avoid crowding in specific areas and that the Town Hall has no power to impose fines on coastal land which is outside their remit.

Ecopark Opening times changed.

Nov 27th
The opening times of the municipal eco-park located on the Cami de les Sorts are to be changed as part of a cost-saving policy. Previously the schedule was from 8.00 am to 8.00pm Monday to Saturday. Now, having studied patterns of use it will be open from 9am to 13:30pm and from 4.00pm til 6.00pm (extended to 8.00pm in the summer). For more on changes to the CESPA rubbish collection contract see: New Cespa contract 2011

Spain will be fixed in a decade

Nov 27th
Founder of Jazztel, Ya.com and now Fon , entreprenueur Martin Varsavsky analyses Spain's economic problems - and solutions in a fascinating article on his blog. Here's a quote:

Since I spend a third of the year in Spain, and the other two thirds in the rest of Europe, the USA, Latin America and Asia, I can see that there are problems pertaining to Spain that are intrinsically Spanish, seemingly of culture and education or lack thereof. At the same time, there are a number of Spanish virtues that are intrinsically Spanish and will help us get out of the crisis. For example, Spanish people are less likely to believe in utopias and know how to tighten their belt during tough times. They are also more realistic as voters and citizens. Zapatero was bad, Rajoy is mediocre, but at least we didn’t have a criminal like Berlusconi as president.

However, one of the biggest flaws of the Spanish culture is its difficulty to produce excellence, and excellence is the only thing that will lead to recovery in the long term. I could give many examples of this, but the most obvious one are the Spanish universities that are incredibly bad on an international level, they don’t show up in any of the meaningful rankings. We have the 12th largest economy in the world, yet we have nothing to show for in the educational field except for some private universities like IE and IESE.

For entire article see: The Euro will be fixed in six months....

Javea's Councillor for Foreign Residents attends the “Alicante European Dialogues” conference

23 Nov
Councillor for Foreign Residents, Oscar Antón, attended the Alicante European Dialogues Conference held this week in Calpe. This forum, organised by the Provincial Council of Alicante (Diputación), addressed the social and economic effects caused by the migration of European residents in the province of Alicante, which is the Spanish province with the largest number of foreign residents coming from other European countries. The conference addressed the issue of the ageing population of this collective, which already exceeds 50% of many municipal censuses, the majority of whom are mostly pensioners and highly involved in groups and associations. In addition to councillors from various municipalities in Alicante with large European expat populations (such as Javea), the Consul of Belgium and the British vice-consul also attended the conference. From Press Release.

Javea Town Council approves the 2012 budgets

November 23rd
At Tuesday evening’s extraordinary plenary session, the Javea City Council approved the general budget for 2012, amounting to 38,877,675 euros, as well as that of the municipal water company, AMJASA, adding another 8,390,000 euros. The budget was passed with the votes in favour of the coalition parties (PSPV, Xabia Democratica and Ciudadanos por Javea) and with the support of the two councillors of the unassigned group (Ex Nueva Jávea). The PP abstained and Bloc Centristes voted against. For budget detail see: Budget 2012

Prior to this, an amendment had been discussed which included the projects chosen by the Agenda 21 under the investments heading. This reflected the approach of the ruling coaltion to support public participation. The choices of the citizens made in the recent Agenda21 meeting were reflected in the investment section of the General Budget for a total of 430,000 euros. The political groups approved this amendment unanimously. From Press Release.

Amjasa calls a meeting with all Jávea plumbers

Aim is to improve communication and discuss the town's integrated water management

Nov 22nd
The board of AMJASA has called a meeting for Monday 28th November, inviting all plumbers in the municipality. The meeting is at 6.00pm at the desalination plant and is open to all professionals. The aims of this meeting are to update everyone on the water supply situation in Javea, to open communication channels and ask opinions on how to improve the service and also explain the Town Hall's intention to promote integrated water managemnt in the town. AMJASA is also planning to meet with farm managers shortly. From Press Release. See also XAD: AMJASA convoca...

Javea to constitute the Children’s Participatory Council

Nov 23rd
The Javea Town Council will formally constitute the Children’s Council (Consell dels Xiquets) this Sunday November 27. This new body of local participation is intended to be the voice of the youngest members of our society and will serve to channel their demands and wishes to the Town Council. The 22 members, ages 10 to 12, have been chosen by ballot vote among the 422 students enrolled in grades 5 and 6 of primary school and grade 1 of secondary school of all the Javea schools: primary schools Vicente Tena, Graüll, Trenc d'Alba, Port, Maria Immaculada and Xabia International College; and the secondary schools Numero 1 and Antoni Llido.The Consell dels Xiquets is a project is a parallel body to the Agenda 21 that seeks to involve children and young people in the building of their town and giving them first-hand experience in the exercise of their rights and obligations as autonomous and participating citizens. From Press Release. For more details see: Children's Council

Jávea collects over 100,000 kilos of old clothes

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Nov 22nd
The Xàbia Services department has seen a significant increase in the amount of used clothing placed in the "Third World" containers in the municipality. If you take the January to September figures, these were 60,000 kilos for 2010, while they rose to 80,000 kilos for 2011, an estimated 26% increase. The estimated total for the year is therefore in the region of 110,000 kilos of clothing and footwear (last year 88,000 kilos). If these clothes were thrown into the organic trash bins, the Town would have had to pay about € 6,500 to dispose of them as garbage. Thus money has been saved while at the same time the NGO "Humana" (Humana People to People Foundation) sells the servicable clothes in second hand shops or in small African businesses, while the rags etc. are recycled by specialist companies. From Press Release. and XAD:El ayuntamiento.... For more about "Humana" in English see their website

Town Hall to contribute 45,000 euros to the APASA

Port Trade Association receives its first municipal grant

Nov 21st.
At the Executive Board meeting of the Javea Town Council held today, a new cooperation agreement with the Port Trade Association was approved for 5,000 Euros, to be used by the association for revitalization and promotion activities for their businesses. According to the Councillor for Economic Development, Juan Luis Cardona, this is the first time that the Town Hall has given financial support to the business community of the Port, which has been demanding this help for years. Another agreement approved at this meeting will benefit the Asociación Protectora de Animales San Antonio (APASA) - (the Animal Protection Association of San Antonio) -, which will receive 45,000 Euros a year for picking up the stray animals in Javea and taking them into their kennels until adoption (initially reported as 54,000 in error) Finally, in two separate agreements the Town Council granted 2,753 Euros respectively to the two associations of Retirees and Pensioners of the municipality, the Amanecer in the Old Town and the association in the Port. From Press Release

Jávea business associations organise fund raising for Horn of Africa famine

Nov 18th
The three Jávea business associations (Old Town, Port and Arenal) are joining forces with the Red Cross and Town Hall on a campaign to raise funds to fight famine in the Horn of Africa. The campaign will consist of the distribution of collection tins to collaborating businesses and a fund raising dinner at Carrasco on December 9th. For details see: Horn of Africa fund raising

75 students complete English course taught by volunteer native teachers

Nov 18th
The Javea office of the Consortium for Economic Recovery and Activity of the Marina Alta (Creama) presented 75 diplomas today to students who attended the pilot course offered by English volunteers, a group of 11 native British residents of the municipality. This pioneer experiment was made possible through the cooperation of the Foreign Residents HelpDesk. According to Juan Luis Cardona, Councillor for Economic Development, the programme will resume in January with two new courses, one in English and another in German. For more see: English course 2011

Xàbia finds a home for traditional fishing boat

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Nov 18th
The Town Hall has been granted part ownership of a traditional style fishing trawler, the "Pacurri" . This was one of the last of its kind rigged with the Valencian "lateen" sail. Built in 1932, it has been anchored in Calpe since it was taken out of service. The Xàbia Association of Traditional boats has worked with the Town Hall to bring the wooden hull to Xàbia for eventual restoration and use, both as a seafaring heritage symbol and for tourism. Full restoration is estimated to cost €400,000. In the meantime the boat is parked on municipal land near the end of the Canal de la Fontana and Avenida Augusta. For more, and picture of what it will look like when restored see:Traditional Trawler

Javea requests that the "Nit dels Focs" be declared a Valencian Community tourist attraction

Nov 18th
Javea Town Hall has filed an application with the Valencian Department of Tourism for the popular “Nit dels Focs” event to become a “Regional Fiesta of Tourist Interest” in the Valencian Community. The "Nit dels Focs" takes place every year from midnight on June 23rd. Firstly there is the “Cremà dels Focs” when small bonfires are lit where the ancient won gates once stood. The bonfires draw thousands of people wearing crowns of braided St. John’s Wort who jump through the flames in exchange for fulfilment of a wish. Then the crowd follows the route of the old town walls before making its way to the “Cremá de la Foguera”, a huge bonfire built from old furniture, into which the jumpers throw their crowns to burn away their problems. The evening ends with a “Correfocs”, when a combination of traditional music and drumming fill the streets. The celebration dates back to 1951, though the summer solstice has long been celebrated with bonfires. The regional tourism authorities have shown great interest in the peculiarities of the “Nit dels Focs” and expressed a desire to attend in 2012. From Press Release. For more see: Nit dels Focs

Town Hall returns €2.5 million loan

Unused 2007 loan was to equip Portal del Clot building

Nov 18th
Since 2007, Xàbia has been paying interest on a €2.5 million loan from the ICO ( Instituto de Crédito Oficial) . This was to have been used to equip the new, empty municipal building at Portal del Clot, which cost €6.6. million. More public investment would be required to make this building usable (for example it has no wiring), so the Town Hall has returned the loan, thus saving on interest paymnets. The problem still remains as to what to do with the building of 4000m2. One idea, from Agenda21 is to lease it out and use it as a source of municipal income. From XAD: Se aquila ayuntamiento... Ed's note: However, as Yogi Berra once said: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is".

Xàbia 2012 budget €38,761,928

Nov 18th
At the Nov 17th Agenda21 meeting, the Councillor for Finance, Oscar Anton, summarised the town's budget for 2012. This would be €38,761,928 , some 3.5% higher than the previous year. Of this, almost 35% is spent on salaries and 39% on the day to day running of the town. 61% of income is from IBI. They hope to reduce the current 41million debt down to 33 million by the end of 2012. For more facts and figures gleaned from this meeting see: Budget 2012

Xàbia residents vote for preferred projects for 2012

Nov 18th
At the special Agenda21 meeting held on November 17th evening, participants had the opportunity to vote for their preferred infrastructure projects for 2012. €423065 Euros was available to spend and a list of 15 costed proposals from ideas put forward at various public meetings was displayed from which to choose. The most voted for project was the construction of a bus station on the current "lorry park" at Avenida Palmela. Other projects which received approval and fell within the budget were new showers and changing rooms on the Arenal beach, a skate park for kids, a recycling point in Cap Martí, an exercise circuit for senior citizens, new beach playground equipment, construction of two paddle tennis courts and some pavement renovation in the Port. Quite a few councillors were present at the meeting, and though the voting process was a bit last minute, everyone seemed content with the result. The Councillor for citizen participation, Cesc Camprubí said that next year they hoped to improve the process and widen participation. (From Press release and Ed's notes)

Meeting to find a collaborative solution to the Palm Weevil problem

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Nov 18th
The Councillor for the environment (Doris Courcelles) has called a meeting of all gardening professionals and the general public to tackle the problem of the red Palm weevil. This weevil has already attacked hundreds of canary palms (the most common in the municipality) and has now spread to other varieties of palm. The aim of the meeting is to exchange experiences and evaluate different control methods to see if anyone has found a the most successful method of control. The meeting will be on Monday 21st November at 7.00pm in the Museum meeting room (entrance is from the Calle Mayor, just in front of the Area Económica offices. From Press Release. For general info about the Palm weevil in Spain (in English) see: Cuidad Verde (Ed's note:Judging from research papers listed by Google Scholar, this is a major problem in coconut and oil palms in the tropics. There is no easy solution. Those interested might like to check out this summary
[*journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=932852 A review of the issues….]

XabiActual TV bulletin back on line

Nov 18th
The bilingual on-line TV channel, XàbiActual is back on line. Now with a new programme format featuring a monthly report of important goings on in Xàbia/Jávea. The English version of this streaming video can be seen on this Wiki on: xabiactual tv Javea news

Table of Contents

Denia hospital increases activities and makes a profit

Nov 14th
A report on Denia hospital shows that it increased its number of operations by 37% in 2010, and had more admissions with a shorter average stay. The greatest increase in activity was in medical imaging. The public/private hospital finally turned a profit of €970,000 , having been in the red to the tune of €3.7 million in 2009. The number of staff increased over the report period, with four more resident physicians, though the number of nursing staff fell. The range of specialist services increased, though they are reportedly outsourcing laboratory testing. Unions complain of the closure of hospital beds and dismissal of staff and that the annual fee charged by the company has increased above inflation from €475 in the first year to €600 per inhabitant on the census. from XAD: Crean una... and El hospital de Denia.... and Las Provincias El hospital de Denia.....

Price of cultivated land falls

Nov 14th
The price of cultivated land in the Comunidad Valenciana has fallen to levels seen ten years ago. Orange groves now fetch €51,954 / hectare. The average price of cultivated land at €25,400 /ha is the second highest in Spain (only the Canaries is more expensive). The cheapest land can be found in Aragon (€3800 per hectare). From Levante Print edition.

Job promotion body has no cash to pay its employees

15th November
Paradoxically, the Marina Alta Consortium for Economic Recovery ( CREAMA ) cannot pay its 39 employees because the Valencian Employment and Training Service ( Servef ) still owes € 1,261,090 for courses which have already been carried out. Employees have not received their October pay, and what is even worse and more paradoxical, is that the lack of cash affects the service provided by the body which to help and advise the unemployed and new entrepreneurs. In other words, CREAMA will not be able to promote employment in the Marina Alta. From XAD: Creama se queda...

One hundred attend meeting on women entrepreneurs

Nov 4th
Many actual and aspiring business women and small business owners gathered Saturday at the Parador for the Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference organized by the Javea Town Hall and the Department of Equal Rights. Throughout the morning, attendees were able to listen to the advice of notable women in the world of business, such as Inmaculada Álvarez Morillas, who, on top of chairing the Organization of Women in Business and Active Management (Omega), which has more than 6000 members in Spain, also chairs the Spanish Association of Women in Business of Madrid (ASEM) since 1985 and the Iberamerican Federation of Women in Business (Fide). She is a leader who was awarded the Clara Campoamor in 2008 for her work in promoting equal rights and opportunities for women. For details see: Women entrepreneurs meeting Nov 2011

Briefing on Xàbia Budget 2012

And voting on the peoples' priorities.

Nov 11th
There will be an Agenda21 meeting on Thursday 17th November at 8.00pm in the Casa de la Cultura at which Mayor Chulví and Councillor for Finance, Oscar Anton will present the general outlines of the Town Hall's budget for 2012. This will be approved at a plenary Council meeting the following Thursday (27th). They will also inform the audience about the proportion of the budget which can be put to uses decided upon by citizens. In this context, participants at the meeting will have the opportunity to prioritise and vote on projects for 2012. From Press Release.

Law changes allow Town Halls to "sell the family jewels"

Nov 10th
Modifications to Valencian land laws now allow Town Halls to use money raised from the sale of municipal land for "public investments" rather than just for social housing, as was the case previously. A "public investment" could be a road, community centre, park etc. Actually a number of municipalities, including Xàbia, have already diverted funds from municipal land sales to pay for projects other than low cost housing. In the case of Xàbia, land plots in Rafalet were sold to buy out the underground car parks concession. This week Teulada sold a municipal plot of 764m2 to the company Lajaxabia S.L. for €380,003.99. Xàbia Town Hall is currently preparing its budget for 2012 but Mayor Chulví has stated that despite the change in the law, they have not considered selling municipal land to boost the Town's income. From XAD: Los Ayuntamientos....

EU sees Spain stuck on verge of recession until 2013

Commission report also casts doubt on ability of Madrid to steer home deficit-reduction targets

Nov 10th
The European Commission on Thursday slashed its own projections for growth in Spain to 0.7 percent of GDP this year and again in 2012 from its prior predictions of 0.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. The report predicts that "real GDP will gather some pace in 2013." Spain's economy is burdened by a debt crisis, sharp adjustments in public financing and the money problems facing families and businesses. Unemployment stands at almost five million. For Full Story see: El Pais (In English) EU Sees...

Millions of birds migrating to Spain face painful deaths in glue-filled traps

Up to 4 million birds trapped illegally this year face a slow, sticky end before being sold to restaurants for tapas, say campaigner

Nov 4th
Up to four million migrating birds will be killed by illegal Spanish hunters this year, with many dying a slow, sticky death in traps that literally glue the animals to the ground, according to campaigners. Thrushes flying south for a warm Mediterranean winter this week will, as usual, run a gauntlet of illegal hunters who kill some two million birds in their peak hunting season: the six late autumn weeks in which Spanish skies fill with migrating birds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of hunters in Castellón, eastern Spain, and neighbouring areas will have already set their so-called parany traps – copses filled with glue-covered twigs and spikes. For full Story see: The Guardian

Women Entrepreneurs conference

Nov 8th
The Town Hall in association with Mujeres Emprendedoras de Jávea (MEJ) (Women Entrepreneurs in Jávea) have organised a morning conference in the Parador on Saturday 12th November. The meeting will be opened by the Minister of Health, Social Policy and Equality, Leire Pajin and Jávea's mayor, José Chulvi. The meeting will consist of speakers and round table discussions with both local and regional (Marina Alta) participants. Entrance is free, though those interested are recommended to register via moc.liamg|otcatnoc.jem#moc.liamg|otcatnoc.jem to be sure of a place. For more info see the MEJ Facebook Page

Javea hosts a tribute to the International Brigades

The British contribution to the Republican medical brigade will be analysed and families of Brigadiers will share their memories

Nov 8th
A group of Javea residents has organized a small tribute to the International Brigades that fought in the Spanish Civil War for Friday 18 November. The event will commence at 7.30 pm in the Casa de la Cultura (Plaza de Baix) and all speeches will be in English and Spanish. For details see Tribute to International Brigades

Saladar Land Owners still cling to 2005 development project

Nov 4th
Approximately 100 Saladar land owners met on Nov 3rd to renew their stance on the development of the Saladar area, and replace their president Salvador Vila, boss of one of the two large businesses which promoted the scheme. (For details of the scheme see: Vila proposal to urbanise the Saladar.) An un-named spokesman for the group reiterated its support for the building of 1700 houses in the area, denouncing the previous Town Hall administration's protection of the land as being based on false premises. The present Councillor for Urban development, Pere Sapena, attended the meeting and re-stated the current administration's stance which as that they want no part of the 2005 project, but to look at the area as a tourism resource. That is, to use it for hotels and other facilities, rather than houses. From las Provincias : Xàbia quiere....

New control system at Ramblars

Nov 7th
The Town Hall is launching a new computer system to identify and calculate charges for vehicles using the rubbish transfer point at Ramblars. Previously, a bar code card had been used. Now, the vehicles' registration number will be used. Users are reminded to register their vehicle with the Services Office in Aveninda Amanacer No 2. to enable the proper functioning of the new system. From Press Release

Employment Agency for Town Hall Labourers

Nov 7th
The Town Hall is setting up an employment agency for labourers who wish to join the soon to be set up Town Hall works squad. Details will be made available soon on the Town Hall website: www.ajxabia.com and interested persons will then have 20 days within which to make their applications. They will need to have a school certificate and National Identity document. Applicants will then compete for available places, demonstrating their work abilities, and then will be scored on the basis of previous work experience and work courses taken. From XAD:El Ayuntamiento... (Eds footnote: By the end of the year, 193 people had signed up)

Xàbia helps 300 women in relation to domestic violence

Nov 8th
Xàbia's department of Equality provided free, confidential advice to 300 women over the past year regarding matters related to domestic violence. Of the 58 women killed in Spain last year, 61% were Spanish under 41 years old, indicating that this is not just a problem of the older generation. The Town Hall will be hosting a number of activities over the next week, starting on November 11th with an exhibition called "The Song of Hope" in the Casa de Tena. This is a tribute to the Afghan poet Nadia Anjuman who was killed by her husband. It ends on Friday November 25th (International Day against violence towards women) with a demonstration in the Old Town. From Las Provincias: Xàbia ayuda... and XAD: Igualdad llena.....

Spain uses free WiFi as economic booster

Nov 8th
In Madrid, free WiFi came first to buses, now to trains, but not to the metro yet. Well, two out of three ain’t bad, as Spanish transportation and local governments use free WiFi as a way to boost the struggling economy. Last year, Madrid became the first city in the world to offer free WiFi on an entire transportation line. Just last week, Spanish-owned Renfe–most recently known for winning the bid to build the rail from Medina to Mecca–announced they are implementing free WiFi on all their trains. For full story see: Smart Planet

Footpath to Montgó summit improved

Nov 6th
Thirty volunteers from the "Xàbia Viva" association have teamed up with technicians from the Montgó Natural Park to improve the footpath to the summit. This has become eroded, especially through people making shortcuts. The team have blocked these off with rocks and planted indigenous trees and shrubs in the affected areas. The plants are provided through the "Plant a tree and care for thousands" programme promoted by the Valencia Ministry of the Environment in collaboration with La Caixa. From XAD: Xàbia Viva....

Amjasa will save 900€ per day

Nov 5th
The test of running Xàbia's desalination plant only on low tariff electricity at night and relying more on well water has been successful and is expected to save AMJASA some €900 per day. The priority of the new Amjasa board is now to sort out the accounts before they can think of any reduction in water bills for consumers. During November, when water consumption is low, the desalination plant will be taken off-line to carry out maintenance of its tank. During that period, municipal water will then be sourced entirely from wells and distributed through the Rompurdetes supply tank. The board also plans to increase the number of chlorination points. At present, chlorination happens only at the desalination plant and the Rompurdetes tank. Though within legal parameters, this results in different levels of chlorine in different areas of the municipality. From XAD: AMJASA consigue.....

Arenal finally gets the spotlight

Nov 5th
After years of neglect, the Arenal is finally getting the attention from the Town Hall that it needs. The Council has been meeting with a re-invigorated Arenal Business Association and is providing support by improving infrastructure. For example, the council will save money previously spent on expensive stands at tourism trade fairs and will use this to set up a tourist information point on the Arenal promenade. The current Tourism Office (opposite Humpty Dumpty) will gradually be developed as a Public attention office (like the one at Portal del Clot). Initially it will deal with signing up on the Padrón. The Town Hall is actively pursuing the construction of four roundabouts in the area:

Avenida Arenal: Cost €169,000. They are looking for a grant of €120,000 from Alicante and the Town will find the rest;
End of Avda Tamarits: €400,000. This depends on some expropriation of land, and would be paid for by the developers of Saladar 2 (similarly for the junction with Cami Cabanes at Pla 48).
Tosalet: This is the responsibility of Alicante, and the Council is trying to get the roundabout included in the regional Government's infrastructure plan.

It is hoped these improvements will generate a wave of development in the area. They plan also to have a greater police presence in the area in the summer (acting as friendly coppers as well as law enforcers), and to do something about the frequent flooding in Calle Niza.
From Xad: El paseo.... and El ayuntamiento por fin.... and Los comerciantes...

Tourism Committee kicks off Sectorial meetings on the Strategic Plan

Nov 5th
Last Thursday, 30 people representing diverse aspects of Tourism in Jávea met with Antonio Miragall, Councillor for Tourism in the first brain storming session of the Tourism Committee. They discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the municipality, and its unique characteristics which could be used to attract visitors. Meetings of the other sectorial committees will take place over the coming weeks. From XAD: El foro sobre turismo.... For more about the Strategic Plan see: Strategic Plan 2011 - 2

Mayor buys a new car

And tells everyone on Facebook

Nov 3rd
Mayor Chulvi has bought a new car because his nine year old Peugeot is too far gone to be worth repairing, He bought a VW Golf diesel, which he'll pay for over several years. He made this announcement on Facebook and people have commended him on his efforts at transparency. From XAD: El Alcalde...

Agenda21 Reps for Strategic Plan Committees elected

Nov 3rd
The representatives of Agenda21 on the Committee for drawing up a Strategic Plan for Jávea were elected on Tuesday night. They are as follows:Tourism: Pere Joan Cruanyes i Pérez; Stand in Laurent Bouvard; Land and Environment: Manuel Fernández Procino; Stand in: Guiomar Ramírez-Montesinos. Economic Promotion :Maaike Ellen Onkenhout; Stand in: Guiomar Ramírez-Montesinos; Social Welfare: Manuel Silva. Education and Culture: Amparo Botella; Stand in: Isabel Caturla

Multicultural event Thursday 10th November evening

Nov 3rd
Javea Town Hall’s Department of Social Services and the local Red Cross Association are finalizing preparations for the Fourth Annual Intercultural Participation Encounter in Javea, to be held next Thursday evening, 10 November in the Placeta del Convent. This event, which will mobilize many volunteers and collaborators, will allow the various cultures that co-exist in our municipality to interact. The fair will be arranged in theme-inspired tents, called "corners", among them being the Arab culture corner, the Latin American corner, the European corner and the local Javea corner. Anyone coming to the Placeta del Convent between 5.00 and 8.30 pm will be able to discover the traditions and customs of each country, or try free samples of the typical sweets and dishes of the participating cultures. For details see Press Release: Multicultural Encounter 2011

Town Hall recognises work done by Jávea charity shops

Nov 1st
The Town Hall paid tribute to the Cancer Charity Centre, the Roundabout Charity Shop and the Original Charity & English Lending Library, which raise money through the sale of second-hand items such as clothing, books and furniture. All the proceeds go directly to charity organisations, as well as to the improvement of local health facilities. In a special ceremony in the plenary hall, Mayor José Chulvi presented the presidents of the three associations, Irene Ellis, Gill Rose and Georgie Harvey, with commemorative plaques. On behalf of everyone, Chulvi thanked the volunteers who came along to the Town Hall, expressing, “our thanks and appreciation for the excellent work and selfless dedication throughout many years to help the less fortunate in society”. From Press Release: For details see: Charities recognised

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