October 2016 News Headlines

Xàbia calls for bilateral agreement between UK and Spain post Brexit

Oct 30th
Mayor José Chulvi has proposed a motion calling on the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom to negotiate a bilateral agreement in the wake of the 'BREXIT' referendum vote. More than 5,300 registered residents of Xàbia originated in the United Kingdom and the mayor is calling for an agreement to ensure that British citizens continue to enjoy the rights they currently enjoy after the UK's proposed departure from the European Union, much like residents from other non-EU nations (such as Bolivia, Cape Verde, New Zealand, Paraguay, Norway and Iceland) do. "We will fight where necessary to ensure that there is no discrimination and that they will continue to provide as much as, and as good as until now. Our commitment is firm and unequivocal in favour of maintaining the rights of all our citizens." For full story and text of the motion in English see: Javeamigos Additional source:Las Provincias

Climate change may turn southern Spain to desert by 2100

Oct 28th
Southern Spain will be reduced to desert by the end of the century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, researchers have warned. Anything less than extremely ambitious and politically unlikely carbon emissions cuts will see ecosystems in the Mediterranean change to a state unprecedented in the past 10 millennia, they said. The study, published in the journal Science, modelled what would happen to vegetation in the Mediterranean basin under four different paths of future carbon emissions. Even if emissions are held to the level of pledges put forward ahead of the Paris deal, southern Europe would experience a “substantial” expansion of deserts. "The Med is very sensitive to climatic change, maybe much more than any other region in the world,” said lead author Joel Guiot of Aix-Marseille University. For full story see: The Guardian

Xàbia commended for glass recycling

Oct 24th
The recycling company Ecovidrio has awarded Xàbia the 'Green Igloo' award for the commitment of its residents and restaurant owners to recycling glass. During the month of August, a total of 262,630 kilos of glass was collected by the company, a 12% rise of the same period last year. For full story see: Javeamigos

Spain will be run on 100 per cent renewables, energy boss vows

Oct 24th
The director of one of Spain's top power companies has predicted the country will eventually become 100 per cent relaint on renewable energy. Acciona boss Miguel Ezpeleta said there is currently enough wind energy being generated to power 29m Spanish homes every day. The firm, which monitors 9,500 wind turbines across the world from its base in Pamplona in northern Spain, said a new nighttime record was set in November last year when wind energy provided 70 per cent of the country’s energy. The daytime record was hit in January 2015 when wind accounted for 54 per cent of energy used. for full story see: The Independent

Saladar saved ?

Oct 23rd
At the recent meeting of the Consultative Committee on Urban develoment it was reported that: "The meeting also stated that after a modification of the Law of Natural Spaces, the area of the Saladar of Xàbia has been included among them and from now on is considered not availablefor development." From: El Mundo For background information about the Saladar issue see: Saladar

Denia Calpe and Xàbia - top tourist destinations

Oct 23rd
Last year the official data of the Ministry of Finance and State Administration identified Denia as the municipality (of less than 50,000 inhabitants) as having recived the most holidaymakers, withCalp third and Xàbia eighth. Tripadvisor published a list of the most popular Spanish destinations and three main town in this region were in the top 25:Denia, Javea and Calpe. La Marina Plaza

Urban development committee gets update on General Town Plan (PGOU)

The reorganisation of traffic on the Avenida del Mediterráneo will be a precondition for the coastal path along Montañar.

Oct 21st
At the meeting, the mayor, José Chulvi, and Town Planning Councillor, Isabel Bolufer announced that at present the working document of the General Town Plan (PGOU) is being revised to include the recommendations of the Generalitat Valenciana. It is expected that by the end of the year the structural part of the Plan will be ready which must be approved by the regional government.
(Ed's note: The "new" PGOU was due in 2002 ! for background information see: General Plan) The other relevant point for the Urban Development Committee was the planned Montañar coastal path linking the Port and the Arenal which will remove the image of a seafront "parking" bay every summer. To carry out this infrastructure an international competition for ideas will be issued, to ensure the changes will be carried out in harmony with the landscape and generate the least possible impact. Prior to this, Isabel Bolufer stated that reorganisation of the streets adjacent to Cale Genoa to improve traffic flow and parking on the Avenida del Mediterráneo. For background see: Montanar project From Mayor chulvi Facebook.

Project to repave area around municipal market to take one month

Oct 21st
The project to repair the paving around the municipal market in the heart of the historic centre, which was suspended earlier this year until after the summer season at the request of the traders, will begin next Monday 24th October. The work, which has a budget of 54,873.50 euros, will improve the pavement in Plaza Celestino Pons and Calle Sor María Gallart. For full story see: Javeamigos

Recent rains do little to alleviate the drought

Oct 14th
Thursday's rains that in most cases have been "very poor" and only between 5 and 12mm has not alleviated the drought in the south of Valenciathus far in 2016. The director of the Laboratory of Climatology at the University of Alicante (UA), Professor of Geographical Analysis Jorge Olcina , said that these records "do not solve the problems of a strong rainfall deficit this year". The most significant amounts were in Jávea and Elche with 8mm , Ibi with 7mm and Alcoy and Villena with 5mm respectively. "In short, very little". Olcina noted, "doubtless it will rain soon, … but along the same lines." from :ABC.es

Schoolchildren collect 160kg of rubbish from Xabia's beaches

Oct 14th
According to the Olympic yachtswoman, Theresa Zabell, founder of Foundation Ecomar, 90% of the waste that turns up on beaches come from the land. She made this statement on Monday Oct 10th during a clean-up day of the Xàbia coast organized by the Yacht Club . About fifty Xàbia schoolchildren went to different points along the Xàbia coast picking up a total of 160 kilos of waste from its beaches. The day had begun with workshops during which students received explanations on the reasons why waste came to be on the beaches. Thanks to Coca Cola, the 160 kilos of waste were transformed into the equivalent weight of food to be delivered to the Foundation Food Bank. from:Radio Denia

Red tape holds back diving tourism

Oct 13th
The authorities involved in the conservation of the marine reserve of Cape Sant Antoni (Denia and Javea and the Ministry for the Environment) have begun to sit with diving clubs of the two municipalities to discuss how to manage tourist diving there and at the same time protect the environment. At present clubs have to obtain permits five days in advance of a dive, so many tourists don't have the time to fill in the necessary paperwork. An alternative being considered is that diving clubs send the paperwork to Valencia after the dive has been completed. Another problem is that there is a quota of 30 people per day. One idea is to increase this quota during the summer months, and reduce it in the off-season. They would not eliminate the quota entirely, since the authorities believe the measure helps to conserve the reserves resources. From: La Marina Plaza

Port Avenue work soon to be completed

Oct 13th
he renovation of the final stretch of the Avenida Jaume I in the port, the section between Avenida Lepanto and the junction with Calle Sevilla and Calle Dr. Fleming (Supermercado Mas y Mas) should be completed in about three months after the Ayuntamiento de Xàbia awarded the contract to CADERSA (from the fifteen tenders received) who will carry out the work for 150,000 euros. For full story see: Javeamigos

Fire prevention measures on La Plana

Oct 10th
A group of workers of Xàbia's Municipal employment plan is working on a forest restoration plan in the area of ​​La Plana. The main activity is to reduce the population of pines, which spreads after forest fires by germinating from seeds in burned cones. A forest dominated by pines is likely to result in a another fire in a few years time. From: Las Provincias.

Project proposal to obtain EU funds for Sustainable Urban Development received

Oct 10th
After six months of work, the team of consultants (led by Fentestudi) has submitted its proposal for Xàbia's application for EU funds to support sustainable urban development projects (EDUSI). Since this is a competition between different municipalities, details will not be released until the Town Council's Plenary session has approved it in November. The call to submit such applications was made last Friday, and the deadline is December 15th. The EDUSI draft has benefited from previous work and does not focus solely on the circumstances of Javea now, but also reflects the needs of the coming decades. From: La Marina Plaza For more details about the EDUSI project see: EDUSI Integrated sustainable Urban development

Tourism conference held in Xàbia

Oct 10th
A conference on Tourism was held last week in Xàbia's Portal del Clot multipurpose room. It aimed to develop a white paper for the Valencia Tourism Agency with the idea of promoting a new Valencian tourism law. Participants included representatives and experts from Universitat Jaume I, the University of Valencia and the University of Alicante. The focus was on an ethical and responsible tourism and the promotion of new tourism products targeting respect for the environment . From: XAD

Town hall starts to clear burned trees from fire affected areas

Oct 6th
The Xàbia Department of Services has started carrying out cleaning up work in the areas of Pinomar and Pinosol. Work is being carried out on municipal plots which will be cleared and made safe to ensure that there is no danger to the general public. This will be a prolonged process. In addition, workers have been carrying out cutting and shredding work of pine trees in Parque Pinosol. For full story see: Javeamigos

Granadella fire likely to have been caused by negligence

Oct 6th
Valencia Government delegate, Juan Carlos Moragues has suggested that the Granadella fire was most likely caused by a negligent cigarette butt. Many butts were seen at the Cumbre viewing point where the fire started, and cinders could well have been blown kilometres. From: La Marina Plaza Also confirmed by the Guardia Civil see: Portal Mas. The subsequent foci are considered to have been secondary fires, apart from the one at Saladar which was "independent".

Granadella fire First responders produce plans to improve safety in urbanisations

Oct 5th
A special meeting was held with security and fire-fighting services to analyse the issues and situation after the devastating September 4th fire. As a result, Xàbia plans to increase the safety of its urbanisations and population centres as a medium-term objective whilst making renewed demands to provincial and regional governments for more resources for the Marina Alta region as a whole. In coordination with the Fire Service and experts in the field, plans are to be drafted for self-protection and evacuation of the urbanisations. In addition, the chief fire officer of the Dénia Fire Service Javier Fayos announced that briefings would be held with residents during the winter about urban-wildland fires whilst procedures followed by other municipalities in the Comunidad Valenciana would be studied for possible adoption in Xàbia. The need for proper evacuation drills were also raised. The most serious obstacle to providing proper prevention and extinction efforts is a lack of funding. Up to 17 million euros has been frozen due to legislation from Central Government. For full story see:Javeamigos

Greenpeace and WWF add support to reject Denia beachfront apartments

Oct 5th
The construction of luxury apartments by the sea on Blay Beach on the coastal strip of Les Marines of Denia, has been rejected by the two leading environmental organizations in the country: Greenpeace and WWF. This brings the issue onto the national stage in support of protests by hundreds of residents and two political forces: Compromís at the national level and Podemos at the local level. The local Government does not like the project, but will have to give the go ahead if the coastal division of the National Ministry of Agriculture, food and environment grants permission. from: La Marina Plaza

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