ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 20th September 2019
7 dead in the worst gota fría storm in at least half a century as the big clean-up goes on
Tragedy in the Mar Menor as an air force trainer plane crashes off the beach of Santiago de la Ribera
There is little doubt about the top story in the Region of Murcia this week, with the aftermath of last weekend’s destructive “gota fría” storm occupying almost all of the headlines as the rescue, damage assessment and clean-up operations continue following what an Aemet representative in Murcia has described as the severest gota fría storm in half a century.
The bare meteorological facts of the storm include an incredible 335 millimetres of rain in La Manga – the equivalent of a year’s rainfall – and totals of over 200 mm in numerous other parts of the Region, from the city of Cartagena in the south to Alcantarilla, Molina de Segura and the Ricote valley. At one point 30 millimetres of rain fell in La Manga in just 10 minutes, a figure described by Aemet as “outrageous”.
But more important than the figures is the devastation caused by the storm, particularly in Los Alcázares, San Javier, Los Urrutias and Los Nietos on the inland shore of the Mar Menor. In Los Alcázares the scenes were even worse than in the flooding disaster of December 2016, and the members of the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) have been in the town for most of the week, firstly rescuing people from their cars and homes and then pumping water out of flooded premises and contributing to the massive clean-up effort. By the time the UME began withdrawing on Thursday they had done enough to earn cheers and applause as they left the Mar Menor, and the same praise is also deserved by all of the other emergency staff and volunteers from all over the Region of Murcia who have offered their time and other donations to help those affected.
Even now, though, over a week after the rain started to hammer down on the Costa Cálida, the tap water in Los Alcázares is not drinkable and many streets are still under a thick layer of mud. Nonetheless, efforts are being made to assess the damage, and with the death toll in south-eastern Spain having risen to seven - none in Murcia but three in the south of Alicante – the national Cabinet has announced that 774 million euros are being set aside to help the recovery from various natural disasters over the summer, including the Gota Fría and numerous wild fires.
Even after the rain stopped falling during last weekend, there were further disasters to come. One of the consequences of the storm was that an enclosure belonging to an offshore tuna farm near La Manga had been destroyed, and as a result hundreds of large dead tuna were washed ashore on the beaches with signs of incipient decomposition. Incredibly, despite the health risk, some people were seen scavenging for tuna steaks before the beaches were cordoned off! As the week progressed the tuna were found down the coast in Orihuela and as far away as Águilas; beach services have been working all week to remove them from the beaches and Cartagena council has re-opened the beaches in La Manga del Mar Menor where the greatest concentration of the large fish were washed up, requesting that the public notify municipal services if any more appear.
At the same time, as roads gradually became passable – most of them, at least, three regional trunk roads remain closed including, obviously, the one picture above – it became clear that at at least 25 million euros will be needed to repair them. And that’s just the roads belonging to the regional network, not including State-owned motorways and urban streets!
Similarly, the damage to water supply infrastructures has been on a large scale. The dam at the reservoir in Santomera withstood the pressure on it last Friday as the water level rose to the absolute limit and millions of litres of water was rleased to relieve the pressure, but a massive hole appeared in a water distribution canal in Los Valientes after it collapsed; this was one of the factors leading to so much water cascading into the reservoir.
As if the gota fría weren’t enough, the sequence of disastrous events in the area then continued on Wednesday when a 20-year-old trainee pilot and her instructor were killed when the training plane they were flying from the Air Academy suffered an engine failure and crashed into the Mar Menor just off the beach of Santiago de la Ribera shortly after take-off just a little over 100 metres from the beach. The aircraft came to rest in the midst of a number of moored boats where the water is only around two metres deep and the tail of the aircraft was still visible: the beach was cordoned off while it was recovered and taken away for analysis before the funeral was held on Thursday evening for Rosa Almirón Otero (20) and her instructor, Daniel Melero Ordóñez (50).
In addition, with pools of stagnant water still lying in the countryside all over Murcia and Alicante there are well-grounded worries over a possible mosquito plague in the area, with some warning that tiger mosquitos could be among a massive swarm of the insects about to “invade” south-eastern Spain.
There have, however, been a couple of small silver linings on the edges of the very dark cloud which has been the week’s news in Murcia. One is that with large areas of the countryside near the city of Murcia and further north in Molina and the Ricote valley also under water, a small army of volunteers has been steadily growing as people offer to help the clean-up effort in the worst-affected areas, including coachloads from Alhama de Murcia and Mazarrón and even off-duty policemen from as far away as Jumilla. This has been one of the positive aspects to come out of the calamitous flooding, along with the heroic efforts of the UME and the sense of solidarity throughout Murcia as Town Hall after Town Hall joined the list of those requesting a declaration of “catastrophe zone” status.
Help is still needed in many areas: click here for contact details in the worst affected towns.
This feeling of positivity and even optimism in the face of considerable adversity was given a boost on Thursday when it emerged that for the first time in well over 100 years baby loggerhead sea turtles had hatched on one of the beaches of the Costa Cálida, and on Friday morning two adult turtles were released back into the Mediterranean after having suffered injuries caused by fishing lines and a boat.
But for many people in the Costa Cálida, this last week will be remembered for a long time for the wrong reasons. This is especially true for those filing their insurance claims for damaged properties, cars and other possessions: all claims are being handled by a special consortium, click here for details, the time limit for filing claims has been extended indefinitely, and second home owners are urged to open up their properties to check for damage and to ensure that secondary damage is not caused to neighbouring properties.
At Murcia Today we have summarized some of the most important events of the September 2019 Gota Fría here, along with a selection of videos and images, a collection which will doubtless remain of interest for a long time as the south-east of Spain recovers from arguably the worst flooding in living memory.
Spain headed for fourth general election in under four years
Four and a half months after the general election which was held in Spain on 28th April it has proved impossible for the PSOE party to form a government despite winning more seats in Congress than any other group, and after the failure to agree on a pact with possible allies, and as a result the country is now preparing for its fourth general election in a little under four years.
In April the PSOE won 123 of the 350 seats in Congress, its traditional rival the PP took just 66, Ciudadanos 57, Unidas Podemos 35 and the far-right party Vox 24, with the remaining 45 going to regional parties mainly in Catalunya and the Basque Country. But in the intervening period Pedro Sánchez, in his capacity as acting Prime Minister, has been unable to strike any kind of deal with Podemos or any of the other main parties, and on Monday and Tuesday Felipe VI met the leaders of all parties with presence in Congress to ascertain whether Sr Sánchez had enough support to be voted back into office for a four-year term.
The conclusion was that he doesn’t, and therefore another general election will be held on 10th November. Here we go again!
Other items in the Murcia and Spanish news this week
Minesweeper commander suspended from duty after running aground off La Manga: investigations continue into the cause of the incident after a C101 jet pilot crashed into the Mediterranean.
Jailed brother-in-law of Felipe VI of Spain allowed day release for volunteer work: after 17 months in prison Iñaki Urdangarin will be allowed out of his cell in Brieva twice a week to work as a sports monitor.
Two injured in head-on collision in Mazarrón: the crash occurred on the RM-332 road between Mazarrón and Cañada Gallego.
16,000 passengers fewer at Corvera airport during August: 2019 passenger numbers are down by over 100,000 following the move from San Javier as the dependence on UK flights continues.
800,000 animals a year are used in scientific experiments in Spain: 84 per cent of the companies involved agree to disclose details of the animals they use in an effort to “increase the level of understanding of the benefits, harm and limitations” of animal tests.
Spanish traffic authorities warn against playing with Rubik’s cubes while driving! A special campaign is under way to highlight the dangers of distractions at the wheel as the DGT increases the number of speed cameras which can video drivers as they break the law!
Saharan dust particle alert in Murcia: air pollution protocols were activated in the city of Murcia during the week.
Spanish driving test examiners to allow the use of parking sensors and rear-view cameras: the DGT authorities modify test conditions to allow the use of modern technology.
Madrid woman arrested after throwing herself and her daughter from a second-floor balcony: the incident occurred in the Tetuán district of the Spanish capital.
Corvera airport awarded Murcia University Tourism prize: a Murcia government minister praises the airport as an example of facing adversity without throwing in the towel.
British drivers among those under investigation after Lamborghini crash in Asturias: at least 10 luxury sports cars appear to have been racing on a winding mountain road in Asturias.
200 skip-loads of reeds removed from the Segura will be used as compost in parks: some of the debris from the Gota Fría storm is to be put to good use in the city of Murcia.
4 charged with the theft of 12 beehives in the Lorca countryside: a Guardia Civil operation which began in June ended with a sting in Zarcilla de Ramos and Bullas.
56 African migrants intercepted off the coast of Cartagena: five small boats were spotted and intercepted on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, following the apprehension of another 15 people in Águilas and Cartagena on Tuesday.
Murcia and Spanish property news
In a quiet week as far as the publication of data regarding the Spanish property scene is concerned it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the fact that over recent months the Murcia property market has still shown signs of growth while sales figures have begun to drop in other regions, particularly those which led the recovery after the drastic slump which began in 2008 (principally Madrid, Catalunya and the Balearics).
Last week Spain’s notaries published figures showing a decrease in sales of around 20 per cent in comparison with last year for the second month in a row, while the government’s statistics unit reports that the total for the first six months of this year was almost exactly the same as in 2018. This raises the question of why the market is slowing down, and the answer, according to most analyses, is a combination of three main factors. One is the new law regarding mortgages, which has made banks a little more reticent to offer “easy” loans, another is the continuing political uncertainty in Spain, which deters investors – four and a half months after the general election on 28th April it can be assumed that a repeat election will be held on 10th November – and the third is that in those areas where the market recovery began earliest prices have now reached a level which puts off many prospective buyers.
However, it is also worth remembering that there is enormous variation in market trends from one part of Spain to another at present, and that the situation in Madrid and Barcelona has little to do with that in many other areas. In the Region of Murcia it appears that for the time being sales figures continue to follow a slight upward trend, although the total for the first half of this year was only 3.25 per cent higher than in 2018, while recent data regarding prices shows the most significant increase since 2008.
In July, the government’s property sales figures showed significant decreases in the Balearics (-21.9 per cent) and Madrid (-8.1 per cent) and a rise of only 4.1 per cent in Catalunya, while Murcia showed a second consecutive 7.2 per cent increase, reaching the highest figure for any month in the last 8 and a half years!
Further evidence of these contrasting trends in different regions emerged this week when statistics regarding the market price of officially valued residential property in Spain during the second quarter of 2019 were published by the Ministry of Development: in In the country as a whole the average value of housing is calculated to have risen by 3.1 per cent since the second quarter of 2018, but these figures hide an extremely diverse range of results among the different regions and provinces of Spain.
Again, among the most telling aspects of the latest set of data are the figures for the three regions where the market recovery is generally accepted as having started earliest. In Madrid the latest figure is 5.1 per cent higher than a year ago, on the face of it a very healthy increase, but during the quarter itself a drop of -0.1 per cent is observed, and the same can be said of Catalunya, with a year-on-year rise of 4.3 per cent but a quarterly increase of only 0.6 per cent, and the Balearics (+5 per cent and +0.2 per cent respectively).
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See full background information for the Murcia Gota Fria 2019
