ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 25th October 2019

Murcia escapes a second gota fría storm as the Mar Menor and the exhumation of General Franco hog the headlines

During the early part of the week all eyes were on the sky in the Costa Cálida as meteorologists warned that another “gota fría” storm was forming over the eastern coast of Spain and most of the Region of Murcia was placed on yellow alert on Tuesday.

With the disastrous flooding caused by another storm in September so fresh in the memory many feared the worst and the authorities rightly prepared for more floods, but thankfully the rainfall, while persistent and at times heavy, was relatively moderate throughout the Region of Murcia. The maximum rainfall reported on Tuesday was 42.2 millimetres in La Manga del Mar Menor, with no serious flooding reported, and this weekend the forecast is for wall-to-wall sunshine and 25 degrees in the Costa Cálida!

On the other hand, much of Catalunya suffered heavy flooding on Tuesday as the gota fría brought over 200 millimetres of rain to north-eastern Spain, and by Friday morning it was confirmed that at least two people died as a result with another five still missing.

Meanwhile, life is still returning to normal in many areas of Murcia after the storm of September, and this week rail services were finally resumed between Lorca and Águilas and between Los Nietos and Cartagena after extensive repairs and reconstruction were needed on the tracks. In Los Alcázares, meanwhile, 50,000 euros are to be donated for flood repairs and enlargement work at the local infants’ school,

The absence of flooding was a relief not only because of the damage done by the September storm, but also because of the drastic deterioration in water quality in the Mar Menor which has been observed in the last six weeks. The runoff of floodwater acted as a catalyst, activating all of the negative elements accumulated in the lagoon over recent decades, including nitrates washed into the sea from crop fields, and the issue of what, if anything, can be done to save the marine environment and the flora and fauna in the lagoon is one which will continue to occupy the headlines for a long time.

The week began with four more scientists resigning from the scientific committee formed by the Murcia government to oversee the condition of the lagoon, citing as their reason a loss of faith in the government, and on Tuesday as the rain caused floodwater from the drains and sewers of Los Alcázares to run into the Mar Menor there was a good deal of concern.

At the same time the Mar Menor fishing fleet has decided to stay in port at least until January because there are simply not enough fish in the sea for the fishermen to cast their nets , while reports that 1,600 hectares of unauthorized irrigation farming have been identified by the CHS in the Campo de Cartagena met with mixed reactions: on the one hand, it is good news that at last the CHS are preparing to report and punish illegal farming practices, but on the other hand ecologists have been denouncing this kind of offence for years and there is a feeling that the identification of just 1,600 hectares of unauthorized irrigation farming will do no more than scratch the surface of the problem, and that far more is needed if there is to be any possibility of the ecosystem of the Mar Menor surviving.

However, while representatives of the regional and national governments met in Madrid and agreed to meet again in Murcia in November – more talking and deciding who should do what, many observers fear - there were signs on Thursday that the farmers of the Campo de Cartagena are ready to stop playing the “blame game” and take action. The farming organizations COAG and FECOAM, which represent 62 per cent of all agriculture in Murcia, issued a jointly-produced document in which they accept that intensive crop farming practices are one of the main causes of the deterioration in the lagoon (“but not the only one”, as they rightly point out) and agree on the need for strict measures to limit these practices in the future.

Among the steps proposed are the strict enforcement of a “fringe” around the Mar Menor on which no farming should be permitted – although the width of that fringe is not specified – and the return of all land which was not irrigated 25 years ago to either non-irrigated farming or none at all. In addition, they call for all unauthorized irrigation systems to be dismantled.

This coming Wednesday large crowds are expected at a demonstration demanding measures to save the Mar Menor in Cartagena: the march on 30^th October is under the slogan of SOS Mar Menor and begins in the Alameda de San Antón near the Carthago Nova football stadium (the starting point has been changed due to the large numbers of people expected) at 18.00 before making its way along the Paseo Alfonso XIII to the regional parliament building.

Passenger numbers at Corvera airport reach a million for the year

This coming week sees the first flights between the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera and the Canary Islands, with the airline Binter introducing services to and from Gran Canaria on Tuesdays and Saturdays during winter flight scheduling, and at the same time the airport has reached its initial objective of reaching 1 million passengers passing through the terminal building, a figure which is around 20 per cent short of the 1.27 million who used Murcia-San Javier airport in 2018 but which has a special significance. This is because the threshold over which the airport management company Aena has to begin paying an operating fee to the regional government of Murcia has been crossed, and despite passenger numbers so far this year being some 120,000 lower at the end of September than the equivalent at the same point last year in San Javier, Aena can claim a degree of success for the airport as the figure is higher than their initial predictions for first year traffic.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to attract more Airlines and more flights to Corvera, with progress being made at least in respect of domestic destinations. The new service to and from Gran Canaria adds to others connecting the Costa Cálida with Palma de Mallorca, Asturias and, as of next year, Bilbao, and there are reports that Vueling could soon be adding Barcelona to the list.

However, the winter flight schedule (which lasts from 27^th October to 28^th March) starts with only 12 international destinations on the arrivals and departures boards, and some of these will cease as the winter goes on. The uninterrupted services are those between Corvera and Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Southend, Stansted, Manchester, Dublin, Brussels and Antwerp, while those which will disappear shortly are the flights to and from East Midlands, Leeds-Bradford and Luton.

Franco’s remains leave the Valle de los Cáidos almost 44 years after his burial

At 12.53 on Thursday 24th October, 43 years, 11 months and one day after General Franco was buried at the monumental site of Valle de los Caídos, his mortal remains left the mausoleum where they had remained ever since and began their journey to the new burial site which has been decided upon in the cemetery of Mingorrubio.

The embalmed body of the former dictator was carried in the original coffin by his descendants to a hearse and taken to a helicopter, which took off at 13.41 on its way to Mingorrubio. On top of the coffin, as well as a Spanish flag, were five roses, one of the symbols of Francoism and the “Falange” movement, despite the government having forbidden symbolic exaltation of the General and his regime. Religious services were conducted by the Abbot of the Valle de los Caídos and, in Mingorrubio, by Ramón Tejero, the son of the man who led an attempted Francoist coup d’état in 1981.

In Mingorrubio Franco has been laid to rest next to his wife, Carmen Polo, and others buried there include Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco and Carlos Arias Navarro. Both of these men were presidents of the government under Franco and their names are etched into the collective consciousness of Spain for very different reasons. Luis Carrero Blanco was seen as the likely successor to Franco when he was assassinated by members of the Basque separatist terrorist organization in 1973, and he was succeeded by Carlos Arias Navarro, to whom it fell on 20^th November 1975 to appear on national television to make the tearful 4-word statement for which he is best remembered: “Españoles, Franco ha muerto” (Spaniards, Franco has died).

It is hard to describe to non-Spaniards how momentous an event this exhumation and re-burial is. 44 years may have passed since Franco’s death but as the delays and legal and political arguments over the last 16 months have demonstrated that is not a very long time in the collective memory of a nation, and while few people still remember the horrors of the Civil War (1936-39) many more recall the years of repression and reprisals against opponents of Franco in the years which followed.

During the 36 years between the end of the war and Franco’s death he visited the Region of Murcia on just four occasions, all of them related in one way or another to water, the last of them 12 years before his death in 1963 when he inaugurated the Cenajo reservoir which lies partly in the municipality of Moratalla and partly in the province of Albacete. This is the largest reservoir in the Segura basin and has contributed greatly to the growth of the irrigated agriculture in the Region, but it was also built as a flood prevention measure in order to eliminate the risk of inundations in Murcia, an objective which was not achieved, as the gota fría storm in September demonstrated.

The dam and the other infrastructures at the Cenajo were built by a workforce which included numerous political prisoners, and for this reason, in compliance with the Historical Memory Law, a plaque commemorating the inauguration ceremony on 6^th June 1963 was removed in 2016.

However, on one of the hilltops close to the dam a cross erected in memory of the workers who died during construction has been allowed to remain in place, and in this context wreaths were laid by leading members of the PSOE political party in Murcia on Thursday to honour the victims of Francoism while the former dictator’s remains were being re-buried.

Other items in the news this week

Colombian-style marijuana plantations found in the mountains of Cuenca: 1.5 hectares of land had been cleared in the forests of the Serranía de Cuenca.

Rabbit hunter arrested after killing his companion near Sucina: the man detained maintains that the lethal shot was fired by accident while sharing out the spoils.

Drug dealer arrested in Alhama de Murcia: police and the Guardia Civil confiscated various drugs and almost 9,000 euros in cash.

13 per cent of those arrested for violence against the police in Catalunya are non-Spaniards: radicals from all over Europe descend on Barcelona to take part in clashes with police as pro-independence protests continue.

Murcia police acquire drones to monitor inaccessible areas in the municipality: the drones will also be used for use in crowd control and emergency situations.

5-euro entrance fee introduced for visitors to Murcia cathedral: admission remains free of charge for residents of the Region of Murcia.

Doctor found guilty but absolved in Spanish stolen babies case dies at his Madrid home: Eduardo Vela was found guilty of falsifying documentation but was absolved due to responsibility having expired.

Balneario de Archena named the top spa resort in Spain: the services and facilities at the spa resort in Archena earn the “Wellness Experience 2019” prize.

Almost 70,000 UK nationals are making social security contributions in Spain: over a third of a million Rumanians are employed in this country while just a quarter of British expats work for a living!

New marine protection area for the underwater canyons between Mazarrón and Cabo de Palos: the seabed drops to a depth of 2 kilometres just 10 miles from the Murcia coastline and whale sightings are common.

Extra dates in the family concert cycle at the Auditorio Víctor Villegas in Murcia: demand for tickets is so high that performers have been persuaded to add extra shows!

Lowest unemployment figure in Spain for 11 years: the figure seems to be bottoming out and the third quarter saw an increase of 6,000 in the jobless total in Murcia, while despite the jobless total having been halved since 2013 over 18 million kilos of food aid will be distributed to 262,000 people in need in Spain in November.

2,000-year-old Roman inscription added to the exhibits at Cartagena archaeological museum: the Lápida Numisius is named after a prominent Roman citizen of Carthago Nova and was discovered in an annex building at the monastery of San Ginés de la Jara.

Murcia and Spanish property news

Statistics published last week by Spain’s notaries appear to confirm that the recovery in the country’s property market is slowing down in areas where it began earliest, while in others which took longer to see the end of the slump which began in 2008 the upward trend in sales figures and market value increases.

During the second quarter of 2019 in Spain as a whole sales figures fell by 7.9 per cent in comparison with the same period last year with the sharpest decreases including those in the Balearics, Madrid, the Comunidad Valenciana and Andalucía. The figure also dropped by 5.9 per cent in Catalunya, but at the other end of the scale were increases of 10.3 per cent in Extremadura and 2 per cent in the Region of Murcia.

In terms of the average price paid per square metre, the national figure rose by 1 per cent and the Region of Murcia again performed well, with an increase of 3.4 per cent. In the Costa Cálida the quarterly sales figures have now been higher than the year before in each of the last ten quarters, while prices have been rising for the last year and a half.

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Images: Copyrighted Murcia Today, full or partial reproduction prohibited, other images as attributed on individual news articles. Image of Franco's exhumation: RTVE. Top image Águilas tourist office.