ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 26th January 2018
A January heatwave, the return of snow and a possible Gota Fría storm in a week when Corvera airport inched closer to opening
An extraordinary week for weather in the Costa Cálida began with a heatwave and is ending with warnings of snow, strong winds and a possible Gota Fría storm over the weekend!
Last Sunday, Águilas and Mazarrón were among the warmest places in Spain and the temperature 
reached 25 degrees in Murcia while the UK shivered in the snow, and on Monday the regional capital recorded its warmest ever January day at 26 degrees!
However, by Friday there were official yellow alerts in place in the north-west of the region for winds gusting at up to 70 km/h, and a dusting of snow fell on higher ground. During the weekend, the weather is expected to worsen further still, and an orange alert is in place on Sunday for snowfalls in the north-west.
Even more importantly, though, there is a chance that on Saturday and Sunday a Gota Fría storm is likely to brew up in the south-east of Spain. It should be remembered that one of the most often repeated characteristics of Gota Fría weather events is that they are notoriously hard to predict, but it seems almost certain that rain will fall in the Region of Murcia during the weekend, and that it could turn heavy: keep an eye on the sky and the latest weather forecast!
Away from the weather, much of the news in Murcia over the last few days has once again centred on the new airport in Corvera, the opening of which is anxiously awaited by the regional government but is the source of great concern among taxi drivers and others in San Javier!
Corvera airport
Following the awarding of the new management contract at the unopened Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera to Aena in December, this Thursday the company officially constituted the subsidiary through which the 25-year contract will be honoured, with a share capital of 8.5 million euros. The contract will now be formally signed within a month.
So optimistic is the Murcia government concerning the effect which the new airport will have on the regional economy that this week the minister for Tourism forecast that there will be massive growth in the hotel sector in the Costa Cálida, estimating that the number of hotel beds will double to 40,000 by 2023. This growth, he says, will be fuelled not only by the opening of the airport in Corvera, but also by the arrival of the first AVE high-speed trains in the city of Murcia.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Spanish low cost airline Volotea is hoping to operate flights at Corvera airport in early 2019: it is still not certain when the long-awaited opening ceremony and the new Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera will take place, it is reported that the Spanish low-cost airline Volotea is interested in running services to and from northern Spain and France.
In San Javier, though, the Mayor is having to face up to the downside of the San Javier-Corvera airport transfer, and this week offered his full support to local taxi drivers, who will be among those most vulnerable to loss of income once flights are diverted from the airport on the shore of the Mar Menor. Mayor José Miguel Luengo has already requested that the taxi drivers affected should be allowed to offer their services at the new airport, and is lobbying for “exceptional compensation measures” in the municipality he represents in order to soften the blow of the airport’s closure.
Other tourism news
Historic bathing station in San Pedro del Pinatar to be restored by the end of 2018: the Floridablanca station was first built on the shore of the Mar Menor in 1911.
Controversy rumbles on over San Pedro del Pinatar nudism ban: the Mayoress of San Pedro insists that complaints were received about nudists in her response to the Ombudsman’s request for explanations!
Murcia seeks to maintain strong growth in Scandinavian tourist figures: Scandinavia currently accounts for 10 per cent of all foreign visitors to the Costa Cálida, with the numbers coming to Murcia in 2017 having risen by 73 per cent, although the UK market still accounts for 43 per cent of all foreign tourists.
Caravaca greenway hostel contracts put out to tender: the old railway station of Caravaca and the Hotel El Llano are both on the Vía Verde del Noroeste greenway in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz.
Agricultural and environmental news
Mar Menor protection amendments softened after pressure from farmers: only ten days after the opposition parties in the regional parliament joined forces to approve a series of amendments to the legislation which is being introduced in an effort to regulate agricultural practices in the Campo de Cartagena, thus helping to protect and regenerate the marine environment of the Mar Menor, the farmers appear to have won a minor reprieve. Ecologists, on the other hand, are keen to avoid further delays in enforcing strict legislation.
Camposol volunteers destroying caterpillar nests as the processionaries begin to emerge: warm weather has seen the first processionary caterpillars of 2018 on the ground in Murcia.
Domestic water bills will go up in Murcia unless it rains before the spring: desalinated water is already being used in three quarters of the households of Murcia, and the resulting production costs will soon have to be passed on to consumers as the severe drought continues. Will the rain forecast for this weekend be enough to keep bills down?
Águilas ficus trees being given six-monthly health check and cutback: four of the six trees are located in the Plaza de España in the centre of Águilas, where the Town Hall is especially aware of the dangers following a huge scare in the centre of the city of Murcia last June and an incident in Águilas in 2014 when eight people required medical treatment after a branch fell in the square.
Research suggests 7,000 birds of prey are electrocuted every year on the pylons of Murcia: the black spot in the Costa Cálida is due to dangerous pylons not having been eliminated in key birdlife areas.
Illegal immigration
Immigrant stowaways arrested in Moroccan truck near Santomera: two days after hiding in the truck in Tangiers, the immigrants were exhausted and called for help while the driver stopped in Santomera on his way to Barcelona.
First immigrant boats of 2018 intercepted off Cabo de Palos: last year over 1,800 African migrants were detained off the Costa Cálida, and the first 37 of 2018 were picked up and brought to Cartagena on Tuesday night.
On the roads
Two dead and nine injured in head-on collision in Torre Pacheco: the victims all appear to have been agricultural workers on their way to the fields, and the most likely cause is that one of the drivers fell asleep at the wheel.
Santomera Mayoress opposes completion of the San Javier motorway which ends in an orange grove! Some those living in the area of Santomera, which in theory will be the town to benefit most from the completion of the road, are concerned that the RM-1 is a threat to the “only piece of huerta” which remains in the countryside.
Recognition at last for Mazarrón on A-7 motorway exit signs! Mazarrón is added to Fuente Álamo and Cartagena as a destination on the RM-2 from Alhama.
Cartagena-Vera AP-7 ghost motorway taken over by Spanish government: the toll motorway management company went into bankruptcy in 2013, and now the government is taking control of this and 8 other ventures which have lost money since toll roads were opened.
297 roadworthiness infringements detected in Murcia campaign, 72 per cent for lack of ITV certificate: the DGT campaign highlights the frequency of failures to update ITV certification in Murcia.
Other stories in the Murcia news this week
13,000 British residents in Murcia as the Mazarrón figure shows no immediate Brexit effect: as recently as 20 years ago there were only 535 Britons registered as living in Murcia, but after the figure rose to well over 20,000 in 2012 the current total may seem surprisingly low.
However, much of the decrease can be accounted for by a “cleaning-up” of the Padrón in municipalities where many foreign nationals registered while purchasing properties, and then remained on the register, and although Brexit may also be a contributing factor it is also true that at any given moment there are far more than 13,000 British people in the Region of Murcia!
The largest population of UK nationals in the Region of Murcia is still reported to be in Mazarrón, where the figure is actually marginally higher than a year ago, followed by Cartagena, Murcia, Los Alcázares and Torre Pacheco.
Alcantarilla air base celebrates 70th anniversary of the first military parachute jump in Spain: the Papea parachute acrobatics team were the stars of the show at a ceremony attended by Spain’s Minister of Defence.
Man dies after falling onto the tracks at the railway station of Alhama de Murcia: the causes of the fall which led to his being struck by the Murcia-Lorca train are not clear.
Gunpowder de-activated after lying hidden for years in Yecla warehouse: the explosive powder found in two old flasks was similar to the substance used to fire arquebuses in the local fiestas of Yecla.
Senegalese man arrested in Murcia for ID fraud in driver’s licence theory exam: the fraudster pretended to be a compatriot in order to obtain a driver’s licence for him, and had already committed a similar offence in Alicante.
British Consul visits Camposol in February to discuss Brexit: Sara-Jane Morris will attend an open meeting on 6th February at the Centro Social in Camposol.
Flu epidemic still causing chaos at A&E units in Murcia hospitals: over 7,000 new cases were diagnosed last week and 1,500 more this Monday alone.
Hang glider airlifted to safety after crash landing in the Lorca countryside: a helicopter was needed to stretcher the victim to hospital from her unintended landing site in La Paca.
Street refurbishments almost complete on Avenida Juan Carlos I in Lorca: the Mayor of Lorca promises that the “new” avenue will be complete in a matter of weeks, meaning that postponed ticket sales for the spectacular Semana Santa processions can be made at last!
Unemployment fell in Murcia by 6.6 per cent last year: the jobless total in the Region dropped to 121,900, while in Spain as a whole, the figure at the end of 2017 was 11.1 lower than 12 months previously.
UK drug distribution network busted in Murcia: a Briton, an Irish national, a Swede and three Spaniards were arrested in various locations in Murcia and Alicante, and cocaine and hashish were among the drugs taken into custody by the Guardia Civil.
Spanish property news
After the wealth of statistical reports and forecasts which accompanied the turn of the year, this week 
property news has been relatively light on the ground. However, a report was published in which PwC expect further recovery in the Spanish property market in 2018: conditions are said to be perfect to attract investment in residential real estate in Spain, and the expectation of Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Urban Land Institute is that this year will be at least as positive as 2017 (when both sales figures and prices rose) and possibly even more so.
Construction costs rose in Spain by 12 per cent in 2017: after falling by 20 per cent during the market slump, costs are now close to reaching pre-crisis levels.
Spanish news summary: Catalunya still hogs the headlines but it's hard to keep Donald Trump and a gold toilet out of the news!
It can almost be taken for granted these days that the continuing political uncertainty in Catalunya is top of the headlines in the Spanish national news, and this week, as the country waits to see how the saga of the proposed re-investiture of Carles Puigdemont as the president of the regional government develops, attention focussed on his first journey out of his self-imposed exile in Brussels.
Sr Puigdemont travelled to Copenhagen to take part in a conference on the issue of the Catalan independence, risking possible arrest on the same day as his re-investiture was officially proposed by 
Roger Torrent, the new Speaker in the Catalan parliament following the regional election on 21st December. However, no action was taken to re-activate the European detention order which was withdrawn on 5th December, leaving it up to the former president whether he will attempt to attend the investiture debate on 30th January in Barcelona. If he does so, it can be assumed that he will be arrested while under investigation for alleged sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.
Meanwhile, the continuing instability in Catalunya lies behind the IMF’s decision to revise their economic growth forecast for Spain downwards, while the prospects for the other developed countries remain stable or have been upgraded.
Elsewhere, Donald Trump’s protectionist policies caused yet more resentment among Spanish black olive exporters as a 20 per cent tariff was imposed on their products in order to safeguard the olive growing sector in California, but it has emerged that revenge has been gained due to the actions of the curator of the Guggenheim in New York.
Mr Trump planned to add even more grandeur and prestige to the White House during his time in residence there by being granted a painting by Vincent van Gogh on loan, but curator Nancy Spector informed him that the work requested was due to be shipped to Bilbao on loan, and is then scheduled to remain in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim. In its place, almost certainly with tongue in cheek, she offered him a work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which consists of a toilet made of solid gold and is intended as a representation of the excesses of wealth!
For more details on these and other stories, scroll down below…
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