ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 27th July 2018
Up to 40 degrees in the Costa Cálida on Saturday as the Murcia summer warms up for August!
The peak of the summer tourist season begins on the Costa Cálida and the rest of the Spanish Costas this weekend, with hundreds of thousands of people heading for the Mediterranean from Madrid and other inland cities, and those who arrive in the Region of Murcia on Saturday are likely to be greeted by the hottest weather of the year so far.
An orange alert for temperatures of 40 degrees in inland areas has been issued by State meteorological agency Aemet, following a week in which a new 2018 high had already been reached in the city of Murcia at 38.2 degrees on Wednesday. While July has been warmer than usual the south-east of Spain had so far avoided the extreme heat of other summers, but now that appears to be changing, and those who are going to be in the Costa Cálida during at least the first half of August can prepare to sizzle in almost unbroken sunshine, according to the longer-term forecast.
Meanwhile, if the sky remains clear Friday evening will provide some unusual photo opportunities as a “blood moon” lunar eclipse takes place starting at sunset. This will be the longest and most complete event of its kind of the 21st century, so make sure not to miss it!
Elsewhere in the regional news this week, encouraging progress continues to be made towards the opening of the new airport in Corvera next January, with the meteorological service and falconry patrol contracts having been awarded: 172 days to go and counting down!
Before the rest of the weekly news summary, a warning: even the staff at Murcia Today occasionally take a break, and the coming week is one of those occasions. Social network site accounts will still be active although far less so than usual, but unfortunately there will be no weekly news bulletin on Friday 3rd August.
See you on the beach!
Airport and tourism news
Meteorological services and falconry patrol contracts are amongst several awarded at Corvera airport this week: with the countdown to the projected opening date standing at 172 days these announcements bring the first commercial flights at Corvera a step closer to becoming a reality. All in all, 2.6 million euros’ worth of contracts were awarded by Aena this week as preparations for the first take-offs and landings advance.
San Javier airport unaffected by Ryanair strike, cancellations at Alicante-Elche: the strike action caused no cancellations on departures and arrivals boards at Murcia-San Javier.
Beaches have been very much in the news this week as new initiatives to remove and reduce smoking on the beaches have been presented:
Playa del Rihuete in Mazarrón is the first of six no smoking beaches in the Costa Cálida: others will fly the no smoking flag this summer in San Pedro del Pinatar, Santiago de la Ribera, La Manga and Los Alcázares. However, the Mar Menor Rotary Club have adopted a different stance, and has distributed 2,000 reusable ashtrays to bathers and other beachgoers!
San Javier Town Hall invited beachgoers to recycle and breathe a sigh of satisfaction this week. The intention behind the slogan “Recicla and Respira” (Recycle and Breathe) is to encourage beachgoers to dispose of waste responsibly and then breathe a sigh of satisfaction at a job well done.
In Los Alcázares a drunk driver was arrested on the beach when his car became stuck in the sand after he allegedly “got lost”!
In Lorca meanwhile beach access restrictions to areas of natural beauty on the Lorca coastline were finally scrapped as the Town Hall bowed to the pressure of repeated vandalism at the access barrier in Calnegre and considered alternative proposals made by residents and other beachgoers.
Further up the coastline near to Águilas agriculturalists and ecologists were in conflict over the area of Marina de Cope: no official protection plan exists for the regional park which was declared in 1992, and demonstrations were held by both groups last Sunday.
The Mar Menor has had a difficult couple of years due to the proliferation of algae which affected the colour of the water two years ago. Since then work has been underway to remedy the problem and the Murcia president said this week that the Mar Menor is “doing very well”: visibility depth has increased from 1 metre to 4 metres in certain parts of the lagoon. Fernando López Miras made his comments whilst participating in the annual summer fiestas of Santiago de la Ribera during which the image of the Virgen del Carmen is taken out onto the waters of the Mar Menor in a fishing boat.
Seaweed collection teams quadruple effectiveness on Mar Menor beaches: an increase in staffing levels and the incorporation of light machinery enabled the teams of workers to collect 2,330 cubic meters in the first half of 2018.
60 per cent of the Canary palms of Murcia have been destroyed by the red palm weevil: the pest was first detected in the Costa Cálida only 13 years ago but has changed the face of urban vegetation in many coastal towns of Murcia as it continues to munch its way through the region's palm trees.
First caviar lime crop in Murcia ripening on the trees of Sangonera: the gourmet fruit from Australia is marketed at 80 euros a kilo!
Eighth outbreak of olive and almond ebola in Alicante: precautionary inspections on 9,000 hectares of land and at nurseries in Murcia.
Torre Pacheco Seprona boss fined 7,200 euros for preventing rabbit hunting: the officer took the law into his own hands and prevented licensed hunters from targeting rabbits in 2012 and 2013. Today many areas of the region are overpopulated as the rabbits have been breeding like rabbits and there are now so many that some areas of the region have authorised extended hunting to deal with the "rabbit overstock."
Other items in the Murcia news this week
Lorca police search for arsonist after another fire below the castle: three successive evening fires on the hillside in Lorca were started deliberately, and after 2,400 m2 of land was affected Mayor Fulgencio Gil has requested help from any member of the public who might be able to provide information leading to the detention of the culprit or culprits.
Fire breaks out at Puerto Lumbreras farm: the hot dry weather raises the risk of wild fires to “extreme” in many areas.
Murcia jobless total down by 15,000 in the second quarter: a fall of 11 per cent in just 3 months leaves the total at 116,000, only just over half of the peak which was reached in 2012.
Transformer fire puts San Pedro del Pinatar desalination plants out of action: water supplies in the area are guaranteed by production at the plant in Torrevieja but this incident and the burst intake pipe at Águilas a month ago serve to highlight the need for a more complete water distribution network.
Diesel car sales plummet in Murcia amid fears of increased environmental taxes: 18 per cent fewer diesel registration in the first half of the year as the total was overtaken by the figure for cars powered by “normal” petrol engines, which shot up by 44 per cent.
Bulgarian driver 5 times over the limit on the motorway near Murcia: the eighth inebriated HGV driver to be arrested in the Region of Murcia this year was taking melons and water melons to the UK from Lorca, but got no further than Murcia.
Beachgoers in Los Nietos frustrated by local delays on the trains: the half-hour trip from Los Nietos back to Cartagena lasted over 60 minutes for 100 hot and bothered passengers at the weekend.
1,900-year-old Roman amphora found off urban beach in Águilas: an amateur diver reported the discovery of the 2nd century oil container just off the Playa de las Delicias in superb condition. Police have praised the actions of the diver who left the object in-situ and notified the police. They, in turn, arranged for specialist divers to examine and then remove the piece, ensuring that it was properly documented and raised to the surface in perfect condition.
War of words heats up between Murcia president and national government delegate: serious disagreement on key topics, including the AVE high-speed rail line, the Tajo-Segura water supply canal, the financing of the regional government, the completion of the motorway which currently runs from San Javier to the middle of an orange grove near Santomera and the construction of ring roads north of the city of Murcia between the governments in Murcia and Madrid; the change in national government from PP to PSOE has resulted in policy changes which could have adverse effects on the development and financing of key projects.
Owners of an 11 per cent share in Mula castle refuse to hand it over: the Town Hall aims to restore the 16th century Castillo de los Vélez after years of negligence but the stubbornness of the descendants of the family which built it is not making life easy.
New drinking water supply for villages in the regional park of Calblanque: the project in Las Cobaticas and Las Jordanas is budgeted at over 283,000 euros.
Minister for Culture promises study of the restoration of Cartagena cathedral: the Catedral Vieja was left in ruins by aerial bombardments during the Civil War but José Guirao promises to look into the case for restoration. Promises of a similar nature have been made many times during the last few years, but so far the required financing has failed to materialise.
Murcia and Spanish property news
Property mortgage activity in Spain continues to increase but there was a surprising drop in Murcia in May: statistics published earlier this month showed that the number of residential properties bought and sold in Spain during May was 4.7 per cent higher than in the same month last year, and more figures released this Friday morning reveal that at the same time the number of purchases financed by mortgage loans rose by 7.3 per cent.
But in Murcia the 20 per cent increase in sales was accompanied, somewhat surprisingly, by a fall in number of mortgage loans of 10 per cent. Clearly cash is king in the Costa Cálida – either that or more buyers purchases are forming part of chains, financing a purchase by means of a sales – but at the same time the average loan capital involved was 87,579 euros, 16.7 per cent higher than in May 2017.
These May figures come in the context of a longer-term upward trend in the amount of mortgage activity in the Murcia and Spanish property markets: the running is currently 7.3 per cent higher than last year, while in the whole of Spain the rise is one of 11.6 per cent.
Property rental prices in Murcia up by 8.5 per cent in three months: renting a home in Murcia is 10.6 per cent more expensive than a year ago, with most of the increase coming during the second quarter of this year.
Spanish news summary: African migration crisis escalating in the Strait of Gibraltar while discontent simmers in Catalunya
The number of African migrants attempting to make their way into the European Union by crossing the Mediterranean from north Africa to southern Spain on perilously small and overcrowded boats this summer is now reaching near-record proportions, and almost 10,000 have been intercepted in the last 8 weeks.
The total was boosted by more than 1,200 over the weekend, a further 477 on Monday and 484 on Tuesday, with the authorities struggling to accommodate them all in detention centres while repatriation procedures are initiated.
It is important to point out that while the policy in this country is to send back all of those who are intercepted attempting to enter the country without authorization, it is not always possible. This is because in order to repatriate individuals it is necessary to establish firmly their identities and where they came from, and in many cases the immigrants are without paperwork, illiterate and reluctant to give any relevant information.
In addition, the law related to those aged under 18 – who account for a sizeable proportion of those on board the tiny boats – is more lenient, and they are often allowed to stay in this country.
The Catalan separatist issue also continues to make the headlines, and this week one eye-catching incident took place in the town of Vic, where a driver ploughed through a field of yellow crosses in the Plaza Mayor. The 2,500 crosses were a gesture of support for separatist political prisoners and exiles, and although the lawyer representing the man later claimed that there was no ideological motive behind his actions, alleging instead that his client has a history of depression and suffered an anxiety attack, reaction has been fairly radical.
Quim Torra, the president of the regional government of Catalunya, describes the incident as “very serious” and requests “zero tolerance” towards such actions, while Anna Erra, the Mayoress of Vic, commented that although the destruction of the crosses appears to be an isolated event it is “deplorable”. As a result, the perpetrator may face charges of committing a “hate crime”!
Other items making the news this week include unemployment in Spain reaching a 10-year low, the Guardia Civil taking into custody an illegally imported Komodo dragon in Barcelona and a spectacular explosion and fire on board a passenger catamaran in Galicia: fortunately there were no fatalities, but 48 people were injured, 5 of them seriously.
For more details on these and other stories, scroll down below…
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