ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 7th July 2017

Image: Jumilla town hall

Extraordinary weather heralds the start of the summer season as plans for Corvera airport get back on track

We are now a week into July and the weather across Spain continues to defy expectations as the unbroken sunshine which usually characterizes this time of year stubbornly refuses to materialize. Last weekend the month began with storms as extraordinary weather conditions greeted the first July holidaymakers in Murcia with plummeting temperatures and a violent hailstorm, then the sun burst out of the clouds and reminded visitors how hot it normally is in July, and then on the evening between Thursday and Friday plenty of thunder and lightning but practically no rain kept everyone awake,  leading to four fires started by lightning strike in the municipalities of Jumilla and Moratalla.

As of Friday afternoon firecrews are still working to extinguish the fires in Jumilla, their task made more difficult by the strong winds. By early afternoon one of the fires had consumed around 25 hectares and the second, in the Sierra Sopalmo, around 40, with the third, in the Sierra de El Carche under control.

Fortunately, down here in Murcia our woes are few; in Madrid Metro stations were closed and streets flooded as a torrential downpour caught the capital offguard and four people were killed as rainwater swept down a canyon where the family were enjoying an excursion.

But there is no doubt about it, the summer season is now well and truly under way, and while environmental and tourism news is thick on the ground there is a feeling that many of the big stories affecting Murcia are already on holiday. Nonetheless there have at least been two significant steps towards the long-awaited opening of the new airport in Corvera, with the news that the way is now clear for the new management contract to be awarded and confirmation that the airport will be officially named after engineer Juan de la Cierva, a native of Murcia who invented the autogyro in the 1920s! (see below for further details).

Meanwhile, bad news for all readers who enjoy mud wrestling with pigs: it appears that your annual date at the fiestas of Ceutí has been cancelled this August as the Town Hall has bowed to pressure from animal activists and excluded the event from the schedule. Never mind, the storm clouds are set to clear from the skies of Murcia this weekend, leaving you clear to seek alternative pastimes at the beaches of the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean!

Environmental news 

Proposals to limit Mar Menor sailing to five launching areas: for many years the Costas department has been attempting to clamp down on the illegal mooring of boats in the Mar Menor, and the latest measures designed to achieve this, which have been announced this week, will place severe restrictions on the freedom of movement of boat owners in the area.

Mar Menor clean-up campaign taken to the beaches and marinas of the lagoon: pollution and litter targeted in children’s workshops and other activities as the Murcia government vows to fight on the beaches for the health of the Mar Menor.

Improvement work on Bolnuevo nudist beach track disrupts access during July: work on the Bolnuevo track will last until the end of July, and during the month there will be restricted access for everyone, although alternative routes will be provided for walkers and cyclists.This track is now closed to motorised traffic.

Recreational bluefin tuna fishing banned in Spain: the temporary ban makes it illegal not only to catch the fish but also to carry specimens on board leisure and sporting craft and to bring them ashore.

Loggerhead turtles fail in attempts to lay eggs in La Manga and Calblanque: these incidents follow another failed attempt by a loggerhead turtle to lay eggs last Saturday on the beach in Guardamar del Segura, in the province of Alicante, and it is even being speculated that the same animal was involved in at least one of the incidents in La Manga and Calblanque.

Palm tree collapses in Alcantarilla park: as the Region of Murcia continues to suffer a prolonged drought which has already lasted three years it appears that large trees all over the Costa Cálida are beginning to feel the effect, and on Tuesday this was underlined once again when a large palm tree came down in the Parque de la Constitución in Alcantarilla.

Beached dolphin dies in la Manga: the dolphin which came ashore at the Ensenada del Esparto beach was very weak and severely disorientated, and unfortunately it died a few hours later before staff from the wildlife recovery centre in El Valle were able to offer assistance.

Airports and tourism news

Fines for urinating in the sea or playing ball games on the beaches of San Pedro del Pinatar: the Town Hall of San Pedro del Pinatar has been courting controversy with some of its decisions regarding local by-laws affecting the beaches in the municipality this year, and this week attention in the regional press has turned once again to a set of fines  for what is considered to be anti-social behaviour.

The story made it into the national Spanish media and social networks had an entertaining couple of days speculating how the town hall was going to catch miscreants urinating in the sea.

But the Town Hall responded to the widespread criticism on Wednesday, when Mayoress Visitación Martínez explained that the measures are designed to improve health and safety on the beaches of the municipality, while at the same time protecting the interests of the tourist industry and the ecological wellbeing of the coastline. She believes that the controversy over the ordinance is unwarranted, adding that such rules are “common in coastal municipalities throughout Spain”.

However, this failed to halt the enthusiasm of regional media for the story, and headlines such as "If I can´t go naked in San Pedro, then I'm going to Águilas for my holiday this year" mirrored the general comment the story has provoked. The lone nudist beach in Águilas may be overwhelmed by white buttocks this year, as the Mazarrón nudist beaches are now inaccessible to anyone unwilling to undertake a major trek along the coastline carrying provisions, water, toilet paper, food and chairs due to the closure of the beachside track!

Corvera airport management contract tender process back on track: after the courts overruled a third objection to the terms of the contract the bidding process resumes, and the path is now clear for the airport in Corvera to open in 2018.

Corvera airport ready to receive its official name: the new international airport in Corvera is to be officially named after the engineer and aviation pioneer Juan de la Cierva Codorniú, a native of Murcia who is credited with inventing the autogyro in the early 1920s.

However, although thoroughly meriting the honour, the name of the engineer may prove to be a bit of a mouthful for the majority of those likely to use the airport as the latest figures released this week show that 43% of foreign visitors to Murcia this year continue to come from the UK.

In the first five months of 2017 there are reported to have been over 346,000 foreign visitors to the Region, representing an increase of 12.3% in comparison to the equivalent period last year, while the British have accounted for 42.9% of the total following a year-on-year rise of 23.1% over the 2016 figure.

And the British continue to spend record amounts in Spain.

British tourists spent 2.4 million euros PER HOUR in Spain during May! British visitors, apparently unaffected by the devaluation of the pound since last June, spent an average of 869 euros during their stay in Spain, 4.3% more than last year, and this, coupled with the fact that there were more British visitors, produced an 18.9% rise in spending by those coming from the UK across Spain.

First ever Blue Flag hoisted at the beaches of Lorca: such is the variety of landscapes and tourist attractions in the huge municipality of Lorca – the second largest in Spain at over 1,675 square kilometres – that it is not always thought of as a Mediterranean coastal township, but its short stretch of coastline between Mazarrón and Águilas has this year been recognized with the awarding of Lorca’s first ever Blue Flag at Cala de Calnegre for quality.

Police information point installed in Plaza Bohemia in La Manga: the office will be open throughout July and August, and is staffed by officers of the Policía Local from 8.00 in the morning until 2.00 at night.

San Javier lifeguard and beach vigilance service in full swing: there are 50 staff on duty from 10.00 to 22.00 every day, distributed among 18 lookout points at 14 beaches in La Manga del Mar Menor and 4 more in Santiago de la Ribera.

800,000 euros of Monteagudo castle restoration funds “missing”: the iconic Rio de Janeiro-style statue of Christ in Monteagudo was placed right on top of the 11th-century castle which was built by the Moorish ruler Ibn Mardanis, better known as “El Rey Lobo” (the Wolf King), who governed in Murcia, Valencia and Almería from 1147 until 1172.However, although the castle boasts a swanky visitor centre ( which is actually well worth visiting although is rather out on a limb from the rest of the Murcia municipality attractions), the castle itself remains closed as nobody is willing to invest the money required to restore it and make it safe for the public to visit, a great shame as it's a splendid piece of architecture, even with a vast statue plonked on top of the castle!

However, in Mula, the long battle to wrest control from the descendants of the Fajardos is still raging and the regional government in Murcia has made provision for emergency work to be undertaken immediately in order to support the western tower of the defensive wall of the 16^th century fortification.

Other items in the Murcia news this week

Campos del Rio joins other Murcia municipalities with circus animal act ban: last week the small municipality of Campos del Río in the centre of the Region became the thirteenth to ban animal acts on Murcia, and there is a strong possibility that the list could be lengthened still further in the near future.

Ceutí pig wrestling contest consigned to history: in the past the Caza del Marrano contest attracted large numbers of visitors from elsewhere in the Region of Murcia, all of them keen to witness the unusual man-versus-pig contest in the mud, but it appears to have been erased from the agenda as the Town Hall bows to pressure from animal rights campaigners.

Summer fishing timetable in force in the Mar Menor: fishing by night and bathing by day in parts of the Mar Menor!

June unemployment figures show an 11.6 per cent drop in Murcia: the number of people officially registered as unemployed in the Region of Murcia fell again during the month of June, dropping by 1,728 to 103,278, and although much of this improvement can be put down to temporary employment contracts starting in the services sector to coincide with the start of the summer tourist season the general trend is still an emphatic downward one.

San Javier toddler in hospital after falling from balcony: a one-year-old girl had to be taken to hospital after falling from a balcony in Calle Coronel Fernández Tudela and providing a frightening reminder of the importance of keeping a close eye on children at all times, especially if renting holiday accommodation where toddlers can become disorientated in an unfamiliar environment.

Three arrested at clandestine marijuana plantation in Mula: among the clues which led the Guardia to the property was the strong and distinctive scent of marijuana which was emanating from the building, and further investigations established that, as is so often the case with clandestine plantations of this kind, the owners were illegally tapping into the mains electricity supply in order to power the heating, lighting and climate control systems they had installed in the building.

Two arrested after stick-up at Barranda tobacconist: the men were detained just an hour after they had committed the armed robbery in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, making off with the victim’s handbag.

Pregnant woman rescued from overturned car in Cartagena: the fire brigade had to take great care in extracting her from her predicament before she was sent to the Hospital de Santa Lucía with superficial injuries.

New bridge over the Segura to ease traffic problems in Archena: the new bridge will stand alongside the 85-year-old metal structure which spans the River Segura.

38^th archaeological dig at the Cueva Negra in Caravaca begins: the site in Caravaca de la Cruz contains the oldest evidence of Man taming fire in Europe, and has this year attracted archaeologists from the USA, the UK, Australia and Portugal.

Totana rebuilds 3500-year-old Argaric dwelling at La Bastida: the archaeological site of La Bastida in Totana is one of the most fascinating of the many in the Region of Murcia, featuring remains of the Argaric culture which was predominant in south-eastern Spain between approximately 2200 and 1500 BC.

Murcia ITV car roadworthiness test centres to strike on 31st July: the strike is a protest against the government’s plans to make it both easier and cheaper for car owners to fulfill the obligatory requirement of testing vehicles regularly once they are over four years old. Choose an alternative day for the ITV test.
 

Spanish news round up: floods and wild fires give way to the running of the bulls in Pamplona in the Spanish headlines

It’s a sure sign that the summer has begun in Spain when the news is dominated by the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and as of this Friday that’s the case following the first of the San Fermín runs in the capital of Navarra. Three were injured during the event, one of them seriously, as the week-long festival got under way and distracted attention away from the weather and wild fires which dominated the headlines for much of the week.

Two large wild fires have now been extinguished in the south-western province of Huelva, but this week suddenly the problem was one of flooding as torrential downpours hit western and central areas of Spain on Thursday: there was chaos for commuters in Madrid as motorways and the Metro were flooded, while in Extremadura there was tragedy as a couple and their two daughters were caught out by a sudden wave of floodwater while canyoning near the River Jerte. Heartbreakingly, the only survivor of the family group was the couple’s six-year-old son.

But that wasn’t the only flood in Extremadura this week, as residents of Valverde de la Vera will be only too happy to testify after their village was buried under mud and debris despite not a drop of rain having fallen!

Elsewhere a Civil War victim was finally given a full burial 78 years after his death, an unfortunate woman in Málaga died after being stung by a wasp, and just to prove that the weather was not entirely un-summery even a cow and her calf strolled down to a beach in Cádiz to rest beneath an abandoned sunshade!

Spanish property news

Madrid introduces measures to regulate airbnb rentals: the use of websites such as airbnb has made short-term property rentals a far easier field in which to operate for individual homeowners, but at the same time there are grave concerns over some of the problems associated with such rentals to holiday-makers and short-stay visitors.

These problems include the difficulty of regulating this kind of rental activity and ensuring that income is declared for tax purposes, and in this context the regional government of Madrid has this week introduced modifications to the laws concerning property rentals, with a view to clamping down on the misuse of sites such as airbnb. One of these modifications is the introduction of a document to be known as the “Certificado de Idoneidad para Vivienda de Uso Turístico (CIVUT)”, or certificate of aptitude for tourist use, while a more innovative initiative is to allow resident’s associations which exist in apartment blocks to ban the use of sites like airbnb for tourist rentals unless properties have been awarded the new certificate.

Significantly more Spaniards live in rental property than five years ago: the proportion has risen from 17 to 22 per cent since 2012, indicating a “change of mentality” according to the Department of Housing.

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