Date Published: 21/02/2014

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014

Corvera airport opening further delayed, ecologists unhappy over Paramount environmental report, Rosell emergencies unit to remain open and Carnival begins

Corvera Airport news

In spite of the apparent goodwill to sort out the problems between the former concessionary and the regional government, Aeromur have already announced that to open the airport by the 18^th September will “be impossible.”

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 This, they say, is due to the failure of the regional government to request that the Supreme Court allow the rescission of the original management concession to be annulled, as without this legal impediment being removed, they have no official authority to start completing the remaining bureaucratic procedures that have to be put in place in order to open the airport. And of course, there has still been no response from Brussels as to whether the regional government can legally offer financial support to this private consortium.

All of which means that the chances of the management team being ready to open for the Winter flights schedule diminishes by the hour. Realistically, Winter is not the best time to open as the volumes of flights coming into Murcia over the last couple of Winters have been negligible, and it is hard to see how two competing airports within a 30 km radius of each other will be able to viably offer flight services unless some money is spent by the regional tourist board to promote more aggressively to the UK market and fill more planes.

Murcia currently attracts just 7% of the 14.3 million British tourists who chose to holiday to Spain last year, so there is plenty more to play for, although this week the regional tourist board announced that it was targeting the Czech, Polish and Bulgarian markets who currently record such insignificant figures that they don´t even appear on official reports.

Other Murcia news stories

Another story which relates to tourism is the current debate underway about the future of diving in the Islas ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 Hormigas regional marine park off the coast of Cabo de Palos. This protected area is being abused by illegal fishermen and private divers, damaging the fragile environment, meaning that diving schools and those running professional tourism diving packages face an uncertain future, with the numbers of divers they can take into the water restricted. The schools point out that their divers are not interfering with the marine life, are not touching or killing anything, merely observing with respect, and that substantial sums of taxpayer’s money has been spent promoting the diving attractions of the natural park. Limiting the numbers of divers during the main diving season could make their businesses unviable and the divers will simply go elsewhere. What is needed, they say, are increased measures and vigilance to stop those who are abusing this marine environment to the detriment of those who respect it.

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 Yet Cartagena fishermen had a good year, recording catches which have increased by20%, in spite of the national catch haul percentage falling in other ports.

Staying with wildlife, an interesting story focuses on research to use Murcian silkworms to heal ligaments, tendons and broken bones, this strong, flexible thread a product which once helped the economy of the region to boom.

The regional economy could certainly do with a shot in the arm, figures released this week showing that more than 77% of unemployed Murcians have now been out of work for more than a year, and more than 50% have been out of work for more than two years. This does little more than raise concerns about burglaries, and this ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 week police have arrested a group in the North-west of the region.

Health has been a busy topic this week, fortunately the flu epidemic seems to have passed its peak, and it’s been announced that the Rosell Hospital emergencies unit in Cartagena will remain open for the next year following a huge public outcry over the proposed closure. Further resources will also be injected into reducing the waiting lists by opening up more day surgery at the Rosell as part of the overall restructuring of services ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 following the opening of the Santa Lucia hospital in Cartagena.

Paramount Park Alhama de Murcia

Ecologists are unhappy that the Department of Environment has decided to accept the environmental protection and conservation document submitted by Premursa rather than the environmental impact report which would be the normal procedure. It is a surprising decision, as those of us who live in protected areas have to submit an environmental impact report to even change the route of an existing vital entrance road or put in a supporting wall for a crumbling bank, ( cost over 2 grand a time) but the decision has been taken to push forward the project and allow the construction to begin as soon as the council of Alhama concludes its administrative paperwork. This could pull forward the beginning of construction to earlier in the summer, providing the cash can be confirmed to finance the park.

What’s on Murcia this week

This weekend the region starts partying for carnival, the first of the pre-carnival activities taking place before ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 the main parades, most of which are next weekend or even the weekend after. This year carnival is late and the period of partying extended, meaning it’s possible to attend several events if you so desire.

The biggest carnival in the region is Águilas, and the celebrations begin this week with the paper costumes competition, which really is extraordinary, it’s beyond belief what can be made using paper. During the week the Mussona descends down into town from the castle, then next weekend the battle of confetti filled eggs takes place before the first of the grand parades begins.

The main parade in Cartagena is on the 1^st March, and then Santiago de la Ribera has its grand parade on the 9^th March. There are quite a few more programmes already posted, with a few more waiting for translation over this weekend. Those live now include Totana, La Unión, Aledo, San Pedro del Pinatar, Caravaca de la Cruz, Moratalla, Los Alcázares.

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 This weekend there are a number of artisan fairs on offer, at Yecla and Cehegín in the North-west, Blanca in central Murcia and the sanctuary of Santa Eulalia, a gorgeous location just outside Totana in the south-west. There’s also a Fiesta of the Matanza in Fuente Álamo with lots of free meaty tasters and a chance to see the restored castle in Alhama de Murcia.

Next weekend the Region of Murcia is holding its first Wine tourism Fair, at which all the major Bodegas and Wine routes will be present, offering the perfect opportunity for those who are interested in visiting the bodegas on the three main wine routes in Murcia: Yecla, Bullas and Jumilla, to find out more, as well as sample the different wines produced in the Murcia Region.

Active Murcia

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 This next week there are walks and activities on offer in several locations: Cehegín has a free guided family walk on Saturday, there’s a cycling route through the San Pedro del Pinatar Salinas Park, a family activity in the El Valle regional park, another route in Caravaca de la Cruz, a route in Moratalla, one leaving from Totana and then on Monday the Mariposa walk in the Sierra Espuña.

Valencia Today www.valenciatoday.es

Click to read the Valencia Today bulletin with local news and forthcoming what’s on across the border in Valencia

Spanish National News www.spanishnewstoday.com

ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 This week the headlines have been totally dominated by the continued assaults on the Spanish borders of Melilla and Ceuta. Although the numbers of immigrants attempting to enter Spain has started to increase again, the numbers remain considerably lower than in previous years when the construction boom was at its peak and jobs on building sites could be easily found.

However, the onset of the economic crisis and the fact that Spanish domestic unemployment is so high, has meant that the desire of so many people to enter Spain illegally and compete for the lower paid jobs with native Spanish who are desperate for work has meant a hardening of attitude towards illegal immigration, and a huge amount of money has been invested into preventative vigilance systems.

The success of both Spanish and Moroccan police in catching immigrants out at sea has resulted in increased pressure on the border fences of Melilla and Ceuta, and last week 15 people drowned when an attempt to swarm the border at Ceuta went badly wrong.

Spanish police were accused of using excessive force to repel the illegal immigrants, and it was acknowledged in Congress that the border police regularly use anti-riot measures to control the borders. The Governor of Melilla was outspoken in his defence of the police, saying that if they couldn´t use force to prevent unwanted immigrants entering the exclave, then he might as well employ hostesses to give them a welcome instead. Police numbers have been increased, but the border police are demoralised by the criticism levelled at them over the incident, so on Monday refused to use riot equipment to repel the attackers, with the consequence that 150 got across the fences and onto Spanish soil. The immigrant transit centre is now at more than double its capacity, so the army have had to bring in campaign tents to accommodate the unwanted arrivals.

Caso Nóos

This week the gamble taken by the lawyers of Princess Cristina not to appeal her indictment in the Caso Nóos ARCHIVED - Murcia Today News and Whats On Weekly Bulletin W/E 2nd March 2014 has backfired, Judge Castro unconvinced by her explanations that she knew nothing about her husband’s business activities and was unaware that the money she was spending using credit cards of a company of which she was half owner had come from dubious sources. For now, the princess remains in the list of those who may yet stand trial in this highly public corruption and money laundering case. However, police are confident they have identified the lawyer who recorded her testimony in court and facilitated its publication in a national newspaper.

Corruption, however, remains in the headlines, as it transpired that another high ranking PP Senator and former Mayor had 1.5 million euros in a Swiss bank account, prompting another major media coverage eruption towards the end of the week.

However, at least Sir Sean Connery has been cleared of involvement in the “Goldfinger” case down in Marbella.

ETA has remained in the news, with two of its most wanted terrorists located in Mexico, one of the crimes in which they were allegedly involved being the only murder in Murcia, and a London court has allowed Antonio Troitiño out on bail in the UK until March 14^th.

Troitiño was accidentally released when a court failed to apply the Parot Doctrine ( before it was overturned by the European court) after being sentenced to 2,746 years in prison for 22 murders.

There are many more Spanish News stories which are covered more fully on the separate Spanish News bulletin. Click to read the more detailed Spanish News information or sign up for the Spanish News bulletin

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