ARCHIVED - Murcia Today Weekly Bulletin W/E 15th December 2013

Big discounts on offer for unwanted Spanish airport, giant toboggan opens in Murcia, Mediaeval Market in Caravaca de la Cruz

Murcia What’s on

This weekend Spain celebrates the Puente de la Constitución, a big Bank Holiday weekend, with holidays on both Friday and Monday.

Christmas lights were switched on last night in the major cities, so for most of us, it’s now the countdown to Christmas and time to shop. Some of the belén nativity scenes are now open and Christmas programmes are coming in: these will be translated and posted in both local town sections, accessed via the map box at the bottom of every page, and what’s on as quickly as possible.

Shopping opportunities are on offer this weekend in San Pedro del Pinatar which is hosting its second Christmas Fair, with a variety of activities and lots of goodies to buy, Mula in the North-west which has its monthly artisan fair,  and  Caravaca de la Cruz has its annual Mediaeval market on offer  with 200 odd traders selling a host of hand made items. There is also plenty to eat, falconry, a Mediaeval tournament on Sunday and all the ambience of a traditional mediaeval style shopping event of this nature.

IFEPA is holding its popular car show at the showground in Torre Pacheco, with dealers offering a variety of new and used cars for sale, as well as accessories across the weekend.

Fiestas patronales are underway in Mazarrón for the next 10 days, with a good mixture of free musical events and activities, as well as tapas route, and san Javier also continues its own fiestas patronales for the next 2 weekends. In Totana the Bajada of Santa Eulalia takes place, thousands of people accompanying the Virgen from her sanctuary in the Sierra Espuña down into Totana for Christmas. Lorca also has a festival of the matanza inside the castle, with lots of meat treats for meat lovers.

There are also plenty of Christmas events and activities for the expat community, with The Age Concern Christmas fair in Mazarrón, Coro Pilar in Los Alcázares, Cruz Azul raising money for animals in need in San Javier with their Christmas Fair, and HAH in Los Narejos with another Christmas fair.

Active Murcia

The Christmas snowzone in Murcia has opened, with ice skating and giant toboggan rides until Three Kings in January. Cartagena also has ice skating, with the outdoor rink opening this weekend until Three Kings and the Tentegorra park has its all year round artificial ice skating rink open through the festive season along with the other attractions including the zipline and adventure park.

On Monday 9^th the Mariposa is running one of its popular walks in the Sierra Espuña, and next week there are a flurry of walks and running races those with an interest in more taxing pursuits can enjoy, including the walk to the top of Peñas Blancas in Mazarrón.

Murcia news

There is still no definitive news regarding the future of Corvera airport, although there have been rumours this week that negotiations between the former concessionary and the regional government are proceeding well, the easiest alternative for all being to find a way of re-financing the former concessionary to be given a new concession and carry on with the process of trying to get the airport open for next year. But as of this week there is no firm new news to report about the airport.

President Valcárcel has confirmed officially in Madrid what we’ve all known in Murcia for several months now, that he is standing down in April and that a new regional president will take over. Who that will be is not yet clear, although he has put forward his own three suggestions.

Unemployment figures were disappointing for Murcia this week, with the region registering an increase in unemployment while the rest of the country gave more positive figures, and uncertainty continued as to the future of the Cartagena-Vera Ghost Highway, as the concessionary remains the only one refusing to accept the terms offered by the national government to take over the 10 toll motorways which are immersed in bankruptcy proceedings already or on the verge of entering into insolvency proceedings.

An interesting story came in from Jaén, linking into the annual Romans and Carthaginians festival in Cartagena with the discovery of a sculpture of a lion weighing more than a ton which came from the Iberian settlement in which Princes Himlice, the bride of Hannibal was born.

And this weekend a hardy group of runners will run the equivalent of five marathons in just 3 days, collecting toys for underprivileged children in the Travesia solidaria de Reyes, so if you’re feeling in the Christmas spirit, all donations will be very much appreciated.

Campaign to maintain Winter Fuel payments for expats living in Spain

Your signature is needed now.

All of us living here in Spain know too well how expensive it is to maintain a warm temperature in the home during the Spanish Winter and that it’s a myth that Spain is warm right throughout the winter. It may well be warm in the Balearic Islands, but for most of us living on the mainland, and certainly those living a few kilometres from the coast, it can be very cold. The British Government now plans to scrap winter fuel payments for expats living abroad, and in order for this to be debated properly, 100,000 signatures are needed on a petition. Please sign, there are many people here who need this money, have paid in to the system all their lives and are as entitled to this allowance as their UK counterparts. After all, Spain has more ski resorts than the UK!

Spanish news

Second hand airport for sale, barely used, offers at one tenth of the original construction price sought……..

Looking for great sea views and a challenging restoration project? Lighthouses are the latest target for ministerial costcutting.

A busy week in the Spanish news, with positive unemployment figures, encouraging noises from the credit rating agencies for the Spanish economy and positive emissions from the Sareb that foreign investors are taking a serious interest in Spain once again.

Yet in the same week the man on the street has highlighted his concerns about the high levels of corruption which are dragging down the perception of Spain by those abroad:  Rumours abound that a burger builder bungle has halted the expansion of McDonalds in Spain due to the discovery of contractual irregularities, the UGT union, part of the massive ERE investigation in Andalucía has denied that 1756 files were destroyed intentionally, crucial evidence in the massive fraud case currently under investigation, and the Mayor of Cantoria, the man who gave permission to builders to construct illegal properties in protected land, which were sold to unsuspecting expats in the full knowledge that they were illegal, and have now been knocked down by the Junta, has the gall to continue acting as Mayor after being banned from office by the courts. Such is his disregard for the law that official charges are now being brought by the public prosecutions office to keep him out of the Town hall.

Police have even arrested the priest linked with the restoration of the Eccehomo artwork in Borja, which caused such a stir internationally last year when it was “restored” by a local lady, the priest accused of misappropriation of parishional funds and money laundering.

In Andalucia another search has begun to try and find the bones of poet and playright Federico García Lorca, executed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and Spain made world headlines this week, when Spanish and German researchers managed to create the oldest human DNA sequence yet established using bones from the Atapuerca site in Burgos, central Spain.

There are many more stories about the ongoing daily news stories which occupy the Spanish media on the dedicated www.spanishnewstoday.com site, which has its own newsletter for those with an interest in more national news. Click Spanish news bulletin if you would like to receive this weekly round-up.

Valencia Regional news. www.valenciatoday.es

IKEA opened job applications for the 400 jobs in its new Valencia store on Monday and by lunchtime the server had collapsed under the weight of applications. By Wednesday, more than 20,000 people had applied for the jobs and the company issued a statement appealing for calm.

The Valencia regional president has had a rough week following his decision to close down the state owned regional TV and radio network last week, with the loss of 1000 jobs, followed around from one public engagement to another by angry ex-employees of the public company.

Torrevieja hospital has carried out the extraction of a 25 kilo ovarian tumour, one of the largest ever discovered: the surgeon in charge of the operation says he’s never seen anything like it in 25 years of operations.

And weather has also been in the news, November stats revealing that the region had 60% less rain than normal, yet in this same week registered torrential downpours and snow in some parts.

More news and an expanding what’s on section in the dedicated Valencia Today newsletter. Sign up now to receive a free weekly Valencia region round-up.
 

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