ARCHIVED - Murcian and Spanish news round-up week ending 18th March 2016
The Semana Santa celebrations dominate the Murcia and Spanish news
This week the Region of Murcia has been preparing for the Easter holidays, with the first Semana Santa procession in Spain having already taken place as usual at 3.30 on Friday morning in Cartagena. Semana Santa is a hugely important event, with a whole week of parades, theatrical acts, music and religious acts which envelop the whole community and dominate the media for a week, unlike the UK where the focus tends to be on the special shopping offers over the weekend and chocolate Easter eggs.
Next week Thursday and Friday are public holidays, and with attention focused on the parades taking place throughout the week, there is likely to be little in the way of news.
Non-starter at Corvera airport again
This week the issue of the two airports in the Costa Cálida maintained its place in the weekly news although the main event turned out to be a non-event at the unopened Region of Murcia International Airport in 
Corvera on Wednesday. When regional government officials arrived at 10.00 to take possession of the facility they were refused entry by representatives of Aeromur, the former management company whose contract was rescinded in 2013, despite the rescission having finally been ratified earlier this month by the regional High Court.
The ruling stated that Corvera airport should now be handed over to the regional government, but to all intents and purposes Aeromur are refusing to hand over the keys, an attitude which is described by Francisco Bernabé, the regional minister for Development and Infrastructures, as “incomprehensible” and “wrongful”. Legal advice is now being sought, and the intention is for the courts to establish an exact date and time at which the airport will become the property of the government.
In the meantime, though, the airport at San Javier is still operational, and although the days of commercial passenger flights at the airport of Murcia-San Javier may well be numbered, with the regional government intending to phase them out when Corvera finally opens, San Javier council are still fighting to prevent their airport being closed down. On Tuesday local Mayor José Miguel Luengo and airport boss Pedro Vicente Gallut expressed their satisfaction with the security measures which are in place inside the terminal building and in the rest of the airport, especially with regard to road traffic. The Policía Local of San Javier have been collaborating in these duties, and will continue to do so.
An attempted baby theft and a mystery road accident victim
Two high-profile crimes have occupied numerous column inches over the last few days, the first of them concerning a woman who posed as a nurse and attempted to steal two babies on Sunday morning from the maternity unit of the Hospital Santa Lucía in Cartagena. Her behaviour aroused suspicion among the parents 
Valencia after repeating her attempt in another hospital in the city. It has since emerged that her actions were brought about by her having recently suffered two miscarriages.
The second incident was the discovery on Tuesday morning of the body of a woman aged approximately 40 in the Alquerías outlying district of Murcia. An autopsy found that the most likely cause of death was being hit by a motor vehicle and investigations began, but it was not until a member of the public informed the Guardia Civil that his neighbour had confessed to him that he had run her down that a 58-year-old man was arrested for failing to stop and offer assistance to the woman after she had been hit.
However, the case does not end there. The victim has still not been identified, and neither is it known what circumstances led to her being in this rural location at the time of her death. There has been speculation in the press that she may have crossed the nearby Reguerón canal while fleeing from committing a crime, and the investigation remains open.
Earlier in the week the local councils of both Moratalla and Totana expressed their dissatisfaction with the EU proposals regarding refugees in Turkey by refusing to fly the EU flag from Town Hall balconies, a gesture which was repeated in many places across the rest of Spain (see below), and on Thursday it was confirmed that a Caravaca woman who died last Sunday had become the second fatality caused by this year’s flu epidemic in the Region of Murcia. The annual flu epidemic may have arrived later than usual this year, but this death underlines the fact that it is not to be taken lightly, and in the week ending 6th March there were 2,600 cases confirmed in Murcia, a marked increase over the 1,800 of the previous week.
Cartagena news
In Cartagena the week ended with headlines in the regional press about the statement by Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), the local political party headed by the Mayor, which has declared its intention to lobby for the city of Cartagena to be made the capital of the Region of Murcia.
MC spokesman Francisco Calderón proposes that not only should Cartagena be made the capital of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, but also that the regional government departments of 
Industry and Tourism should be re-located to the city. Sr Calderón is quoted as saying that “it is time to vindicate ourselves … as the real motor which drives the Autonomous Community”.
In fact, though, this is hardly new and the arguments over which city should be the regional capital have been raging for years. As a city Cartagena is far older than its larger neighbour 50 kilometres inland, and its port and the industrial installations in Escombreras unquestionably give it huge economic importance. However, the regional parliament building is already located in Cartagena, and the regional government is almost certain to maintain that this is an adequate gesture in recognition of the importance of the city.
Elsewhere in the municipality the regional government has suggested an amplification of the local railway line which currently runs between Cartagena and Los Nietos, proposing extensions to Cabo de Palos in the south and San Pedro del Pinatar in the north. The Feve line passes through La Unión on the route between Cartagena and the Mar Menor, and if it were to be extended around the whole of the inland coast of the Mar Menor it would be a valuable addition to the communications networks in the area, possibly contributing to the revitalization of towns such as Los Urrutias and Mar de Cristal as well as reducing the traffic congestion which affects La Manga del Mar Menor in summer.
Similarly, on Thursday the regional government announced that 2.4 million euros are to be spent on widening the road between Los Belones and Atamaría via La Manga Club.
Other developments have been the adoption of a policy to rehouse the colony of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs which roam the streets of Los Mateos and the fact that far fewer fines are being imposed on drivers in the city of Cartagena this year, although much of this, admittedly, is due to the Policía Local’s “multacar” having been out of action during January and February.
Tourism news
Of course the main focus of attention in the tourist sector of the Costa Cálida this week has been on Easter, with the regional tourist authorities forecasting the busiest Semana Santa for eleven years. Hotel occupancy rates of close to 100 per cent are anticipated in Murcia and Cartagena. Along the coast bookings are also up, but the final data will no doubt be affected by the weather.
Last weekend Cartagena welcomed its one millionth cruise ship passenger on board the “Ventura”, and the couple identified as bringing the total of cruise tourists in Cartagena up to seven figures were a Mr and Mrs Young from the UK. The lucky couple were presented with a 150-euro cheque to spend during their day in the Costa Cálida, and were accompanied for the day by their very own personal tour guide as well as being gifted various souvenirs during their visit to Cartagena. 2016 looks like being an important one in the continuing growth of Cartagena as a cruise destination, with the number of passengers docking in the port expected to rise by a third to approximately 200,000.
Another topic in the tourism news is the ongoing efforts to defuse tensions caused by “wild campers” parking in unauthorized locations. Last weekend a new motorhome park was officially opened in Ricote, where caravans and camper vans provide an important boost to tourism, and this comes almost immediately after 
the regional government set up a new motor caravan working committee to investigate the problems caused by unauthorized parking. In San Javier local regulations have already been modified to tackle the problem and to a certain extent the situation has been brought under control, but it seems clear that a unified approach is needed rather than leaving each Town Hall to take whatever action it believes appropriate.
Semana Santa
There’s no getting away from it, though, the biggest single news topic in Murcia this week is the start of the Semana Santa processions and the preparations which have been under way since last Easter. Seating is now installed in the centre of Lorca for as many as 10,000 spectators over the coming week for the spectacular biblical processions, which are listed as an event of international tourist interest, and the importance of the celebrations was even commemorated this week by the issue of a new postage stamp impregnated with the scent of incense.
In Cartagena the Monumento al Procesionista, a statue which has been vandalized on numerous occasions, has once again been reinstated in the Plaza de San Sebastián, this time on a plinth which affords it extra protection as well as extra dignity, in Caravaca de la Cruz a “back-door” view of the parades is being provided through an exhibition, and back in Cartagena an open doors day is being held at the main tourist attractions today to celebrate the Día de la Patrona.
In Totana preparations are also complete, although this year it has been deemed necessary to prevent a repeat of the impromptu open-air parties held by teenagers in the north of the town by restricting access to the area around the Arco de San Pedro, and in coastal locations such as the municipality of Cartagena the beaches have been cleaned and prepared for the first influx of potential bathers.
Keen to attract as many visitors as possible to the local Good Friday evening procession, restaurant owners in Los Belones are offering to pay the return taxi fare for diners coming from hotels in La Manga, and in the city of Murcia the temporary stands for spectators at the processions will remain in place a week longer than elsewhere as seat reservations can already be made for the Bando de la Huerta and the Entierro during the Semana de Primavera, which begins on Easter Sunday evening.
Now the only thing needed in order to seal the success of Semana Santa in the Region of Murcia this year is fine weather, and unfortunately, after the warmest winter for fifty years, it seems that this is far from guaranteed.
In the UK it is often said that if you want it to rain, simply plan a barbecue, and in southern Spain a variation on this theme might be to advise that if you need rain, simply organize a religious procession in the streets of your town. Aemet, the State meteorological agency, is warning that rain is likely to spread across southern Spain from Friday onwards, affecting the start of the processions in the Region of Murcia by Palm Sunday, which falls on 20th March, if not before.
To see a wide selection of processions and acts assoicated with Semana Santa across the Murcia Region, all translated into English, go to the dedicated Semana Santa in Murcia web
San José
Finally, in all the excitement over the start of Semana Santa, let it not be forgotten that Saturday 19th March is the feast day of San José. Not only is this a public holiday in the Region of Murcia – expect many shops to be closed – but it is also Fathers’ Day, and of course the Saint’s Day of any Spaniards named José (also Pepe) or María José (Pepa). So many people fall into at least one of these categories that anyone with Spanish friends and acquaintances should be prepared to offer congratulations during the day!
Murcia property news
Unfortunately property news specific to the Region of Murcia has been distinctly thin on the ground this week. The statistical information released by the notaries of Spain (see below) does not give information about specific regions, but the increases in sales figures and market prices which are reflected in them are now becoming more and more generalized across the whole country, as other recently published statistical reports show ( see Spanish property news round-up below for more information).
Currency Exchange Rate this week
It's important to keep an eye on the exchange rate if buying a property or transferring your pension
Anyone exchanging their pension from Pound Sterling to Euros or buying a property will be aware of just how 
much difference the rate can make to the amount they will have to spend and for major purchases, such as a property, transferring cash at the right moment can make a difference of several thousand Euros.
Currency rates between Sterling and the Euro have taken a bit of a battering this week, analysts unhappy with measures laid out in the budget and lacking confidence that the government will meet its deficit targets by 2020. However, that could all change again by next week.
Spanish news round-up
Little progress towards the formation of a government
In a week during which no visible progress has been made towards the formation of a workable majority government in Spain there has been a rare instance of the four most represented parties in the new parliament all reaching agreement on an issue, namely the controversial EU plans to deal with the refugee 
crisis in Turkey which are being debated on Friday in Brussels.
In what was hailed by some sectors of the press and an unprecedented move, all of the main political parties in Spain joined forces in suggesting modifications to the original proposal that the EU should deport thousands of refugees arriving from Turkey, and acting President Mariano Rajoy has been given a brief to explain Spain’s opposition to aspects of the “pre-agreement” reached on 7th March. There has been widespread opposition to the mass deportation of refugees in Spain, with many Town Halls refusing to fly the EU flag in protest at the proposals, a gesture which was first adopted in various municipalities in the province of Sevilla.
Whether Spain’s objections will be sufficient to sway the opinion of the EU will soon be known, but at a time when the negotiations to form a government appear to be deadlocked this is a reminder that there is at least some common ground which can be shared by the different political groups involved. When Sr Rajoy speaks in Brussels it will this time be with the backing of a huge parliamentary majority, despite the divisions within the new parliament.
In terms of the situation in Congress in Madrid, though, it appears to be becoming even more complex. This week much attention has focused on the Podemos party, where policy disagreements between party leader Pablo Iglesias and his cohort Íñigo Errejón escalated on Tuesday to the point where Sr Iglesias summarily removed Sergio Pascual from his post as party secretary. Sr Pascual is widely regarded as Sr Errejón’s right-hand man and until now has been the “number 3” of Podemos, and since the announcement Íñigo Errejón has not appeared in public, leading to speculation that he is preparing a bid to wrest control of the party from Sr Iglesias.
On another front, though, Pablo Iglesias has at least agreed to hold talks with Pedro Sánchez of the PSOE, against whose bid to become president Podemos voted in the two presidential investiture debates earlier this month. The two men will meet face to face “before Easter”, i.e. at some point over the next seven days, and while most observers believe that the outcome will probably be that they agree to disagree, there are at least signs that some party leaders are beginning to contemplate sitting down at the negotiating table.
Sr Sánchez has also held talks this week with the president of the regional government in Catalunya, Carles Puigdemont, and again, while it seems almost impossible that the two will agree on the issue of Catalan independence it is at least encouraging to see that the PSOE appears to back a thaw in relations with separatists in Catalunya. After the meeting Sr Puigdemont stated on his Twitter account that “the meeting with Pedro Sánchez shows that disagreements do not prevent cordial dialogue”.
However, these glimmers of hope for those who believe a government can be negotiated are still not leading to any meaningful result, and fears that the political stalemate is affecting the country’s economic recovery are growing. Looking even further ahead, there are no signs that the deadlock will be broken even if, as currently seems probable, another general election is held on 26th June: most Spaniards would vote the same way as they did in the December election, a survey published in El País newspaper showed on Sunday, meaning that another round of negotiations would have to begin.
Corruption and the Noos Case
That situation could yet change, of course, and it may be that the internal divisions within Podemos will lead to 
a loss of support. Similarly, the other three main parties also stand to lose support due to the involvement of some of their leading lights in corruption scandals: this the week former PP Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá, has been in the spotlight as the routine payment of under-the-table commissions to members of her council over a period of 20 years has been brought to light, while at the same time two former PSOE presidents of the regional government of Andalucía have been appearing in court. Even the new anti-corruption Ciudadanos party is not immune, and on Thursday one of the party leaders in Madrid resigned over her alleged involvement in the Púnica corruption case.
On the subject of corruption, the Nóos Case trial continues in Palma de Mallorca, where this week the main development was that Miguel Tejeiro, one of the key witnesses, turned the heat back on Felipe VI’s brother-in-law and his former business partner during declarations he made in court on Tuesday.
Sr Tejeiro described as “ridiculous” the evidence given by his former bosses at the Instituto Nóos, namely Iñaki Urdangarín (the husband of Princess Cristina) and Diego Torres, maintaining that the majority of financial decisions were taken by the two managing directors of the supposedly non-profit-making organization. Sres Torres and Urdangarín are charged with misappropriating 6.2 million euros of public funds and evading tax on their income, while Cristina is accused of having been a knowing accomplice to their alleged wrongdoings.
Other crime stories
Other crimes, or alleged crimes, to make the news this week range, as usual, from the very serious to the petty. Two drugs raids by the forces of law and order resulted in the arrests of 30 people in Barcelona and Andalucía and 20 more in Huelva and Ceuta, including three Guardia Civil officers, and in the two operations a total of more than seven tons of hashish was confiscated.
An 8-year-old boy in Mallorca is too young to face charges after stabbing a 12-year-old companion in the chest in a dispute over whose turn it was to play with a skateboard, while in Sevilla a 26-year-old who stole a bicycle eight years ago still has a six-month prison sentence hanging over him, despite now being a family man and proclaiming that he has become a reformed character over the intervening period.
In Jaén, meanwhile, a habitual thief has been arrested in connection with the theft from the Convento de las Bernardas of a monstrance (a vessel which is used to exhibit an object of piety or the relics of saints). The man has a long criminal record and over 35 arrests for similar offences in the past, and a search of his home revealed various precious and semi-precious stones which had presumably been removed from the monstrance with the intention of selling them.
At least the forces of the law in southern Spain are making progress in ridding southern coastal areas of their “Costa del Crime” tag, with 275 people who were on the run from the UK police having been detained over the last four years. Most of these arrests have been in the provinces of Málaga and Alicante and the Balearic and Canary islands, and occasionally a high-profile investigation such as the one which ended with the arrests of six Salford gangsters last month makes the headlines both in the UK and in Spain.
Motoring news
The big motoring story this week concerns the 14.5 million long-distance journeys which are forecast to be undertaken over the next ten days during the Easter holidays, despite fuel costs having risen again this week, and the traffic authorities’ special campaign to cope with the extra traffic, but earlier in the week there was much debate in the national press over the road safety laws concerning both cyclists and motorists.
This debate was sparked by an incident on Saturday morning in the province of Pontevedra in which one cyclist was killed and another ten were injured by an 86-year-driver who renewed his licence just last month, and initially most of the attention focused on the issue of elderly drivers. Last week it was reported that special drivers’ licences could be issued to use only cars equipped with auto-parking systems, and in the aftermath of the Pontevedra incident suggestions have been made that another special category should be considered for those of advanced age, taking into account the fact that in most cases octogenarians do not have the same reaction times, quickness of thought and visual acuity as in their youth.
On the other hand, though, there are those who maintain that some cyclists also present a danger on the roads. The group which was involved in the incident on Saturday was riding as a “peloton”, which is to say that they were riding at least two or three abreast, and therefore occupied far more of the road than a single rider or a line of riders. This is an integral part of group riding, but obviously carries with it an inherent risk.
There are some risks, though, which simply cannot be legislated for, as was illustrated this week by the tragic case of a 55-year-old man in Cádiz who died on Thursday morning just outside the car park underneath the building where he lived when he was run over by his own Volkswagen Tiguan. He failed to activate the handbrake correctly when leaving the car to close the garage, and it then rolled back down the slope, taking its owner with it.
Ondórroa struck by two emergencies
Other emergencies receiving attention this week include the blaze which gutted part of a Zaragoza biscuit 
factory, where fortunately no-one was hurt, and the explosion at an ice factory in the Basque Country town of Ondórroa which claimed two lives. Residents of the coastal town could be forgiven for thinking that the gods are holding a grudge against them lately, with the explosion coming shortly after a rockslide forced 180 families out of their homes and experts from the regional government warning that the hillside behind the town could collapse completely. It is currently estimated that the situation could remain the same for “a few months”, during which time alternative housing is being sought for those evicted.
The Easter holidays begin
All of these issues have occupied the attention of the Spanish press over the last seven days, but as the weekend begins the main topic is inevitably the beginning of the Semana Santa celebrations and the public holidays and fiestas which surround them. In Valencia this year’s early Easter means that Holy Week overlaps with the climax of the Fallas on Saturday, an event which was dragged into the ongoing bullfighting controversy last weekend when two demonstrations were held in the city, one in favour of bull-related events and the other against.
As both domestic and international tourists make their way to destinations all over the country it should not be forgotten that the late winter weather has made for ideal skiing conditions in the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada and other mountain resorts – more snow is forecast for the weekend - while other attractions for visitors include the medieval weddings which are held in the historic Alicante town of Villena and the newly restored Capilla Real in Granada, where after ten years of work the exterior of the chapel built by the Catholic Monarchs can now be admired in all its full glory.
Lastly, sports news, and if there is one thing which is almost as universal in Spain as the enthusiasm for fiestas it is the interest in football. Following his orchestration of another footballing masterclass last weekend against Getafe, Barcelona and Argentina striker Leo Messi is reported this week to be planning to open a huge restaurant in the centre of Barcelona, themed around a village and including a plant-filled conservatory, its own church, a barber’s shop, bars, a churros stand and a central square. It is to be hoped that Messi doesn’t take his dribbling skills with him into the kitchen.
Spanish property news
Despite the warnings that the continuing political stalemate in Spain could be having a negative effect on the country’s economy, for the time being there is little if any sign that this phenomenon extends to the residential 
property market, and this week more positive data suggest that the gradual recovery is still ongoing.
The main statistical report published this week was from Spain’s notaries, whose data are taken from the actual point of sale and are therefore more up to date than those from property registries. In January their figures show that a total of 27,568 sales took place, representing a substantial 26.6% increase in comparison with January 2015, and the numbers for all categories of home rose except for new-build apartments, which accounted for just 1,997 transactions.
At the same time, the good health of the market was also reflected in an average price per square metre of residential property of 1,303 euros, 2% higher than in January last year, and again the upward trend was apparent in all of the categories analysed. In terms of mortgages on residential property the number also increased, this time by 30% to 12,908.
Meanwhile, the construction sector of the Spanish economy, which was one of the hardest hit during the long recession, is in desperate need of revitalization, and the latest figures produced by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics bureau, suggest that an upturn in fortunes may be close at hand.
The January figures for production in construction, which take into account both building and civil engineering, show that throughout the EU the month of January saw a 4.4% increase compared to the equivalent period in 2015, and that the highest increase in any one Member State was in Spain (20.3%), ahead of Sweden (18%) and Slovakia (16.4%).
This seems to indicate a reactivation of property development, and for those considering embarking on new constructions the low price of urban buildable land makes the prospect even more attractive. The latest figures published on Wednesday by the Ministry of Development show an average price across the country of 151.90€ per square metre, 2.9% lower than 12 months previously. This comes after a year-on-year increase of 9.7% in the previous quarter, and underlines the fact that in general the demand for new construction is still not quite strong enough to produce consistent increases in market value.
In some areas, however, the opposite is the case, and in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja developers are seeking to re-start projects dating from before the market crash. Unfortunately for them, though, licences which were issued before the market crash began in late 2007 are no longer valid, having expired after a period of two years, and in order to renew them developers not only have to pay the relevant administrative fees again but are also obliged to update the building projects to comply with modifications which have been made to municipal building requirements in the meantime.
Despite this they are reported to be interested in reviving projects which were shelved years ago, and one of them is reported to be a group of seven 14-floor tower blocks alongside the Playa de Los Náufragos in which several large promoters have recently expressed an interest.
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