Villa Rentals Spain

The Valencia regional government has withdrawn all of its subsidies to local councils for helping them prevent flooding.In so doing they have saved 3.6 million euros.

These subsidies helped to pay for road resurfacing ,repairing mains water supplies,flood defence systems , road resurfacing in rural areas and such important projects.

In November another 2.1 million euros was withdrawn and this was announced by Alberto Fabra the Valencia president.The reason was a basic one, they just do not have the money .He also stated that the economic climate in Valencia is a bad one.The 2012 budget has had to be cut because of this lack of money.

He went on to explain that any funding will need to be fully investigated before it is agreed or spent.Others who have been hit by the cuts are sporting clubs who will receive nothing and many of them will be unable to carry out their full programme of events this year.

The cuts will also affect investment in infrastructure investment and projects such as the final phase of the Via Parque in Alicante have now been stopped until things improve.

Last week a fire took place in an apartment on the Costa Blanca and luckily a mother and her two young children were rescued by firefighters.The firefighters managed to get a ladder up to the window where the family were trapped and pulled them through the window.

This was not a normal fire case as the woman told her rescuers that a man had broken into her flat and started to hit her before tying her hands and feet.She managed to wriggle to the bedroom where her children were sleeping and close the door.However later she began to smell smoke and started to scream for help.Neighbours were alerted by her screams and called the emergency services.

The police have now started an attempted murder investigation.The brother- in -law of the woman is being sought by the police as the husband has stated that his brother had commented that he wanted to see his wife dead.In fact he has even attempted to run her over in the last 18 months.

The flat was totally destroyed in the blaze.The brother-in-law was later found and questioned but no arrests have been made.

Elderly residents in Murcia on the Costa Calida have been subjected to a scam whereby some people have posed as nurses to gain access to homes and steal property.

Now National Police officers have arrested two young men in Molina de Segura in connection with these thefts.To enable them to get into the homes the 19 and 21 year old would say that they were registered with the Regional Health Department.

Once inside they would start to carry out health checks and would ask the residents to remove jewellery to enable the checks to take place.They would then steal the jewellery.

Criminals carrying out similar scams were arrested last year in Pilar de la Horadada ,Los Alcazares and San Javier.They also claimed to be nurses on a training course.The National Police have warned that most residents were elderly and living alone.

The Marina Salud hospital in Denia on the Costa Blanca has the lowest waiting lists in the Valencia region and the waiting lists for out patients have also become shorter in the last year , according to statistics just released.

The average waiting time for routine surgery is now 33 days .In 2010 it was 32 days ,this is apparently speedier but in fact the turn around from the consultation to the surgery is speedier than it was 2 years ago.

Back then the average wait for an outpatients appointment was 43 days but this has now fallen to 32 days.For oncology there is no waiting list according to a health authority report.

The Marina Salud hospital in La Xara is privately managed but is a State hospital and was opened in 2009.It has 24 departments and every bed has specialised equipment which permits nurses to monitor patients from a nurses station.Patients often have private rooms with facilities for a member of the family to remain with the patient.

Michael O ´Leary is the boss of Ryanair the budget airline which has been having a dispute with the Spanish airport authority ( AENA ) over the use of air bridges at Alicante airport on the Costa Blanca.

Ryanair has lost one appeal and on February 7 Mr O ´Leary will hear the result of a second appeal.His point has been that  AENA has said that disembarking and embarking on foot is dangerous and yet they have permitted Ryanair to do just that for the last five years.

O ´Leary also cites the fact that there are many airports without air bridges that function very safely.Mr O ´Leary does not want to use buses either as he says they could cause him to lose his flight spots and delay his passengers by hours.

If Ryanair win their appeal then he says that flights will be restored to El Altet airport straight away.If he loses then he will take away his flights and develop services at El Prat in Barcelona on the Costa Brava.He will also develop services at Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.Already he has started flights from San Javier airport in Murcia to Edinburgh.They will begin in April.

Comments made about people not liking the Ryanair service was quickly responded to by Mr O ´Leary by saying that last year 80 million passengers used Ryanair while only 30 million used British Airways.  Enough said .

The pupils at five schools in Benidorm on the Costa Blanca were forced to sit through their lessons without any heating because the electricity had been turned off.The conditions were very cold last week.

A political tit for tat is going on at the moment with the opposition PP criticising the  present council and the present council blaming the previous administration for causing the economic problems in the first place , problems which they inherited.

The Valencia Region president has agreed that these conditions are totally unacceptable but the reality is that youngsters are still sitting in classrooms with blankets around them to keep warm.

Last week the president said that 31 million euros had been paid to schools to help them settle unpaid bills .Most think this will be good but also wonder when the money will dry up again.

Most schools have empty bank accounts and they are unable to take out loans as they are unable to pay them back.

Valencia region has become something of a laughing stock with other regions and with PSOE candidate for the leadership, Rubalcaba , who  warned a PP leader in Andalucia , not to become ill in the Valencia region .This was a clear dig at the state of the Valencia economy.

One third of the homes in Finestrat near Benidorm on the Costa Blanca , sit on the top of a rock face.Last week about 150 tonnes of the rock broke away from the rock face and fell into the road below.The residents above were naturally concerned for their own safety and the safety of their homes.

The rock fall blocked one of the main roads into the town and took around three hours to clear..There have been warnings from Alicante University that this might happen and it was they who suggested that the rain water should be diverted from the rock surface.

The rock is porous and water does get into the cracks and causes erosion.The exact cause of this fall is unknown but it is highly likely that it will be rain erosion.Luckily there were no injuries caused to life by the fall.

If one of these homes should collapse then it is possible that a domino effect would take place and others would follow.This did happen in Busot a number of years ago when a whole street was evacuated because of similar concerns.

In Finestrat the residents do fear any prolonged periods of rain and its possible consequences.The houses were not damaged this time but future falls could be more serious.

The day of the “smart ” electricity meter is upon the residents of Denia on the Costa Blanca .Last week the first in a series of presentations was made about these “intelligent ” meters being fitted by Iberdrola in Denia.There was a massive turnout for the meeting ,which in itself was an indicator about just how concerned people are about energy issues.

The meeting was organised by Agenda 21 and the Local Association of Electricians.It was mainly aimed at traders with their own premises but it was so popular that another open day is being planned for householders.

These meters will allow for correct readings to be used for all bills and will mean the end to estimated bills.In theory they will be fitted at Iberdrola´s cost.

Around 50,000 will be installed in Denia this year and after that the scheme will extend to other homes and businesses in the marina Alta.Eventually there will be 100,000 installed in the Marina Alta and a million in Alicante Province.Iberdrola has estimated that by 2014 all customers will have their meters read accurately and at a distance.We shall see.

The Old Town or Pueblo in Javea on the Costa Blanca has been having a tough time in recent years and the Spanish economic situation hasn´t helped either.People are just not spending money even if they have any.

To tempt the shoppers in , shops in Javea have got together to provide a prize which might lure the shoppers in.They are giving a weekend for two as a prize and you can be a part of the scheme if you shop in the Old Town over the next 10 days.The holder of the ticket bearing the winning number on the ONCE daily state lottery for February 14 , St Valentine´s Day . will have the free getaway to celebrate.

Also to celebrate St Valentine bars and restaurants are offering special menus , live music and special cocktails.Beauty salons are giving discounts and special packages for both men and women.More than 30 shops will still have sale discounts in stock.

Each shopper will be given a raffle ticket if they purchase an item over a certain amount from the retailer.This amount is determined by the retailer.

In Pego , inland from  Denia on the Costa Blanca , a former councillor is facing a jail sentence.The ex-councillor was the head of town planning but he had never been delegated by the mayor of the time to sign licenses for planning permission on buildings.However it appears that he did do just this , knowing that it was only the mayor who had this responsibility.

Eduardo  Siscar is a surveyor by profession and he is said to have awarded a contract to the firm Edificaciones Denia 2003 at the time when his PP party was in power.The mayor was Carmelo Ortola , head of the PP and in coalition with the PSPV and El Bloc.This tripartite coalition was formed in 2003 to prevent the power going back to the disgraced former mayor who is now in jail for crimes against the environment and attacking a local police officer.Ortola retained the senior position in the council by creating a new party in 2007.

Eduardo Siscar is now facing a 4 year sentence and a daily 8 euro fine for 20 months if he is found to be guilty.If he is found guilty he will also be banned from being a councillor for another 4 years.It is alleged that fellow councillors did warn him about the way in which he handled planning issues while he was a councillor.