ISSUE NO. 1539
TRUST
EWN FRONT EXTRA
EWN WISHES
Trumpet solo MERCADONA has withdrawn its New Year’s Eve party bags following complaints that some of the trumpets did not work. Shoppers who have already bought them will be reimbursed, its web page announced.
Doubly lucky MOTYA, Igor Kovalev’s one-yearold rescue cat, has been rescued once again by Finestrat firefighters after spending a day trapped in a stormdrain. He was located using the GPS in his microchip.
Top-flight A TOTAL of 4.37 million passengers flew with budget airlines in the Valencia Region between January and November, a 3.8 per cent year-on-year increase. Of these, 3.34 million passengers used Alicante-Elche airport.
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1 - 7 JANUARY 2015
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READERS AND ADVERTISERS A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar en route THERE won’t be a city, town or village in Spain without a Three Kings procession on January 5. The actual feast day might fall on January 6, but presents arrive the night before and this year children in Finestrat will receive their presents from the hands of Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar themselves during two processions. One begins at 7pm in the town’s old quarter and another in La Cala, which starts at 6.30pm at Monika Holidays and finishes at the beach.
A buoyant season for Benidorm BENIDORM hotels were 80 per cent full over Christmas and expect 95 per cent occupancy for the New Year. The resort’s available beds have increased by 1,500 over the last month, increasing the total offer to around 34,500 beds. More hotels closed for renovations than in 2013, said Antonio Mayor, President of Costa Blanca hoteliers’ association, Hosbec, but throughout
December they have been pulling up the shutters that went down in early November. Most started taking bookings for Christmas and New Year last summer and now expect lastminute reservations for the end-ofyear celebrations to round up the numbers. The Spanish and British dominate the bookings, together with visitors from Belgium and the Netherlands.
“Russian tourism has suffered most owing to the conflict with Ukraine, not that Russia was ever a major market,” Mayor admitted. Hosbec is putting out feelers to some Eastern European countries but for the moment the picture is similar to last year’s. “We had very positive results at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 and we expect the same this year,” Mayor said.
An act of kindness A NORWEGIAN family living in Javea has given €1,000 to a single mother in need. The donation arrived at the town hall’s Social Services Department via the local businesswomen’s group Mujeres Emprendedoras. It came with the proviso that the money should go to a single mother in a precarious financial situation with children to care for. The Norwegian family has already donated €4,000 in recent months.