SSUENN 1555 //3123 - 29- 6AApril PRIL 2015 IISSUE OO . .1604 March 2016
COSTA DE ALMERÍA
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Semana Santa success BUSTLING Easter, booming trade and blossoming Mojacar
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Community in mourning Final farewell to former mayor DOZENS of friends, relatives, and well-wishers turned out to pay their final respects to Gabriel Flores Morales, ex-mayor of Mojacar and familiar face in the community, who passed away after a long illness at the age of 67. See page 6
Fasten your seatbelts Local Police on the job MEMBERS of the Local Police of Mojacar were keeping a watchful eye on wayward citizens over the Easter weekend, as extra reinforcements were provided as part of a seatbelt awareness campaign. See page 31
Young blood New councillor in Albox ALBOX officially has a fresh new face on the council, now that Lorena Ibanovich, 22, has been hired to fill the hole that was left when Sonia Cerdan was elected as the new mayor. See page 68
By Adele Land Once again Mojacar has excelled itself with the beautiful village recording the busiest Semana Santa holiday period for quite some time. Tourist industry insiders revealed that the trade had done spectacularly well courtesy of a variety of well publicised appearances of the pueblo across British television, Spanish guidebooks, and the sterling work of the provincial government at popular trade fairs across Europe. High temperatures and a four-day weekend also did their
part to bring visitors flocking to the town to soak up the sun and enjoy the first break of the year. In order to cater for the large number of visitors, the thoughtful Mojacar council added extra bus services along the beachfront and to the old village. A recent campaign also saw the council request that property owners in the pueblo paint their houses to ensure visitors have the best impression of the town. Mayor, Rosa Maria Cano, said the positive visitor numbers were largely due to the powerful conviction and dedi-
cated effort from officials in helping promote Mojacar throughout the continent as part of a hugely successful campaign. The independent tourism sector fared extremely well during the holiday. Wendy Lester, of rental agency, Blue Sea Villas, told Euro Weekly News: “It has been a really busy Easter with bookings from the UK and Spain, I have noticed a big improvement on previous years.” Lester attributed the success to the good weather and the raised profile of Mojacar with UK television programmes, in-
cluding A Place in the Sun, featuring the town frequently. Visitors from Spain and other parts of Europe made up the key visitor tally, with the average guest spending roughly five beautiful nights in the village. In the week running up to the Easter holiday, the large hotels reported 88 per cent occupancy booked with predictions for that to climb to 95 per cent with last-minute reservations. Mojacar hotels together have some 8,000 beds registered for the spring season with stock increasing as smaller hotels open for the summer months.
Pooch parade Dogs by the dozen PUPPY lovers and avid walkers will have just the ticket on April 17 when a sponsored dog walk allows locals to strut their stuff
along with their cuddly canines, with all the funds raised going to animal rescue. See page 71