ISSUE NO. 1679
7 - 13 Sept 2017
Outcry at water use decisions CONTROVERSY surrounds a government water decision. Water that has been denied to Alicante and Murcia has been given to CastillaLa Mancha and Madrid, despite them having access to other reservoirs. Water from the Tagus river is stored in the reservoirs of Entrepeñas and Buendia which are supposed to have been closed since May until further rainfall brings their levels up to a sufficient standard once again. It has now been revealed that the water reserves have dropped by 115 cubic hectometres (hm3) as water that is desperately needed in Alicante and Murcia is being given to other cities with more natural resources at their disposal. Farmland in Alicante and Murcia requires about 300hm3 per year but without water from the Tagus river, they have to rely heavily on the desalination plant of Torrevieja which only produces 30hm3 per year. This is due to the fact that it only operates at approximately 40 per cent of its capacity due to being so expensive to run that it only functions at night when electricity is cheaper. The Institute of Geography of the University of Alicante, suggested the government enable a connection to the Segura from the Tajo-Medio in the Sierra de Gredos, where the rainfall per year is roughly 2,500 litres per square meter per year and the flow is mineral, but it never went ahead.
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Brit brawler banned
Flying fists!
RYANAIR: The aircraft landed normally. A woman filmed fighting on a Ryanair flight from Newcastle to Alicante before brawling in baggage reclaim says she was defending herself. Mum-of-three Nicola Artley, 42, told UK media that she was attacked first after being banned from flying with the budget carrier in the wake of the incident. The in-flight scuffle, during which she and a fellow passenger threw punches at each other as the plane came in to land, was recorded and posted online by a fellow traveller. Lucy Norris from Blyth, Northumberland, spoke to
British media after releasing the footage. “It was just as we were about to land when the woman started kicking off,” said the 30-year-old. “She was shouting, screaming and making a show of herself. She had been rude to a few people on the flight and I think she was mortal drunk. “The police were made aware and we thought they were going to come on and drag her off but it didn’t happen. They were waiting there as we got off.” A second video later emerged in which Mrs Artley can be seen grappling
with another woman in the airport, the pair rolling on the floor and pulling each other’s hair. Witness Rachel Burns, 35, said: “I saw her just go up to a lady who had been one of the people telling her to sit down. Then they were going at it on the floor.” Ryanair communications chief Robin Kiely said: “The crew of this flight from Newcastle to Alicante (August 31) requested police assistance upon arrival after a passenger became disruptive inflight. “The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was met by police.”
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