www.euroweeklynews.com
16 - 22 January 2020
Calpe
NEWS
is brought to you by Photo credit: Calpe town hall
Bike blaze arson CALPE resident Juan Riaño was dumbfounded on learning at 1.20am that someone had set fire to his motorcycle. He was woken by Local Police officers who explained that his powerful motorbike, which he leaves in a car park in Avenida de la Diputacion, was totally burnt-out. Firemen soon controlled the flames, but another motorcycle belonging to a friend was also harmed in the fire which was on the point of spreading to other vehicles in the locked car park. “The police told me that there could easily have been a chain reaction,” Juan later told the local Spanish media. Worse still, it would have been catastrophic had the fire reached the 400,000 litres of fuel stored at two nearby petrol stations. Juan has now lodged a formal complaint with the Guardia Civil, as a subsequent investigation revealed that the fire was started deliberately. Juan attributed the fire to revenge. “Whoever did it crossed the car park, looking for my bike,” he pointed out. “This was no prank. Someone wanted to frighten me without stopping to think about the consequences.” Juan also lamented that the person who set fire to his motorbike had not been capable of talking face-to-face with him to clear up a possible misunderstanding.
NEWS
FAMILY DAY: A year-long programme of activities.
All in the family C A L P E To w n H a l l re c e n t l y p re sented its programme for 2020’s Family Day. Family Day was introduced in Calpe in 2018 and following its popularity in 2019, the local government decided to repeat the initiative. R a t h e r t h a n a s i n g l e d a y, t h i s y e a r ’s programme covers 12 days spread over the year, explained Rebeca Merchan, Education and Youth councillor. All the activities, which are accompanied by elevenses or tea for the children, are free and include traditional games,
theatrical performances, sports of all descriptions, a water fiesta and an escape room session. According to statistics from the town hall’s Youth department, more than 4,000 y o u n g p e o p l e t o o k p a r t i n l a s t y e a r ’s Family Day. “This year we wanted to include a large number of activities that all f a m i l y m e m b e r s c a n e n j o y, ” M e r c h a n said. “We are very satisfied with the way that Family Day was received last year and we are sure that families are going to like the activities we have planned for this year,” she added.
What’s in a name JOSE, Josefa and their variations are the most-often found names in the Marina Alta. But this holds good only for older generations, as the picture is beginning to change for newborns. According to the latest figures released by the Observatori Marina Alta statistics office, the most popular names for children born in the area’s 33 towns and villages during 2019 were Martina for a girl and Marc for a boy. The local custom of calling a child after its parents or grandparents is dying out, and names are more influenced by the media, celebrities, fashion and personal taste, sociologists explained. The Marina Alta tendency is not repeated nationwide, where Lucia and Hugo are the most-chosen names for new arrivals while Maria, Carmen and Antonio continue to be the most commonplace.
Photo credit: Pixabay
30 EWN
BABY NAMES: Martina and Marc most popular in the Marina Alta.
Encouraging unemployment figures THE number of jobless Marina Alta residents had fallen to 10,836 by the end of 2019. This was 227 below the official figures for December 2018 and for the first time since 2007, when the economic crisis began to make itself felt, the Ma-
rina Alta finished the year with fewer than 11,000 unemployed. December was the best month, with the number of people who were out of work falling by 93 as staff were taken on during the holiday season, according to the latest statistics from the regional
government’s Labora employment service. Despite the encouraging figures, job creation had begun to slow down by the end of last year, compared with December 2018 when unemployment fell by 788 to 11,063. More women continue to be unemployed, with 6,008 look-
ing for work, compared with 4,828 men, the Labora figures reveal. The services industries were once again the worst-hit with 8,385 jobless, with 1,279 unemployed in the construction sector, 503 in industry, 187 in agriculture and 482 without any economic activity.