21 - 27 OCT 2011
9
Race Village Civic Centre gets new lease of life opens in style
President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Alberto Fabra, the Mayor of Alicante, Sonia Castedo Ramos and Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad
by Louise Clarke THOUSANDS OF people flocked to Alicante last weekend as the Volvo Ocean Race Village opened for a three-week fiesta at the start port for the 2011-12 Race. Alicante is the first of the 10 host ports in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 and the President of Valencia, Alberto Fabra, had the honour of officially opening the Race Village; open to the public every day until 5th November. Festivities kicked off with a Rolling Stones tribute concert before the six teams competing in the world’s toughest crewed yacht race were presented. The evening then concluded with a huge fireworks display which illuminated the Alicante skies for miles around. 3D CINEMA Like something from a Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Alicante Race Village comprises 40,000 square metres dedicated to entertainment with a programme brimming with concerts, shows, exhibitions, sailing clinics, rides, fireworks and restaurants. It is also home to the Volvo Ocean Race Experience, an interactive attraction designed to suck landlubbers into the world of a Volvo Ocean Race sailor through its 3D cinema, simulator and winch grinding challenge. Artist collective Skeleton Sea will lead workshops as part of the Keep the Oceans Clean! Campaign, and look out around the Race Village for Wisdom, the mischievous albatross. The centrepiece of the Race Village is the six 70ft Volvo Open 70 yachts and the crews that will race them 39,000 nautical miles through the world’s toughest oceans. FESTIVAL For the first time ever the team zones will be open to the public allowing fans to watch master boat builders and design experts at work. Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad told RTN: “One of our objectives has been to transform the Volvo Ocean Race into a festival. On the water it’s a race and on land it’s a festival. We’re not a football match where it lasts for 90 minutes and then you go home – the Volvo Ocean Race is something to come to, experience, be seen at and ultimately enjoy.” The Alicante Race Village is open from 10am to 12:30am from Sunday to Thursday, with a later closing time of 1:30am on Fridays and Saturdays. It is free to enter except for some ticketed concerts. The Race Village will also provide the perfect place to watch the yachts race – on October 29th when they lock horns in close-quarter combat metres from the shore and again on November 5th when the teams start their 6,500 nautical mile sprint to Cape Town, South Africa.
Elderly lady escapes collapsed building AN ELDERLY woman of 78 miraculously escaped unharmed last Friday in Alicante when part of her home collapsed in the Raval Roig area near the Church of Santa Maria. The first floor of the building collapsed due to age, affecting a loadbearing wall that fell into the neighbouring property. The lady was eventually offered shelter by a neighbour rather than be rehoused by Social Services in a hostel where she might not have been able to take her pets. Firefighters fear another possible collapse due the poor structural condition of the building.
By Louise Clarke THE CAFETERIA at the Alameda del Mar Civic Centre in Playa Flamenca in Orihuela Costa officially reopened last Friday after a refurbishment and it was announced that it will now be open until 5pm every day. Ten years after the opening of the centre, the Councillor for Social Welfare, Emilio Zaplana (PSOE), and the Councillor for the Coast, Bob Houliston (CLARO), welcomed the reopening of the cafeteria which they hope will be utilised by all coastal residents as a place to meet friends and socialise. In the presence of representatives from many Emilio charities and associations including CRISOL, Age Zaplana Concern and Help at Home (HAH), Mr Houliston and Bob Houliston said that he hoped that the longer opening hours of officially the establishment will encourage more residents to reopen the utilise the facilities. It was also announced that the cafeteria centre will also be open during the afternoons at in the Civic the weekend. Centre