A
ll about
www.theolivep
ress.es
of San Fulgenci o June 2022
96 679 5082
by Jo Chipchase
ll about
La Marina
La Marina
SECRET ENCLAVE
S
URROUNDED groves, salt by orange marshes and pine forests… oh, and a climate with around 325 days year. What’s thereof sun a not to like about Urbanisation La Marina? Add in sandy beaches, great communications and the world’s most emblematic
A home from home
in the heartland
bird - the flamingo der this enclave, - and is it any wonsitting inside the nicipality of muFulgencio in Valencia, keeps risingSan in ity among thosepopularin the know. Built from the mid1980s in the heart of
of orange groves
Alicante province, near Torrevieja Elche, Urbanisation and Marina-Oasis use its correct name), perfectly (to com-
and flamingos
bines the best an and Spanishof the northern EuropeAn ideal spot way of life. to have fun in the sun,
with a touch of tranquillity, it is for couples, retired popular people, and holidaymakers of various nationalities. Not to be confused with La Marina Continues on
Words and pictures
A
Issue 68
next page
A focus on an expats’ favourite enclave ...see our special supplement inside
The
O LIVE P RESS
FREE
Half way there! By George Mathias
A PETITION demanding an answer from the British government over the right for expats to drive in Spain is nearly halfway there. Nearly 4,500 people have signed the demand for action, supported by the Olive Press’ U-Turn campaign. The petition needs 10,000 signatures to force the government to give an official response, with its creator, Stuart Hudd, urging a final push this month. The Murcia-based expat is furious that he is not able to drive in Spain under new Brexit rules, despite registering correctly as a resident in September 2020. Both he and wife got TIE residency certificates, but were wrongly told by a gestor in Mazarron they didn’t need to register to swap their driving licences. “I was told don’t worry, there will be an agreement,” he said. “Now we are isolated in the campo and relying on friends and neighbours to take us shopping and to medical appointments.” The poor advice mirrors hundreds of testimonies the Olive Press has heard throughout this debacle, leading to our front page U-Turn campaign launched on June 1.
U -T
U RN
COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 3 Issue 68 www.theolivepress.es June 30th - July 13th 2022
N O W!
Med mayhem warning
Continues on Page 6
PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS
+34 965 085 888
UNESCO calls on Costa Blanca and Costa Calida towns to get ready for a tsunami, with claim that Mediterranean is 100% certain to suffer one in next 30 years
SEASIDE town halls are being urged by UNESCO to put emergency plans in place against a possible tsunami. A new study by the United Nations body claims the probability of a tsunami bigger than one metre on the Mediterranean coastline is 100%
By Livia Cockerell
over the next 30 years. It is most likely to be caused by an offshore earthquake or an undersea volcano eruption, such as one offshore from the Italian island of Panarea, as scientists note the ‘instability’ of its behaviour. The claims were backed up by the research of underwater explorer Alexis Resenfeld, who described the constantly erupting volcano as the ‘gates of hell’. In a study for the 1Ocean expedition with UNESCO, it was discovered that more than a THREAT: Volcano at Panarea could explode
CHARGERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
autoconsumo@solarworks.es
ILL EQUIPPED: Councils including Benidorm are unprepared million litres of gas can be released seaquake, according to UNESCO. from the area every day. Last year, the entire Costa del Sol, Scientists were this week discussing and part of the Costa Calida and Costhe threat of a tsunami in more detail ta Blanca were put on a similar warnat a UN Oceans conference in Lisbon. ing by Spain’s Institut de Ciencies del In particular, they want to stress how Mar (CSIC). vital it is for all coastal communities It warned of thousands of homes to be fully prepared for the worst by being destroyed and many lives lost 2030. within 20 minutes of a potential While concerns in Spain are focused earthquake in the Averroes fault. on Chipiona, on Cadiz’s Costa de la “In the Mediterranean, there is no Luz, Costa Blanca and Costa Cali- question about it: it is not if, it’s da towns have also been warned to when,” said UNESCO tsunami exmake themselves ‘tsunami ready’. pert Bernardo Aliaga, this week. The working group of The experts are worried that towns the Hydraulic Insti- and cities on the Mediterranean untute of the University derestimate the risk of tsunamis beof Cantabria (IH Can- cause they are not as frequent as, for tabria), led by Mau- example, in the Indian Ocean. ricio González,said that Spanish coastal Warnings municipalities need They claim this increases the danger to calculate the risk of a tsunami. So far, he as fewer measures are enforced and says, no municipality warnings are not properly given. has been prepared to Chipiona lies on that same stretch of respond properly to a coastline, where one of the deadliest earthquakes took place in 1755 off tsunami warning. The researcher ex- Lisbon. plained that the areas The resultant 6m waves killed up to most exposed to the 50,000 people (over 1,200 in Cadiz impact of a tsunami and Huelva) and badly damaged the are all the coasts of Portuguese capital. Spain, except Asturias The threat caused by a tsunami is made significantly greater due to risand Cantabria. Besides the Gulf of Ca- ing sea levels. diz which is the high- Studies in China show the higher the est risk area in Spain, sea levels, the further inland tsunami other coasts are also waves travel. at threat. These in- UNESCO plans to support towns and clude the Costa Blanca cities as they enforce preparation and the Costa Calida, measures such as alert systems. which are threatened Opinion Page 6 by a tsunami after a