Javea Grapevine 184 2016 Three | Page 53

Montgó over Easter: camping in prohibited areas, parking on newly reclaimed burnt ground - A lack of civic-mindedness among visitors The Montgó Natural Park was the focus of a large influx of visitors over Easter. Some of whom showed a marked lack of civic-mindedness by camping in prohibited areas, including in the Cova Tallada and parking on areas which were in the process of regenerating after the 2014 fire. Not all the blame can be laid at the feet of the visitors however, since there is a lack of signs telling people where certain activities are prohibited, and to cap it all, the toilets in the recreation/ picnic area were locked over the holiday period… From: La Marina Plaza Although barbeques etc are restricted to “safe” areas, some people have proposed the total ban on fires in forested areas during the Easter holidays, just as during the summer. From La Marina Plaza (Ed’s note: by timely coincidence, a small fire in an abandoned field in the Benimadrocs area, near houses along the Jesus Pobre road was dealt with on March 29th XAD) Best year for property transactions since 2008 For the first time in 16 years, the number of property transactions in the Marina Alta (4,902) has exceeded the 2008 figure (4,735), though it is nowhere near the 2006 boom figure of 10,904. In 2015 Xàbia saw 944 sales. From La Marina Plaza Negligence is a prime cause of Forest fires Xàbia restaurants asked to collaborate to counter illegal fishing More than 700 people have recently been mobilised in the Comunidad Valenciana to prevent forest fires and there have already been a number of near misses, including in Gata. Plans have been put forward to deal with the problem of illegal fishing in the municipality with restaurants and bars across Xàbia being asked not to accept seafood whose origin cannot be traced through official documentation. Poaching has been difficult to control along a coastline that stretches some 27 kilometres but Xàbia Town Hall aims to discourage the practice with huge fines and seizure of equipment. For full story see: Javeamigo