Record number of tourists in 2015
Numbers of tourists have shot up in
Spain in the past year, with 64.6 million visitors from abroad – nearly one
and a half times the country’s population – having travelled there between
January and November 2015.
This translates as a rise of 4.8% on
the same 11-month period in 2014,
according to the National Statistics
Institute (INE)’s FRONTUR survey.
Last year’s 61.7 million was already
a record, but consistent increases in
foreign visitor numbers have been
seen in the past few years.
The majority came from the UK
thanks to its newly-recovered economy, with the nearly 15 million Brits
visiting Spain representing a 4.1% increase. For full story see:ThinkSpain
Marina Alta Padrón loses 26,500 in
two years
For the third year running, the registered number of residents in the Marina Alta has fallen by around 12.7%.
The figure for Xàbia has fallen by
1386 to 27,681.
Only 11 of the 33 of the municipalities have shown growth, among them
being Benitatxell, which is up by 31.
From: La Marina Plaza
Valencias forgotten “library” of
375,000 books
The Valencia Government has
brought to light a warehouse full of
375,000 books published at taxpayers expense over 20 years and never
sold. These include 65,000 copies of
a recipe book “with the only explanation that the introduction was signed
the then Regional Minister for Agriculture”, 35,000 copies of notebooks
for the Valencian Institute of Modern Art costing some 90,000 euros,
and 1,500 books about sculptor Julio González of which only ten have
been sold because they each cost 300
euros. The Valencia city council pays
€4500 a month to store them. The plan
is to distribute the books, in lots of 60
worth around €1,300 to municipal libraries in the region. So far they have
received 244 requests from a total of
552 From: Las Provincias
Prescription charges for pensioners axed in Comunidad Valenciana
Pensioners and their dependants
earning less than €18,000 a year
before tax will no longer have to pay
prescription charges in the Comunidad Valenciana. The left-wing team
now leading the Valencia regional
government has put aside €41 million to cover the shortfall once State
pensioners get their regular medicine
free of charge. The free prescriptions
will benefit 403,334 State pensioners.
(Ed’s note: I hope this isn’t an “Innocent’s Day” joke !)