“Vuelta a España” Grand Tour cycle race time trial stage to start in
Xàbia Port On 9th of September,
Xàbia Port will be inundated with
international media and spectators
when it hosts the start of the last time
trial stage of Spain’s answer to the
Tour de France, the Vuelta a España.
This stage may well decide the winner of the two week race. The route
will go from Xàbia to Calpe, and the
first few km will pass by the Bahia de
Jávea - giving great exposure of the
landscape on international TV.
Spain beats records for foreign
visitors As the world’s third tourism
destination after France and the USA,
Spain has already beaten records in the
number of foreign visitors for three
years in a row, and 2016 is expected
to follow the same trend. Some 68.1
million foreign travellers visited in
2015, nearly five percent more than
the previous year. And apart from the
classic urban destinations of Barcelona and Madrid, tourist zones along
Spain’s sunny coasts are also doing
well, particularly the Canary Islands
off northwest Africa and the Balearic
islands in the Mediterranean. For full
story see: The Local
Protests over the Ebro River delta
Environmentalists say one of Europe’s most important wetland areas
is under threat as Spain and Catalonia argue about the future of the Ebro
river.
Campaigners say Spanish government plans to restrict water flow
could destroy the fragile landscape.
Also, they are worried that ultimately these waters could be transferred
to other, drier regions of Spain. Tens
of thousands of demonstrators took
to the streets of Amposta in Catalonia on Sunday to protest against the
plans. For full story see: BBC - Spanish water rights (Ed’s note: 12 years
ago there was an ambitious water
transfer scheme to bring water from
the Ebro down to this area.
It was ditched in 2004 on environmental grounds (See: BBC: Spain
ditches Ebro river project. The Ebro
Hydrological plan can be found on:
CHEbro
Calpe Flamingos hang around because of the warm winter. Normally
the 115 flamingos seen in the Calpe
salt marsh migrate from the French
Camarge, stop over in Calpe and winter in Garaa Ezzemoul in Algeria. But
this year they have decided to stay in
Calpe, probably because of the warm
temperatures being experienced this
winter. The birds have been ringed,
and the oldest one is now 17 years
old. From: La Marina Plaza
San Antonio Lighthouse definitely
not going to be a hotel Xabia asks
the Ports authority to turn it into a
Visitor’s centre - A proposal to turn
the San Antonio Lighthouse into a
hotel has been turned down for good.