ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 5th December 2019

Anger in Los Alcázares and fears of more deterioration in the Mar Menor as the second gota fría storm of autumn 2019 brings more flooding

At this time of year it would be customary to report that Murcianos are eagerly awaiting the long holiday weekend which precedes Christmas in celebration of Constitution Day on the 6^th and the feast day of the Immaculate Conception on the 8^th, but instead the week’s news has been dominated by the effects of another “gota fría” storm in towns along and close to the inland shore of the Mar Menor.

By Monday it had become clear that heavy rain was on the way to the Costa Cálida as an isolated high altitude depression formed over the Mediterranean and the south-east of Spain, and yellow and orange alerts were issued by Aemet not only for rain but also for strong winds and rough seas, particularly in coastal areas.

The rain duly arrived during the night with over 100 millimetres falling in Los Alcázares in three hours, including 70 mm in an hour. However, it was not until shortly before daybreak that floodwater began to cascade from the Campo de Cartagena towards the Mar Menor and within a few minutes the centre of Los Alcázares was flooded again, just two and half months after the disastrous floods of September, proving yet again that the town has become particularly susceptible to this kind of event. As Tuesday dawned the Town Hall was already requesting help from emergency services outside the municipality, having already taken the precaution of closing all schools in the municipality the evening before.

As in September numerous roads were made impassable by floodwater in the Campo de Cartagena, including the westbound carriageway of the RM-19 motorway between San Javier and the city of Murcia, and as the water level continued to rise in Los Alcázares around 100 residents were evacuated from their homes in the area of the town which is becoming known as “Ground Zero” due to its being flooded so often. Another 40 were evacuated in nearby San Javier and as rain started to fall again more roads were closed, this time including the Torre Pacheco-Los Alcázares road which leads to the Mar Menor Golf Resort, but by Monday evening conditions had eased and the alerts were downgraded to yellow.

By Wednesday the threat of more flooding had receded and it became clear that the damage was far less widespread than in September, with the regional government pointing out the contribution made to this damage limitation by its extensive preparatory precautions.

But as the clean-up began again – in some cases before repairs after the September storm had even been completed – warnings began to be issued that the repercussions for the fragile marine environment of the Mar Menor itself the consequences could be as dramatic as those of the September “gota fría”. Apparently the chances of the formation of another layer of “anoxic” water (lacking in oxygen) like the one which resulted in the appearance of tons of dead fish and crustaceans as they washed up onto the beaches of the Mar Menor in October are not high at present due to the sea temperature having dropped since the late summer, but the spokesman for the scientific committee formed by the regional government to oversee developments in the lagoon warns that another such episode is highly probable in the spring or summer of 2020.

Reacting to the run-off of more floodwater containing soil and fertilizers into the lagoon the platform group Pacto por el Mar Menor made an interesting reference to the catastrophic flood known as the “Riada de Santa Teresa” in 1879, which resulted in the loss of over 1,000 human lives, most of them in Murcia. One of the consequences of that disaster was the visionary and far-reaching project undertaken by Ricardo Codorníu, who found that the felling of entire forests in the mountain ranges to the west of the city of Murcia for timber and fuel had resulted in there being no natural barrier to prevent rainwater from cascading down in torrents to lower-lying ground.

In response, he set about the grand plan of re-planting pine forests in Sierra Espuña, not only creating the landscape of the regional park as we know it today but also setting an example of how to focus on the root cause of a problem which, Pacto por el Mar Menor say, the current regional and national governments need to follow urgently if the lagoon is to be saved and consequences of future “gota fría” storms are to be alleviated.

This view will certainly be shared by those living in Los Alcázares, where the range of emotions felt by residents as they began to clean up on Wednesday ranged from resignation and despair on the one hand to indignation and anger on the other. Since the disastrous flooding of December 2016 little or no extra protection has been provided in the form of infrastructures to divert floodwater from the agricultural land of the Campo de Cartagena, and among those not mincing their words was the Mayor, Mario Pérez Cervera.

“In Los Alcázares we can deal with our own rain”, he explained, “but not when we receive all the chocolate coloured water from the countryside”. Perhaps exaggerating somewhat, Sr Pérez Cervera complains that “we have pointed out the need to divert the Rambla de Balsicas 30,000 times” but no action has been taken.

Although the latest moment of crisis has passed, residents are increasingly pessimistic about the future of the town unless protection is afforded both for the built-up area and for the Mar Menor. The number of “for sale” and “to let” signs on properties in the municipality has increased noticeably and some even predict that in the medium to long term Los Alcázares could be in danger of becoming a ghost town. Should the tourism sector suffer over a long period – and fears are already being expressed that the summer season of 2020 has been “lost” – then economic activity in the area would decline sharply and, to put it simply, there would be few obvious reasons for people wanting to live there and few employment opportunities.

Other items in the news this week

Petrol station strikes for Thursday and Monday called off: industrial action had threatened long weekend travel plans in Spain.

Green light given for re-activation of Cabo de Palos shopping complex: the Las Dunas centre has been empty and abandoned for over a decade.

68 African migrants detained as they reached the Costa Cálida last weekend: 16 people made it ashore in Águilas and Lorca while the rest were intercepted off the coast of Cartagena.

Visitors from the UK to Spain spent 2.15 million euros per hour in October: fewer visitors from the major northern European countries but more money spent across Spain as the UK accounts for over 21 per cent of the total.

Animal welfare groups denounce torture of dogs near Murcia: the dogs had been beaten and strangled to death before being buried in shallow graves.

Eclectic collection for new museum in Mazarrón: the Museo Antonio Paredes pays homage to Mazarrón and its miners and is named after the man whose efforts have made it possible to display such a wide range of exhibits under one roof.

UK investment fund buys massive Jumilla solar power plant for 140 million euros: Cubico Sustainable Investments now controls plants producing 187 megawatts in Spain.

Unemployment in Spain rose by another 20,000 in November: the jobless total in Murcia has fallen by over 4 per cent in the last year but the fall across the country is only 1.7 per cent and it appears that the downward trend is coming to an end.

First AVE high-speed train arrives in the Region of Murcia – but without passengers: tracks are being tested and passenger services are expected to reach the city of Murcia in mid-2021.

Murcia snowplough fleet at the ready for the winter: 10 snow ploughs are prepared to keep major roads open in the event of snow and ice, particularly in the north and north-west of the Region.

Valencia woman refused permission to board Ryanair flight with electric wheelchair: Belén Hueso will be flying to Valencia with Vueling instead after re-organizing her travel plans for the long weekend.

Electric scooters to be banned from pavements in Spain: traffic authorities introduce regulations for the use of personal mobility vehicles, also banning riders from using mobile phones and earphones.

Two arrested while driving in Murcia with 600 marijuana plants in the back of a van: suspicious behaviour led officers to stop and search the vehicle during a routine check.

At least 58 migrants heading for the Canaries die as boat capsizes off Mauritania: another 83 managed to swim ashore after the boat hit a reef close to the African coast.

Property market news

More statistics were published this week which show that the recovery in the Spanish housing market which began 4 or 5 years ago is starting to run out of steam, with two very different sources reporting that property values and prices are rising rather more slowly than they have been in recent years.

On the one hand, Tinsa report a rise of 3.7 per cent in Spanish residential property values over the last year, the eleventh consecutive rise of under 5 per cent, and add that in Mediterranean coastal areas there has been a downward movement of 2 per cent so far in 2019. They observe far more significant increases in the Balearic and Canary Islands but elsewhere a generalized slowdown, and in their monthly “market snapshot” highlight recent falls in sales figures and the number of mortgages taken out as well as a slight increase in the Euribor interest rate and the disappointing recent unemployment figures. The obvious conclusion is that in overall terms the demand for housing across the country may have reached a natural peak, and that in consequence there is less upward pressure on market value.

As if to back up the findings of Tinsa, on on Thursday the government’s central statistics unit published its summary of the price index for the third quarter of 2019 and reported a rise of just 4.7 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2018. This is the least significant increase since the last quarter of 2016, and the rate at which property is appreciating appears to be slowing down in most parts of the country. Although again it is interesting to see that the fastest rate of appreciation is now seen in the Balearics.

The Region of Murcia is among the three where the annual price increase has fallen most sharply over the last three months, now standing at 3.7 per cent, and it is interesting to see how since these data were first compiled in 2007, at the end of the boom in the market, they illustrate graphically the way in which the market collapsed in 2008: in Murcia in 2007 prices were increasing by as much as 15 per cent per year, but they began to fall in 2008 and by 2013 the annual rate of depreciation was 16 per cent.

Not until 2014 did a timid bounce-back begin, and it was only in 2018 that the rate of appreciation rose to above 3 per cent per year: in this context the latest figures suggest that for the Costa Cálida stability in prices could be the most likely scenario in the short-term future.

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