ARCHIVED - Murcia and Spanish news round-up week ending 31st January 2020

Image: banksy (instagram)

And so this is Brexit – but the difficult part starts now as negotiators seek to define the future implications not only for trade but also for our everyday lives.

As Boris Johnson proclaims the “dawn of a new era” and urges Britons to “look ahead with confidence to the global, trail-blazing country we will become over the next decade” most UK nationals will struggle to maintain any kind of indifference on Friday night, instead experiencing either euphoria or sadness as the country officially leaves the European Union.

The British government has repeatedly reassured people that when they wake up on Saturday morning the world will not be a vastly different place for them, and that their rights and obligations will remain the same. But that is because Saturday morning merely marks the start of an 11-month transition phase during which it could be said that the complicated part of Brexit really starts.

The transition period, which could be extended if necessary, has been established to allow negotiations to take place regarding what the future relationship will be between the UK and the EU. In the meantime, until 31^st December 2020, it is true to say that very little changes, but until the negotiations have ended and the new relationship has been defined it is impossible to say for certain whether the eventual differences will be drastic, negligible or somewhere in between.

Essentially the next eleven months are a period of grace in which people can undertake any paperwork they need to complete - regarding residency, driver’s licences, tax residence and the like – while the negotiators attempt to reach agreement on questions ranging from a trading agreement between the UK to the requirements for travelling with pets. In the meantime, there is still huge uncertainty over what the new relationship between Britain and the EU will be like, and how expats and tourists will be affected, and pessimists point out that a no-deal scenario is still not entirely impossible.

Will visitors still be able to use a British driver’s licence while hiring a car in Spain? (Already this week the British Embassy in Madrid has stated that for residents in Spain the deadline to request an exchange for a Spanish licence is not set in stone on 31^st January after all, but advises people to start the procedure as soon as possible if they haven’t already done so.)

Will visitors need a visa?

Will those who own property in Spain be able to take out a visa for longer than 23 months?

Will an advantageous agreement regarding air travel be reached or will airlines be forced to consider dropping routes?

Will British visitors still be entitled to healthcare?

Will it still be easy for British people to buy property in Spain? Certainly anyone considering doing so would be well-advised to do so during the transition period rather than waiting to find out how difficult it is afterwards.

Will UK roaming still be allowed to work on phones in Spain?

No-one knows the answers to these and many other questions for certain, but one analyst consulted by Hosteltur is of the opinion that whereas until now coming to Spain from England has been no more difficult than travelling to Scotland, in the future it will be more like going to the USA.

For the rest of 2020 life will change very little, for those of us already living and working here in Spain and this is a comfort both to UK nationals and to truck drivers and crop farmers in the Region of Murcia. But in terms of defining the consequences of Brexit the hard work is only just beginning, and while it would be foolish to assume that life will become impossible for expats and British tourists it would be equally misguided to suppose that no complications at all lie ahead.

Images: Juanfra Ladevesa (Twitter)

Meanwhile, the reasons for so many Britons choosing to come to the Costa Cálida remain crystal clear, and February is forecast to begin with the kind of weather which is bound to make people in the UK jealous. A mini-heatwave is about to reach the Iberian Peninsula and in the Region of Murcia temperatures in many locations could climb to 25 or 26 degrees by Tuesday before dropping again sharply in the second half of the week - the first week of February looks like being something of a roller-coaster ride, not only in terms of European politics!

Coronavirus: Spaniards evacuated from Wuhan

The 20 or Spanish people who are in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, are now on their way to Madrid with their aircraft having already touched down in London, despite the apparent opposition of the Chinese government and a WHO recommendation that this is not an advisable course of action.

Chinese nationals are not being allowed to leave the country as the government imposes strict containment strategies in order to reduce the risk of the virus spreading, and the risks of allowing people to leave are illustrated by a flight which did receive permission to take off and carry around 200 Japanese nationals back to their home country. On arrival three of them were found to have contracted the virus although in two of the cases no symptoms had yet developed, and there are inevitably worries over whether other passengers in the same aircraft have been infected during the flight.

The repatriated Spaniards will be placed in quarantine for a fortnight, the maximum incubation period of the coronavirus, on the 22^nd floor of the Hospital Gómez Ulla in Madrid.

Possible coronavirus case ruled out in Torrevieja hospital: the 66-year-old Icelandic patient was enjoying a winter break in Pilar de la Horadada after a visit to China.

Murcia government activates coronavirus protocol: patients who present symptoms and have visited China recently will be admitted to the Arrixaca hospital while tests and analyses are performed.

Airport news

Special offers launched on flights between Corvera and the Canaries: return flights for around 100 euros between March and June.

New Corvera coach service contract almost ready to be put out to tender: the routes specified in the contract terms are similar to those already being operated by Interbus, serving coastal towns and golf resorts in the Costa Cálida as well as the city of Murcia.

235 extra flights diverted to Corvera airport in January! The problems at Alicante-Elche gave the airport in Corvera a chance to show its potential and the success in dealing with such a large volume of extra traffic – during the winter there are sometimes no more than six flights a day at Corvera – indicates that the new airport is well equipped to handle such a volume of activity.

The Mar Menor

Hardly a day goes by in the regional news without references being made to the marine environment of the Mar Menor, the runoff of water from farmland and old mines and the need to restore natural flood barriers as well as creating manmade protection, and there is a growing sense of frustration that it is taking so long to agree on the actions needed and to implement them. 

But to be fair to the politicians, administrators and legislators, the processes which have caused the current issues faced by the Mar Menor are complex, inter-related and deep-rooted, and the way to go about halting or reversing them is far from clear.

This week Murcia Today has compiled a long-overdue attempt to identify, summarize and explain some of the many factors which have contributed to the current situation, in which the intention is not to propose a clear route map leading to the complete recovery of the lagoon – if that were possible then all parties concerned would have agreed on it by now – but to enable readers to better understand the complexities of the current situation.

2,000 residents march to demand flood protection for Los Alcázares: angry locals make themselves heard after three floods along the shore of the Mar Menor in four months.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that the regional government is to help finance a 1.5-million-euro project for a floodwater drainage network in Los Alcázares, while the Town Hall is drawing up a protection scheme for which the required budget will be 80 million euros.

400 schoolchildren to pay homage to the Mar Menor to mark World Wetlands Day: poems and songs for the lagoon on the beach in San Pedro del Pinatar on Monday morning.

The Spanish government identifies 280 potential demolitions around the Mar Menor: the intention is to return land to its natural condition as part of the attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change, which are forecast to be dramatic in La Manga before the end of this century.

Other items in the news

Spanish inflation rate climbs to 1.1 per cent: the retail price index fell as usual in January due to the start of the winter sales.

Seaweed piled up as a protective barrier at Playa de Galúa in La Manga! Rather than clearing away the seaweed in winter Cartagena Town Hall experiments with using it constructively.

One- and two- cent coins could be on their way out: the cost of minting them exceeds their value and price rounding has already been introduced in various countries.

7,500 euros to promote prehistoric cave art in the Mula countryside: the paintings near Yéchar date from the late Stone Age or early Metal Age around 5,000 years ago.

The Region of Murcia Symphony Orchestra played for 4,000 schoolchildren this week: a series of concerts in the Auditorio Víctor Villegas is being held between now and June and the same events are part of the Sunday lunchtime family concerts cycle.

Rumanians arrested in Cabo de Palos claiming to collect donations for fake deaf and dumb charity: the family group, resident in Elche, were also pickpocketing people on the streets of Cabo de Palos.

New casino building outside Murcia to boast the largest overhanging swimming pool in Europe! 20 metres of projecting pool 25 metres above the ground near the Thader and Nueva Condomina malls.

Progress in the creation of a 30,000-square-metre forest park in Águilas: the Town Hall of Águilas takes steps to mitigate the effects of climate change before 2030.

Spain the healthiest country in the world say Bloomberg: the Mediterranean diet is cited as a leap of five places puts Spain above Italy and Iceland in the top three!

Puente del Estacio bridge in La Manga closed to maritime traffic: the Gola del Estacio will not be navigable at least until Tuesday.

Plain clothes police officers to clamp down on unauthorized parking attendants in Murcia: new police powers are about to come into force to combat the "gorrillas" in the regional capital.

Air quality alerts lifted throughout Murcia as Saharan dust cloud drifts away: Murcia Town Hall reported a 3-ton decrease in CO2 emissions due to free public transport last Friday before the dust particles cleared away by Monday!

ECB reports 22 per cent rise in fake banknote detection: only 20 out of every million are believed to be fake, most of them 20- and 50-euro notes.

Yellow blob removed from Teatro Romea in Murcia as Town Hall gimmick backfires: the appearance of the installation was compared by bemused observers with vomit, pus and fungus rather than the status of the city as the Gastronomic Capital of Spain.

Flu epidemic spreads with 700 new cases a day in the Region of Murcia: there is still time to get your flu vaccination at health centres or pharmacies.

Two injured in Totana car crash: a car careered off the exit road from the A-7 motorway near Cuevas del Reylló.

Lowest unemployment figure in Spain for 11 years but the jobless total rose by 15,000 in the last quarter of 2019 in the Region of Murcia. Some analysts attribute the rise to the heavy storms over the autumn and winter, which have cost the agriculture sector dearly.

Grape thieves arrested after rural thefts in and around Totana: over a ton of grapes were recovered and returned to their rightful owner.

The search goes on for a missing Briton as the Storm Gloria death toll in Spain rises to 14: the latest confirmed victim was a Colombian man who disappeared in Ibiza and the body of another UK national which washed up in Formentera belonged to a man who disappeared in November.

Pocahontas the Labrador rescued after mystery kidnap-robbery ordeal: the trainer of the dog specialized in caring for the disabled faces charges of falsely reporting her theft, although it transpires she was held at ransom for an unpaid debt.

Property news

The main statistical report published during the last week concerned the level of activity in the Spanish property mortgage market, with figures showing that the number of new loans registered in November was almost identical to the same month in 2018.

But within that general trend there was room for a wide dispersity of results, with the sharpest falls being those in the Balearics (-16.6 per cent) and Catalunya (-15.9 per cent) while at the other end of the scale the most significant increases were in Extremadura (50.3 per cent) and the Region of Murcia (28.6 per cent).

This increase in Murcia comes despite rise in sales figures of only 1.2 per cent and appears to indicate that for one reason or another those purchasing homes are doing so without much capital to finance their purchases, possibly because they are first-time buyers. It is not possible to read too much into one month’s figures, but in general terms the data published over the last few months suggest that the property market is becoming significantly less dynamic in Spain at the moment, although on the other hand in Murcia the signs are still inconclusive: sales figures are still rising in the long-term picture, albeit moderately, while over the first eleven months of 2019 the total for property mortgages rose by 3.8 per cent.

Would you like to receive this bulletin?

If you enjoyed this free weekly round-up, then please forward it on to your friends. If you have received this from a friend and would like to have it sent directly, then click Register for weekly bulletin to sign up.

CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THIS FREE WEEKLY ROUND-UP BY EMAIL

NONE OF THE TODAY PRODUCTS HARVESTS OR SELLS EMAILS IN ANY WAY and we GUARANTEE your details will not be passed on, sold, or used for any other purpose, and are maintained in an off-site facility from which you can unsubscribe at any time.

We also welcome contributions from local charities or clubs, including post event reports, news items and forthcoming events. Use the contact button in the top header to contact our editorial team.

Images: Copyrighted Murcia Today, full or partial reproduction prohibited, other images as attributed on individual news articles.