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Torrevieja and local areas
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Tuesday, November 24th 2015 - Edition 574
After nearly a week of searching, the Bethlehem Nativity scene, that's made up of more than 250 parts and valued at 27,000€ was found. The crib is stored in a warehouse in Pilar de la Horadada by an association of nativity scenes. The company is normally hired by the town to assemble and disassemble the huge miniature scene but has not done so this year because the Council aims to save costs. The company received at least 5,000€ for this work every year. The company in whose care the Belen was has a museum of private nativity scenes and apart from storage costs, they took the pieces to clean and keep after the installation last year, as has been done in other years. The Councillor for Fiestas, Africa Celdrán indicated that the head of the association Belenista Pilar de la Horadada usually handled the assembly and disassembly of the Belen contacted them after hearing that they had 'gone missing', when this was not the case. . " The Craftsman from Belenista issued their own statement: “On behalf of our association Belenista want to give a statement about what happened in recent days
accusations. What just happened was a mistake in the packing when collecting the scene. For many years we have charged a fee for carrying out our work for assembly, disassembly and maintenance, to install decorative items made in our workshop, and remain in safety on our property and without charge to the local council. We also perform minor repairs of faults and painting Bethlehem. This is ALSO NO COST for the beautification of what we consider one of our creations. The incidence happened at the time of the collection these elaborate plaster elements, which have a considerable weight, equivalent to the terracotta figures packed in the same type of boxes that arrived at our workshop and are stored with the other boxes of accessories of our work until the following Christmas. On opening the boxes to get ready other displays, we discovered the Torrevieja Belen. We regret what happened and just wanted to clarify the facts, which after 15 years of development of this municipal Belen has never had any kind of impact. "We are delighted that the town of Torrevieja can continue to enjoy their Belen Monument.''
Bethlehem figures appear by 'magic'
with the "mystery' of the disappearance of the Belen. We wanted to give you first-hand our version of what happened, as we read all these different headlines and
Carols in the Square The 13th Carols in the Square will take place on Friday 11th December, 2015, in the Plaza de la Costitucion, in front of Inmaculada church. The free, festive gathering will start around 5.00pm and get into full swing shorting before 6.00pm. The event will be followed by the 'international 'mass', dedicated to the non-Spanish community as part of the 'novena' of the patronal fiestas. This year will mark the tenth anniversary of the singing of Christmas Carols in the town square by the international
community. On this particular evening the mass will be dedicated to the 'foreign' residents of Torrevieja of whatever nationality. Local ministers from other churches such as the Anglicans, Church of Sweden, Norway, Finland etc., have been involved in some of the advance planning and it is anticipated that we shall all join together to sing at least one Christmas Carol where the music, albeit not the words, is internationally recognised. An integral part of the celebration will once again, be the offering
of non-perishable foodstuffs, (tinned food, packets etc.) which will later be distributed to the needy of the town so that, they too, may enjoy the festive season. Previously, the 'foreigners' have demonstrated an incredible generosity and there were more gifts received during the 'foreigners mass' than on any other evening! Everyone is welcome to come along to the event and several local clubs and associations will, no doubt, be collecting 'goody bags' from their members in order to present a 'joint effort'. Please come along and support this worthwhile effort. This Christmas marks the thirteenth anniversary of the annual “Christmas Carols in the Town Square”. This popular and unique event has taken place each December in Torrevieja’s Plaza de la Consitución since 2003. The overwhelming success of previous “Christmas’s Carols in English” events, the singing of Christmas Carols in the main town square by members of various local choral groups accompanied by the PHOENIX CONCERT BAND, has resulted in the fact that this popular event becoming a permanent fixture on
Torrevieja’s Christmas cultural programme. The public are invited to come along to the main town square and join in the singing of Christmas Carols, mostly in English but with a few in Spanish. Song sheets will be available and a collection will be made on behalf of local charity. Last year, well over three thousand people gathered in the main town square to enjoy this typical Christmas celebration, so make sure you get there early. As noted in the Coastrider this week, now that the display has been 're-discovered' the spectacular and typical nativity scene (“Belen”) will be on public display in time for the ‘Carols in the Square’. The “Belen” will stay open, 24-hours a day, until after the visit by the ‘Three Kings’ on 6th January. The Phoenix Concert band will be performing at the Carol
Service. The band, which is based in San Miguel de la Salinas, has brass, woodwind and percussion players. Some are resident in Spain but others are extremely committed and remain here for long periods so that they can rehearse and perform with the band at their concerts. New members who can commit are always welcome. Their Musical Director, Julie Schofield, has numerous qualifications in the field of banding and conductorship. She has been at the helm now since March 2013 and the band have gone from strength to strength. This will also be their 13th year performing as on December 11th, along with many local choirs and performance groups, they will be ding the music and accompanying thousands of people of all Nationalities in Torrevieja.