Against the red weevil

VILLAJOYOSA Council this week completed the treatment of more than 200 palm trees to protect them against the red weevil.

The red palm weevil, or picudo rojo in Spanish, is a type of beetle that excavates holes in the trunks of trees, therefore weakening and eventually killing them, and is considered a major pest in palm plantations.

It spreads easily from tree to tree, usually requiring the felling of affected specimens to prevent greater damage.

The work carried out by Villajoyosa Parks and Gardens department this week was done following the advice of experts and guaranteeing the safety of the trees and the environment.

MORE than 70 per cent of teenagers up to 20 years old in Alicante Province do not understand a word of English.

A recent report published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) shows that, despite the increasing number of English words entering the everyday vocabulary of Spanish youngsters and the large British presence throughout the province, Alicante, and the Valencia Region as a whole, are second only to Galicia with the lowest levels of English language comprehension in the country.

According to the INE, seven out of every 10 Alicante teens do not understand the language and only one in 10 speak it fluently.

Worryingly, the figure worsens as age increases, with more than 81 per cent of Alicante adults aged between 40 and 59 admitting that they do not know any English. Figures improve only slightly among ‘millennials’ aged 20 to 39, with 68 per cent of those questioned reporting not being able to understand the language and 70 per cent admitting that they do not read or speak English at all.

DENIA is one of the first four members of a Spanish network of ‘creative cities’ launched by the UNESCO.

The first meeting of the Spanish Association of Creative Cities, which so far also includes Manises and Llíria in Valencia and Burgos in Castilla y León,

THE Villa Romana openair museum in Albir and the Molí de Mànec in Alfaz are currently being studied by Alicante’s museum of fine arts (Mubag).

Students of a digital conservation course organised by the Mubag analysed both sites as successful examples of the application of digital tools in the interpretation of historical heritage remains. Villa Romana has recently incorporated a new technological resource, namely the use of virtual reality glasses allowing visitors to live an