Cave paintings

A DRONE has made it possible to discover a highly valuable site of Neolithic cave paintings which are 7,000 years old in several caves.

The caves, which are very difficult to access in PenAguila, in inland Alicante, are part of a pioneering project in which three archaeologists linked to the University of Alicante (UA) have participated.

This is one of the first discoveries of prehistoric cave paintings thanks to the use of one of these small unmanned aerial vehicles in almost inaccessible mountain shelters, which otherwise could only be inspected directly after several days of preparation and the opening of complex climbing routes.

The drone has worked in the area of Barranquet del CastelletBarranc del Salt and Port de Penaguila, where it has photographed and recorded videos of the cavity walls of 18 shallow shelters.

The drone has facilitated the discovery of paintings in two of the shelters, the first results of which have just been published in one of the best archaeology magazines on the Iberian Peninsula, in issue XLII of Lvcentvm.

According to airport managing body Aena, record statistics have already been recorded several times this year, with more than one million fliers passing through AlicanteElche airport in March, plus 1.5 million registered in January and February.

Low-cost airlines are planning to increase their activity at the terminal by 12 per cent until October 28, the date set by the airport managers as the official end of the summer high season.

Numbers of international travellers are predicted to increase by 11 per cent, with British fliers increasing by 6.8 per cent and accounting for the highest fraction of the total.

Manchester and London Gatwick are at the top of the list of airports with the most flights to Alicante, followed by Amsterdam, Bristol, Palma de Mallorca, Stansted, Brussels, Oslo, Stockholm and Barcelona.