Super recyclers Stepping up

ECOVIDRIO, the nonprofit entity in charge of managing the recycling of glass container waste in Spain, and alicante city council managed to recycle more than 50,000 kilogrammes of glass container waste during the last fiestas.

Of the 137 associations of ‘Hogueras and Barracas’ participating in the campaign, which represented all Alicante fire fiestas, 97 beat the challenge proposed by Ecovidrio to recycle at least 400 kilogrammes of glass container waste in the container assigned to each of them.

An awards ceremony took place on Wednesday, July 26.

Those who exceeded this figure won a mini recycling bin and entered a draw for a giant paella for 300 people.

A NEW career awaits a group of mature students in Elche, who graduated from a shoe repair course on Friday, July 28.

The course was organised by Avecal and financed by Elche City Council. It began in 2018, and each year a different course is carried out in relation to each footwear trade.

This course lasted 100 hours and a total of 12 people between the ages of 22 and 52 and of different nationalities such as Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Colombia, Morocco or Spain participated.

In all editions, the recruitment rate of people who have completed the course has been very high.

For this reason, and due to the demand for shoe repairers, it is being repeated each year.

During the course, students were able to acquire the knowledge to carry out preparation and assembly processes by sewing pieces that make up shoes, following different techniques used.

“Young people can eliminate the stigma that the footwear profession has, and understand it as yet another decent job”, said councillor Sanuel Ruiz.

Blue flag lowered

AN Orihuela beach has lost its blue flag. The tourist quality label, Adeac, withdrew the flag following an inspection in the middle of July. The beach affected by the temporary withdrawal is Cala Mosca. Three weeks ago it was the subject of news after a spill was detected. The same one, it seems, that the Adeac inspectors detected on Friday, July 21. Once a blue flag is awarded, beaches are subject to an inspection in July, in the middle of the high season. And, in the case of Cala Mosca, Adeac would not have detected anything more than breaches to regulations for maintaining the blue flag. They pointed out that the lifeguard service on the beach does not have two elements to signal delimited bathing areas (flags or posters) and no spare flags. What was undoubtedly decisive for the decision to lower the flag was that "at the time of the inspection, the presence of a bad­smelling puddle was observed on the beach, from the ravine to the seashore."

Bean thieves

THE Guardia Civil announced on Friday, July 28, that they arrested five people, three men and two women, between 26 and 48 years of age and different nationalities. They were charged with theft of carob (algarrobas) beans in the Vega Baja del Segura region, belonging to a criminal group, and three counts of theft. At the beginning of this month, the Civil Guard learned of an increase in the number of robberies in farms in Vega Baja del Segura. The specialist agricultural theft unit of the Guardia Civil of Torrevieja, along with Albatera local police, began a series of investigations and on July 6, four people were caught stealing carob beans on a farm in Albatera. The officers arrested the thieves and after charging them with the theft, the stolen beans were returned to their rightful owner.