FREE!
Your English Newspaper
Issue 638
See our advert on p61
North EDITION
06-12 January 2012
Helping victims of domestic violence
Vertigo villas no longer allowed in Javea In the new General Plan, the Marina Alta town of Javea will no longer allow the building of cliff-side residences p7
Making travel a pleasure
by Jack Troughton
Do you remember the days when going abroad was a pleasure? Well they can be again with Brittany Ferries. p30
Tax allowances to modernise your home in 2012 Find out more information on p27
Costa Blanca Writers Bookcase this month we find out about Jill Lanchbery and what she has written p36
What is the correct pace? Why do many of us want to complain about the time it takes to play a round of golf? p62
Testing the water
The water’s lovely(ish)! TWO YOUNGSTERS dip a toe into the sea on New Year’s Day to test the temperature at Javea’s Arenal Beach but decide against joining 40 people taking the plunge in the annual swim. Read the full story on page 3.
EXPATS ARE playing a leading role in supporting the women and children flooding into shelters after falling victim to domestic violence. Refugees forced to flee their family homes have filled five women’s refuges on the Costa Blanca as the problem of gender violence across Spain mounts. Last year 60 women were killed by abusive partners or former partners and only 15 of them had reported their plight to the authorities before losing their lives. Spanish newspaper El Pais revealed on Wednesday that two women have already died in 2012 in incidents being treated as domestic violence by police. And officers of the Guardia Civil made 3,830 arrests on suspicion of domestic violence related incidents across the Valencian Community in 2011 – of those 1,684 were in the Province of Alicante. Over the festive period alone, the last two weeks of the year, there
were 126 arrests, mostly men being taken into custody. However, Costa Blanca networking group the Women in Business Club continues to spearhead a campaign to help the women and children lucky enough to escape abuse and reach the shelters. HELP Many of the victims arrive with nothing other than the clothes they stand up in and members of WIBC raise money to supply the necessities – also co-ordinating the help being offered by expat groups and charities. Last November WIBC staged two White Ribbon Day events – a global stand against domestic violence – and the money went to the refuges the club helps to support. RTN was told: “Domestic violence is on the increase and there are now five of these refuges filled with women and children who have suffered abuse. Continued on page 5