Edition 299
A
Friday 25th November 2016
AIRPORT SWEEP
pirate taxi, a UK citizen wanted on charges back home, and speeding motorists have all been collared around Alicante-Elche airport in just one day, as the Elche local police ramped up their operations against law-breakers in a special set of checks. The latest sweep by Elche officers flushed out a pirate cab, with licensed taxi drivers long complaining over unlicensed operators picking up and dropping off passengers at Alicante-Elche. They have consistantly called for more checks on the clandestine operators and better security checks to keep them out, and even hired a private detective last summer to produce a report on the way the pirates oper-
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ated, which included some touting for trade in the actual terminal building. Earlier this year, Tomás Jorge of the local taxi association said that pirate vans carrying up to nine people were on the increase and costing them valuable trade, and that extra restrictions on access to unauthorised carriers had not had the desired effect. The police sweep also found an unnamed British man at the airport who was fleeing justice from the UK authorities, though further details of the nature of the charges was not declared. Speeding drivers brought rich-pickings to the police with radar photographs bringing 93 motorists that were clocked breaking the
BY ALEX TRELINSKI
limit during their special checks. Also in trouble were three people that were driving their cars illegally as their ITV certificates had expired; a man who faces at
least six points docked on his license for driving under the influence of drugs; and three people driving on licenses that are not allowed in Spain.
TAKE YOUR PICK
orrevieja council is to launch a public consultation as to where the municipality's first dog beach is to be situated, with a shortlist of six sites. The plan is to have the canine beach up and running for the four-legged visitors before next Easter. The consultation has come about after complaints from the opposition Partido Popular, Ciudadanos, and Sueña Torrevieja political parties that residents should get their views taken on board, or else they would have used their majority in the council chamber to veto the project. The suggested locations are Cala Ferrís; Cala de los
Carabineros to the south of Cala Piteras; Cala del Moro in Cabo Cervera; Cala de los Trabajos, by the Mar Bella building; Playa de La Mata Pueblo; and Punta Margalla in an area leading to Playa La Cura. How the consultation will take place still has not been made clear, although beaches councillor Javier Manzanares has suggested that it could take the form of an internet vote; people going to vote at selected polling places; or even resorting to using the electoral register for a formal vote in order to encourage a large turnout. Informal surveys have suggested that the Cala
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Ferris site is the likely location to be chosen, whilst in contrast residents in La Mata have been quick to voice their opposition to a dog beach being designated in their area. A successful dog beach was launched earlier this year in Santa Pola, which the council said had become
a big boost for tourism, whilst Orihuela council have voted in principle for a beach at an unspecified location. The Murcia regional government is also encouraging all the councils around the Mar Menor to designate part of a beach designed for canine visitors and their owners.