Trusted News Read By Over 50,000 People Every Week ISSUE 093 - Friday 10th May 2019 South Alicante & Murcia E E Your Weekend Starts Here! R F
BRITISH RAPIST JAILED
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Euthanasia debate splits the country
ROCK BOTTOM GOLDCAR
SPANISH car rental company Goldcar has come bottom of the rankings for the fifth year on the trot in an annual British survey of car hire outlets. Goldcar has over 40 offices in Spain, including at AlicanteElche, Murcia Corvera, and Valencia airports, as well as in Benidorm, Denia, and
by Alex Trelinski
Torrevieja. Unexpected charges, unhelpful or even rude staff, and pressure selling were some of the reasons that Goldcar finished last once again in Which’s annual car hire report. Forty per cent of customers told Which that they definitely
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BRRITISH FATHER AND SON STILL MISSING
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would never consider using Goldcar again, as they experienced problems when hiring from the company, mostly complaining of poor customer service and unjustified credit card charges. Goldcar was actually bought out by Europcar in 2017, but its overall score in the survey has continued to get worse, with Europcar finishing secondbottom. Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor said: “The response over Goldcar is staggering. I don´t think we´ve seen anything like those results before in any survey of any company”. Topping the survey for the best car hire is Canary Island company that got a 97 per cent rating, as opposed to Goldcar scoring just 39 per cent. Of the larger car hire firms, Enterprise and sister firm Alamo are rated highly by car hire customers. Rory Boland said: “One wrong turn at airport arrivals could easily make or break your holiday. Our advice is don’t fall for headline prices and vet your car hire firm “ Which surveyed over two thousand people, whilst Goldcar offered no comment to the story run right across the UK media.
BLUE FLAG AWARDS
ALICANTE Province has once again got the biggest number of blue flag beaches and marinas of any Spanish province, with the 2019 list including three new flags locally. The provincial total stands at 84 flags(71 beaches and 13 marinas) and to get a blue flag, various factors are weighed up like the quality of bathing water; public information and environmental management. Only seven beaches in Spain received blue flags for the first time, with three of them in the region, including Playa L’Espigó in Altea, The newly awarded beach is the third beach of the town to fly the blue flag, along with Playa la Roda and Playa Cap Blanc. The beach was created less than three years ago, in a multi-million euro project, that
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by Alex Trelinski
demolished a salt water lagoon on the northern side of the town. The other regional first time winners were Playa de Marines in Nules and Calas de Rocamar in Pilar de la Horadada, with two flags reinstated at Tabarca Island beach(for the first time since 1991) and at Playa Les Deveses in Denia. Albir retained its blue flag award again, one of only 6 municipalities to have kept the award every single year since the scheme was established more than 30 years ago A trio of beaches however lost the award, namely La Mata in Torrevieja; Playa de las Higuericas in Pilar de la Horadada; and Torrenostra in Torreblanca. Failure to comply with the law of Costas and urban waste water directives
have led to many beaches throughout Spain losing their Blue Flag status. In total, 24 less beaches than last year, achieved the required standards in the whole of the country. In total, 24 less beaches than last year, achieved the required standards in the whole of Spain, with deciding factors in
some cases being the failure to comply with coastal laws and urban waste water directives.
In terms of municipalities, Orihuela has 11 blue flags, only three behind the national leader, Sanxenxo in Galicia. The Murcia region obtained a total of 31 blue flags, the same figure as last year.
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