Marbella's to the Arctic

an amazing fund raising event as six men and two Seat Marbellas attempt to drive all the way from Marbella to the Arctic Circle in just six days!

They set off on Monday from Marbella, complete with a Police escort, for their first overnight stop in Valencia, stopping briefly outside Torrevieja for a quick coffee, chat, stretch of the legs and fuel.

They may have left in bright Costa del Sol sunshine but already they have faced a lightning storm, golf stone sized hailstones, a Porsche Cyanne ‘S’ driver out to prove that his car could indeed drive faster than a ‘Panda’ plus a couple of small but not insurmountable problems regarding air conditioning and wipers. And that was before they even reached me in Torrevieja! Just another six and a half thousand odd miles to go!

It’s all for an excellent cause, raising money awareness of EB across the whole continent, for the DebRA charity who help suffers of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a very rare genetic condition in which the skin and internal body linings blister at the slightest knock or rub, causing painful, open wounds.

From Valencia it was hard slog through the mountains to Monaco; very much ‘Monte Carlo or Bust’ for the little cars to be followed by a long stretch though Italy and Switzerland, into Germany on route to Biedenkopf, home of DebRA Germany, where they have a civic reception arranged with their Lord Mayor. From Biedenkopf, the plan is to head to Denmark then Sweden to the vicinity of Stockholm, to be greeted by Torrevieja’s own, Steve Hall. They hope to arrive at the Arctic Circle in Norway by the 25th / 26th September with two fully functioning, if slightly tired, SEAT Marbella Cars! Not to mention the drivers and crew!

To follow their trials and tribulations or to make a donation, please visithttp://arcticmarbellas.webs.com. They’d love to raise a pound for every one of the 6,703 miles of the trip! Good luck to them from all of us.

A night of Irish Music

Probably only the Irish would celebrate the first Irish Music night six months to the day before St. Paddy’s Day!

It’s short notice but on Thursday 17th September, the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre will play host to two of the area’s most talented folk musicians – Phil Trainor and Bill O’Brien

Bill O’Brian has been gigging around the Costa Blanca for many years now and he has long pedigree in the music business having has toured Europe with Rory Gallagher, played in the Paris Olympia as part of Chuck Berry’s touring band, gigged in the Wembley Arena in a Country Music Festival, formed one of Ireland’s first Punk band in Cork in 1977 and played at more Irish weddings than he can recall!

His first band, however, was an Irish Folk group and it is to this music, the foundation of much of what is good in the best of world music today, that he returns in the company of Phil Trainor. Bill plays guitar, harmonica, bouzouki and (when he can get his hands on one) banjo. He sings a few songs too.

He’s partnered on the night by Belfast lad Phil Trainor, who is a relative newcomer to the music scene. Phil is a multi instrumentalist and Folk music is Phil’s forte; and Irish music in particular. He normally performs as a solo artist and delivers his material with an unplugged feel and a wicked sense of humour.

All proceeds of the gig are to be donated to the charity Esperanza y Vida (Hope and Life), a charity which helps individuals and families recover from addiction – whether that addiction is drug or alcohol related. This is the first time such a concert has been held at the Virgen del Carmen in Torrevieja. A similar St David’s Day celtic themed show was held a few years ago, but this is the first time an Irish Folk music concert has been staged.

Tickets are priced at €5 each and are on sale at the official box office (Taquilla), which is located at the front of the Municipal Theatre, Plaza Miguel Hernández, Torrevieja with the show taking place in the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre at 2000 hrs..

For more information about the gig or tickets, please call Phil Trainor on 678 980 237.

Graffiti workshop planned for Torrevieja

Torrevieja’s Major, Pedro Hernández Mateo, has announced several important measures to stop with the so-called graffiti artists that multiply throughout the city. Hernández Mateo has highlighted, among the measures taken to stop with these paintings, the creation of an anti-graffiti's employment workshop subsidized by the Generalitat Valenciana, which could start working already in the year 2010.

The Torrevieja’s Major has also announced the contracting of a graffiti expert to control and certify the signatures of the graffiti artists throughout the city. For that reason, the Local Police is creating a wide dossier with all paintings in the city. Besides, many forms will be made available for all citizens wishing to report a painting and this way, enabling a record to be held by the council.

The Local Police will create a database which will help them classify every painting by signature, place, approximate repair budget, expert’s validation, condition of painting, etc. The objective of this database will be to sanction with the highest amount those who are identified and arrested for damages.

To date, seven people have been arrested in conjunction with Tagging. These seven have caused at least 10,000 euros of damage between them

Torrevieja Night Club Raids

One of the more unique aspects to policing in Torrevieja is that the Local Police force, who are normally usually only seen on Traffic duty, work closely with the Guardia Civil, as a support team.

Torrevieja’s mayor, Pedro Hernandez Mateo, took over control of the Local Police force during a cabinet shake up before the busy summer season. His personal involvement has pushed forward at least two positive initiatives, the capture of a major graffiti vandal two weeks ago and now major drug crackdowns (no pun intended) throughout the city.

One of the more unique aspects to policing in Torrevieja is that the Local Police force, who are normally usually only seen on Traffic duty, work closely with the Guardia Civil, as a support team. Thus was the case in the very early hours of August 29th, when at 05:20 am, Guardia Civil officers, a drug-sniffer dog, along with eight members of the Local Police of Torrevieja carried out raids on two Night Clubs on Avda. De la Habaneras.

Over a two-hour period, Police interviewed 170 club visitors; carried out two drug seizures, confiscated five illegal knives, discovered more drugs hidden on the premises by their anti-drug dog, identified an underage visitor of only fifteen-years plus ascertained that illegal tobacco sales where taking place.

Of major concern, was the disco area, containing 178 people, whose lives were being put at risk in case of a fire, as the Emergency Exit doors had been illegally padlocked shut with heavy-duty link chain, contravening local and Regional Safety Laws.

The mayor of Torrevieja congratulated the newly appointed Director of the Local Police force and praised the cooperation shown by the Guardia Civil. He also cautioned criminals that drug crime will not be tolerated in Torrevieja, vowed to keep Guardia Civil levels as they are now and warned delinquents that Torrevieja is a City where they are not welcome.

Graffiti - Art or Vandalism?

Graffiti. One word that is bound to provoke discussion no matter where one lives in the Western World.

To many people, Graffiti is not seen as vandalism any more, unless it is done on prohibited locations. One could say that Graffiti has evolved over the years and has taken the shape of an art form.

Torrevieja, with her many unused building plots that have walls and corrugated iron surrounding them, is a prime target for Graffiti Vandals, who do not practice an art form but delight in leaving their ugly moniker, their ‘tag’, all over the city centre and urbanizations. For the last decade, many residents have complained of a lack of commitment from Police to find and prosecute these individuals, even though the Police have had tip-offs from residents as they witness these acts taking place.

Graffiti is a major problem in Torrevieja. It costs taxpayers over 300,000 euros each year for removal and cleaning. Thus, as purse strings are drawn tighter, The Mayor of Torrevieja, Pedro Hernandez Mateo has decided that enough is enough and has stated that delinquents and vandals will be caught and brought to court in a major measure to stamp out this malaise. The council has hired a Graphologist. His team are photographing and logging every location in Torrevieja that has examples of graffiti. They are producing a dossier so that those apprehended can be prosecuted to the highest degree.

A few weeks, Police apprehended one known graffiti vandal with over 20 aerosol paint cans in his possession and evidence that he had recently been using them to deface a building. It is estimated he has caused over 12,000 euros of damage to sites around the city and is awaiting trial.

On Tuesday morning, the BBC’s Breakfast TV program featured the city of Bristol where residents are voting on whether or not some examples of Graffiti Art should be saved and preserved. They concluded that if Graffiti artists where given walls to paint on, then they did not vandalise property around the city. For 2010, Torrevieja’s council are looking at holding workshops for young people about Graffiti and giving them the opportunity to learn more about it as an art form.

The council shall also be introducing a new denuncia (reporting) form to allow residents to notify the police and graphologist of where graffiti is located around the city. Graffiti vandals should be aware that they shall no longer be tolerated in Torrevieja and the law shall come down on you as hard as they are allowed to do so.