Torrevieja lighting plan to save 1.5 million
THIS WEEK Torrevieja’s Mayor Eduardo Dolon announced that he hopes that the City can save upwards of 1.5€ million euros due to better energy efficiency in lighting public street lighting. Accompanied by Councillor for Works and Services, Javier Montoro, he reported that data provided by the team of external auditors that were engaged in December 2012, was very positive and showed that only in the first sector that has been tested, in Sector 9, Los Altos- Los Balcones, the saving on energy consumption totaled 46,194€. Eduardo Dolon explained that the municipality of Torrevieja is divided into ten sectors or areas, which have already had a study done in the last month.
Thus, with the saving measures put into place, the council expects to be able to reduce energy consumption and achieve savings of more than 500,000€ per year in street lighting. The measures that have already been launched in sector 9, include the implementation of astronomical clocks, elimination of duplicate lights, special LED lights that saves over 60% in the early morning hours, as well as the drop in intensity or to turn off the lights in parks and gardens when they are closed to the public.
Javier Montoro emphasized that even with these saving measures in place that the grid will continue maintaining the uniformity of street lighting and at no time, will the street lights be turned off at certain times, as is happening in some other municipalities, to reduce consumption. Montoro noted that the redevelopment of the District of San Roque and New Torrevieja includes the installation of LED type lights, which save up to 60% of energy consumption. The intention of the City of Torrevieja is that over the years, all city streetlights have this type of lighting.
The mayor reported that the audit on energy efficiency will determine the next specification for the award of the new contract for public lighting and municipal buildings in the city of Torrevieja. The Tender will stipulate that energy costs will be assumed by the contractor. It is expected that once the new contract is awarded and with these measures in place, annual savings of 1,500,000€ will be achievable.
Torrevieja currently has a total of 18,000 street lights, and the annual budget for street lighting and the municipal buildings amounts to 3.3 million euros.
MARKET ‘DE LOS HIPPIES
Market makeover
Construction began last week on a hundred wooden cabins that are being erected along the Paseo de la Libertad in readiness for the new tourist season in Torrevieja. The booths are being constructed to accommodate the traditional craft market, known as the ‘Market of the Hippies’ which has operated for many years along this stretch of the sea front, from the Casino to the ‘Man of the Sea’ memorial.
The new booths will allow vendors, many of whom have been trading on the site for over 30 years, protection from the elements for both themselves and their goods. They will allow the traders to operate all year round as well as providing a uniform appearance for all the stalls, one that is in keeping with such a popular tourist attraction.
The traders will all be licensed at a cost of € 1,800 for each booth. They will each have a width of 2.90 meters and a depth of 2.5 meters and be completely secure.
The City Council also intends to place municipal information within the market. The construction of these booths comes on the heels of a new ordinance that will regulate the most important aspects of this activity, such as the type of goods that can be sold and the number of traders that can do business in specific lines.
Come and Join Us
SEEKERS LADIES CLUB Torrevieja meets every other Tuesday, 2pm at Bar Sacko’s, El Limonar. 966 784 033.
TORREVIEJA GOLF SOCIETY 21 JAN 13
At Hacienda Riquelme on 21st January.
We had a good turn out of 34 players for our visit to Hacienda Riquelme on what proved, for the second consecutive week, to be a very blustery day.
The course was in first class condition but in the testing, windy conditions some of the pin placements on the very firm greens were challenging in the extreme and it was difficult to avoid the numerous cavernous bunkers and run off areas which are a feature of this layout. We decided to play a better ball pairs Stableford Competition and only one pair managed a score in excess of 40 points and they were comfortable winners with the minor placings being determined on count back over the last 9 holes. The list of winners on the day were:
1st : John Edwards and Steve Powell with a very creditable 42 points.
2nd : Rod East and Rita East with 39 points.
3rd : Peter Flood and Yvonne Fogelin with 39 points.
Nearest the Pin prizes were won by Geoff Walters, John Mitton, Ian Hamilton and Sonny Edling with the 2’s prize fund being shared by Rita East and Quentin Williams.
In the monthly Captain’s Challenge, the in form duo of Sonny Edling and John Mitton were soundly beaten by the Captain, Dean Charles and the Secretary, Geoff Walters but the latter pairs’ inability to hole out from 3 feet or less prevented them featuring in the main prizes. However the Captain had the considerable consolation that the losers, after the match, made a generous contribution to his Charity Fund.
The football card draw this week was won by Roy Welburn.
Future Fixtures:
Monday 28th January, La Serena, first tee time 10.30.
Monday 4th February, Mar Menor , first tee time 10.30.
Monday 11th February, Font del Llop, first tee time 10.30.
Contact: Geoff Walters, Secretary Tel 966 763 369 or email [email protected]
Why are we always late in Spain?
Hello there everyone,
My name is David Ruiz, the owner and only translator at Torrevieja Translation. I’ve been a member of this forum for about a year. Although I don’t usually publish anything, I read most of the posts.
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“Why are we always late in Spain?” is not a novel. It’s a just an essay about some historical, social and cultural aspects which I, through Spanish eyes, think that determine why we get late in Spain.
The e-book will be finished between the first and second week of February and it’s 100% free!
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http://torreviejatranslation.com
Cheers!
David
Green Corridor in Torrevieja Future Plans Unveiled
The Mayor of Torrevieja Eduardo Dolón accompanied by the councillor for town planning and the environment Francisco Moreno and the city architect Victor Costa presented the outline plans for what will be an ambitious and innovative environmental project in Torrevieja which when completed will provide almost 85 km of footpaths and cycle ways. The idea of the project is to provide increased access around the natural parks of the Torrevieja and La Mata lakes, improved and complete access along the shoreline from the south of Torrevieja to La Mata and better access for pedestrians and cyclists through the town itself to current and future planned green areas such as the sports facilities, the Albentosa Park and eventually la Hoya. Currently there are a few elements of this plan in place but none of them are interconnected, for example along the shoreline which when this section of the green corridor is complete will consist of a continuously accessible 17 km. The same is true of the natural lakes. At the moment there is part access around the lake of La Mata but the intention of the plan is to provide routes around both lakes and join these together. This will provide an unbroken circuit of around 23 km accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
The overall project will be broken down into a number of separate phases involving appropriate construction and the opening and improvement of existing access lanes where necessary. The Mayor said that the project is open to further ideas and participation from the public before the details are completely finalised. When completed the Mayor said the project will give a boost to the resources to attract tourists to the town and at the same time give a clear message about Torrevieja’s commitment to sustainability and the environment.
The Mayor announced that the first part of these plans is for immediate action. This will be the creation of a paseo from the playa de los Naufragos to La Valeta urbanisation and cycle lanes connecting the city centre via calle Bazán and Avenida Delfina Viudes to the planned new market area and the city of sport. Lastly there will be improvements made to the coastal zone at playa del Acequión and also linking playa de los Locos with playa del Cura via Punta Margalla.
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Torrevieja Carnival
The Torrevieja Carnival (el Carnaval de Torrevieja) was first held in 1986 and since then has become a highlight in the city’s calendar, enjoying increasing numbers of attendees each year. Last year the carnival was recognized as a ‘Provincial Festivity of Interest to Tourists’ by the Council of Tourism and Culture, which is an official way of saying ‘a very good party indeed’.
This year the festivities begin on the 18th of January and last until the 8th of February. Within those three weeks, the town plays host to parades, balls and contests, with thousands of Euros in prizes given away.
The carnival gets underway with an opening speech in the Local Theatre and the crowning of the carnival’s queen for the year.
Both young and old get involved with the celebrations. There is both a junior and a senior ball held at Centro Municipal de Ocio on the 22nd and 24th of January respectively.
Having crowned the carnival queen, attention shifts to another kind of queen on the 1st of February. The result of the National Drag Queen Contest is decided; with the winner taking home 1,000 Euros.
The highlight of Torrevieja Carnival is the parades. There’s a real party atmosphere; performers in elaborate costumes dance along the confetti-strewn streets, music blares and kids hand out sweets to the crowd. There are two parades, one on Sunday the 3rd of February and another on the 8th, the last day of the carnival.
Torrevieja Carnival Video http://youtu.be/IqzVr82hET8
The first parade is the Carnival Contest Parade. Here, around 30 troupes compete for prizes in various categories. Contestants go all out with their costumes, with last year seeing Ramón Gallud Street invaded by birds of paradise, centaurs and 50’s gangsters, among others.
The second parade, on the final day of Carnival, is a more informal affair with local residents and families taking centre stage as they bid farewell to the carnival for another year.
Both parades follow the same route between Patricio Pérez Street and María Asunción Square along Ramón Gallud Street, but travel in opposite directions (see map here). There are sure to be big crowds so arrive early to ensure a parking spot for your hire car and a good vantage point along the parade route.
Torrevieja Half Marathon
The Department of Sports Hon. Torrevieja Town Hall, organizes and sponsors the Half Marathon XXX "City of Torrevieja", to be held in the Avenida de la Libertad (promenade) along the Man of the Sea, of the town, on Sunday February 24, 2012, to 10:30 h.
race route
The circuit is approved by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, with a total distance of 21 kilometers and 97 meters, and its entire asphalt surface, and comprising two laps at sea level. Each of the runners will be provided with a chip for those checks.
Torrevieja’s population
TORREVIEJA IS leading the way in terms of population growth in the Valencian Community with its population increasing by 1,739 during 2012 to 107,009. And while talk over the past few years has been about a mass exodus of UK citizens returning home, in fact the opposite is true, as the numbers of citizens from the British Isles continues to increase year by year!
According to the statistics of population and evolution of the Municipality, the city of Torrevieja starts 2013 with a total of 107,009 registered inhabitants, up from 105,270 inhabitants in 2011, of which 53.6% are citizens of foreign origin (57,329 inhabitants) and 46.4% (49,680 people) are Spanish. Thus Torrevieja spends another year as the third largest city in the province of Alicante and the fifth in Valencia, just behind the three provincial capitals (Valencia, Alicante and Castellón) and Elche.
The quick breakdown by country shows that Citizens from the UK account for 13,226 registered inhabitants, Russia (4,474), Germany (4,097), and Sweden (3,196), top the list of foreign countries in the Torrevieja census. The biggest change noted is the significant increase of citizens from Russia, now having taken over the second spot from Germany and behind only UK residents. The data shows a steady increase of those registered from European Union countries but continues to show a continued decline since 2008 of citizens of Hispanic origin, especially from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru and Chile.
With the population growth comes a rise in births and now, of the 49,680 Spanish citizens registered in the city, 22,180 were born in the province of Alicante of which 15,213 were born in Torrevieja itself followed by residents of the Community of Madrid (6,939), Community of Murcia (2,416), Vizcaya (1,096), Asturias (1,031), Leon (789), Valladolid (729), Ciudad Real (717), Jaén (709), Barcelona ( 607), Badajoz (579), Guipúzcoa (552), Albacete (577), Valencia (543), Toledo (535), Salamanca (499) Caceres (484) and Burgos (461).
Back in 2005, Torrevieja only had 2,372 Russian citizens, which had risen to 3,464 by 2010 and stands at 4,474 today, with these figures expected to continue to increase over the coming years. After residents registered from Russia, the major International population is made up from Germany (4,097), Sweden (3,196), Morocco (3,076), Bulgaria (2,788), Romania (2,623), Norway (2,404), Ukraine (2,169) , Belgium (1,591), Finland (1,360), Colombia (1,312), Italy (1,195), Ireland (1,035), China (908), Ecuador (814), Lithuania (752), Brazil (565), Poland (675) , Netherlands (652), Argentina (579) and France (629).