With the guitar played by the late Narciso Yepes, born into humble circumstances in Lorca (Murcia). You can read more about the late Joaquín Rodrigo here. Fabulous music, fabulously performed.
The garden centre 'Alcayna' close by Mazarron Country Club is now permanently recorded in Google Streetview's mapping of the Mazarrón area. The Google Streetview vehicle also seems to have travelled on the back-road E19 from Mazarrón to La Pinilla. I've no idea when these images were taken - presumably sometime last summer or Autumn, or perhaps even a year or two ago. You can make the images occcupy the whole of your screen by clicking on the small square at top-right of each image, you can also zoom in or rotate the images through a full 360 degrees as well as panning up and down.
Further to my article yesterday about recent developments with the infrastructure necessary for the new airport, the main link on which that article was based no longer functions. I have been unable to find other press articles in the Spanish press about this. Decidedly curious.
This morning, however, I have come across an article in a Spanish-language blog I follow which may shed light on what might be going on. The article concerns a 'legal warning' to the President of the Murcia Region Autonomous Community, Ramon Luis Valcarcel, issued by D. Martín Rodríguez Márquez as a representative of something called "La Asociación Iniciativa Ciudadana y Profesional para la Defensa Jurídica del Litoral" ('Citizens and Professionals Initiative Association for the Legal Defence of the Coastal Area'). The substance of the warning seems to be that the Association had come across press reports indicating that the Murcia Regional Government is going to issue a public guarantee of upto €200 millions in respect of completion of the Corvera Airport development, ultimately benefitting the company developing the project ("Sociedad concesionaria Aeropuerto de Murcia, S.A."). The Association contends that such a guarantee would contravene both the Finance Act and the Law on Public Sector Contracts, together with European Union Directives with regard to the provision of state aid. In addition the Association suggests that the public guarantee is seriously detrimental to the public interest, given the severe budgetary constraints the government is operating under and that it is wrong in principle for a public guarantee to be issued to support a private company. Presumably without this guarantee the early-completion of the Corvera Airport project must be in some doubt.
Previous articles here about the Corvera Airport project:
28 January 2010 - Corvera Airport (Murcia) - aeroplanes could be landing here by summer 2011
7 October 2007 - Corvera airport compulosry purchase notifications published
(Please see UPDATES at end)
The President of the Murcia Region Autonomous Community, Ramon Luis Valcarcel, has 'laid the foundation stone for the access highway to the new airport' (* - The link has been disabled by me because it no longer links to the original article and results in a disabling feedback-loop, perhaps deliberately put in place - see also at end), which will result in the remodelling of two access points at km 161 and km 164 of the A-30 (Albacete-Cartagena) motorway, where large elevated 'glorietas' (roundabouts) will be constructed; as a guide to the location of the new access points, this is only a few kilometres beyond the end-point of the new RM-2 (Alhama de Murcia-Campo de Cartagena) motorway which joins the A-30 motorway at km 171, a useful route for those wishing to travel toll-free from the Mazarrón area to the existing Murcia-San Javier airport (MJV) - my notes on this topic are here. The new access highway will also be integrated with the very recently-opened RM-19 (Mar Menor) highway. The airport access highway will have two lanes with a cycle lane to its left and will be capable of being expanded to three lanes to increase its capacity if required later.
Señor Valcarcel mentioned that the airport Control Tower is already completed and the main terminal building is well-underway. He stated that when it is opened it should be capable of handling about 3 million passengers per year, although this could be increased over time to about 12 million passengers a year within the design specifications. He stated that whilst the current [economic] crisis has slowed ("ha ralentizado") the pace of work on the new airport, they were nevertheless able to take it forward so that it will be completed during this electoral mandate ("hemos sido capaces de continuar adelante y esta importante obra pública se va a hacer en esta legislatura").
* UPDATE - (Friday 29JAN10 12.22 GMT) The main link above, on which this article is based, no longer functions. I have been unable to trace any other Spanish press report discussing this matter. However I have this morning come across an article in a Spanish blog (in Spanish) that may have considerable bearing on this whole issue. The blog article may be viewed here (a rough translation is here), but I will be writing shortly another blog article myself discussing it.
2nd UPDATE - (Friday 29JAN10 13.45 GMT) Please see my later article concerning the issue mentioned in a Spanish-language blog, about the legal warning issued to the Murcia Regional Government. It may be of interest also to read my article a couple of years ago at the time time compulsory purchase orders for the land on which the airport is being built were issued - click here to see it.
Some recent Google searches in this blog for 'Airport directions' have not provided a suitable link and result, because these details are included in my website, although of course the website itself is linked permanently from here (see right column).
The direct link to such airport directions is available in the website by clicking on 'Location' or by clicking here.
Last October a neighbour and I began some landscaping work on the area of rough ground opposite our homes at Mazarron Country Club, basically by having it cleared of weeds, levelled-off and overlaid with a woven weed barrier membrane and then finished off with some gravel for later spot-planting with suitable drought-tolerant plants. However as neither of us lives there permanently, some very kind neighbours who do live there most of the time continued the work in our absences, as many who live in the area know it will improve all our amenities in coming years. My neighbour and another neighbour have also jointly done some more landscaping during a recent visit there and the other neighbours have extended the landscaped area considerably over and above this and have put in a considerable number of plants in the new areas.
My neighbour has just sent me some photographs from his recent visit there and already the whole area is beginning to look so much nicer as a result of all these combined efforts, with the promise that over coming months and years this little corner of our 'urbanisation' will take full advantage of the views over the valley from this area, making it an even more pleasant outlook for all who pass by. I understand that some of the neighbours who live there most of the time have additional ideas for enhancing the amenities of the area and I look forward to seeing these in due course. Meantime here are some photographs taken just a few days ago:
Mazarron Country Club - Thursday 14th January 2010 - The beautification of Manzana 36 continues Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs.      Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs. |
If this wasn't so outrageous it would be funny. Parts of a genuine photograph of a Spanish MP have been used in making a photo-fit 'terrorist alert' poster of Osama bin Laden to show how the terrorist might look now. The US FBI used the most recent photograph of bin Laden that they possess (which dates from 1998) and tried to 'age' it to show what he might look like today. Apparently some FBI technician used parts of a random photograph off of Google as a suitably similar image to what bin Laden might look with 12 years of ageing, without knowing (so they say) whose image it was. Basically the 'swarthy' image they stole for the purpose was that of Spanish MP Gaspar Llamazares, the former leader of the United Left coalition in the Spanish parliament. Understandably Señor Llamazares is both somewhat alarmed and angry, alarmed because he is worried about what might happen should he be travelling to the US in future.
The FBI's action seems pretty irresponsible to me.
Earlier today in Mazarrón saw the the symbolic disemabarkation of the 'Magi' at the fishing port followed by a parade through the town - more information here. Although I am currently far away in the quasi-Arctic wastes of northern Scotland, one of my friends in Mazarrón, Mike Conway, kindly sent me these photographs this evening which he was able to take this afternoon - yes, truly one may say that the internet annihilates distance:
Desembarco de los Reyes Magos en el Puerto Pesquero (Landing of the Magi in the fishing port) Mazarrón (Murcia) - 5th January 2010 Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs.       Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs. |
"A morning of anticipation! This afternoon the Three Kings were arriving! Tomorrow was Christmas day in Spain, but oh dear from our windows we saw only rain! However the coming attraction of the arrival of the Three Kings smiled kindly on the weather and by lunchtime the sun was out. "Crowds of people mostly very exited children gathered in the harbour to await the launch carrying its very important cargo of 3 kings. When they stepped ashore to the sound of fireworks and a band they took their seats on 3 grand thrones atop a lovely decorated float_ behind the Royal guests were other floats with men women & children dressed in fancy dress and behind them were lorries full of sweets and toys that were thrown to the many children along a route through the town. "Tonight the children of Spain will put out their shoes and the 3 Kings will deliver presents to the good or fill naughty children’s shoes with coal." |
The view from my apartment around lunch-time today. The soundtrack in the background by the way is the BBC Scotland lunch-time news on BBC1.
