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The musicians of the Emporda Chamber Orchestra of the Empordà will no longer be paid for rehearsals and they will only play concerts. An agreement was signed on Monday that reduces by 70% the working day for a tenth of the orchestra, which will reduce from 40 to 12 hours weekly.

Two negative facts stand out from the crime data of 2011 in Catalonia. Robberies rise 30% and a 50% increase in armed robberies. This is attributable to the increased price of gold and the ease with which thieves can sell it on the black market

The hotels businesses of Catalonia registered in December last more than 1, 6 million bookings, a number that should close 2011 with a new tourist record of 48.029.385 guests, 5.9% more than in 2010, according to the recent data east published Monday last by the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE).

The foreign population in the municipalities of Girona reduced during 2011 by more than 1,000. The economic difficulties in the Spanish State and the high rate of unemployment have meant that many people of sought to return to their country to seek a future. The reduction has been marked in the areas of the Costa Brava

The Tourism Office of the L'Escala received Friday, in the international fair of tourism of Madrid, Fitur, a Quality Award for the services it offers The Secretary of State of Tourism, Isabel Lamb, made the presentation of the quality award for 2011

The Court of Instruction Number 1 of Figueres is investigating a complaint, made by three Madrilenian tourists, alleging a web cam was hidden in the shower of a hotel room in Roses (Alt Empordà). The tourists arrived in August of 2010 and stayed at the hotel San Marcos. When one of them took a shower - after the other two had already done so- a web cam was discovered hidden in the ventilation grate. The camera was hidden with insulating tape. The tourists have alleged invasion of privacy

The Municipal Archives of Roses (the 20 AMR) celebrates the 20th anniversary of its opening during which time it has been given more than 74 archives and collections of documents. This municipal service guarantees the arrangement, conservation and access of the documentary origins of Roses, with both private and public sources. The future plan is to develop the use and application of the new technologies, with the aim of making the service more accessible to the public

The supermarket chain Carefour will not charge VAT on some 4000 products to people over 65 years. The initiative, which start form this Tuesday, will allow savings of between 225 and 250 Euros per year in the average retirees household budget, according to calculations made by the company.

The village of Darnius, in the Alt Emporda, of some 500 inhabitants, has in plan an ecological camping project of more than 100,000 Sq M near to the Boadella lake.. Its' promoters, amongst then the current mayor, that there is not another one is Catalunya nor in the country and defend the appropriateness of the installation to 'energize' the area. It will create jobs for around 80 to 120 and secondary employment for some 150 persons. It will be managed by a family with the objective of using the environment is a respectful manner, it will offer spaces of up to 300 Sq M and 70 bungalows. It will also offer a gymnasium where the machines will instead of using energy, generate it.

Roses is allocating around 9000,000 Euros to social activities and projects. The cut-off for financial requests will be the last day of March.

The Alt Emporda Institute for the Study and Defence of Nature (laeden) organised on Sunday a workshop for the construction of bird boxes with the participation of 25 students who constructed 16 boxes.

This Monday an introductory course to Russian began organized by the Council of Castelló de Empúries directed at service personnel in tourist and commercial establishments. The aim is to equip the groups who are in contact with the visitors with the tools for correct behaviour, with a basic knowledge of the language and some expressions of welcome and courtesy.

The Catalan government had identified as urgent the construction of a new north exit in the AP-7 in Figueres. The Catalan Secretary of Territory, Damià Calvet, has requested a meeting with the Spanish Minister responsible

The City Council of Figueres will pass new legislation to force the telecommunication companies to remove antennas that are in breach of planning regulations.

According to information released by two naturalistic organizations, NINAM and ANG, the Seabird Exploration FZLCC company has asked the Ministry of Environment, Countryside and Sea for permission to undertake a seismic survey in the Mediterranean sea floor in the area of the Cap Creus and the Balearic Islands looking for fields of gas and petroleum

The Partnership of the Memorial Museum of Exilio (MUME) of Portbou, in collaboration with the Democratic Memorial, has held the first session of the Walter Benjamin International Memorial Prize with two categories: help for the creative artistic n, and the acknowledgement of unpublished literary work. The first category will receive 12,000 Euros and the second 6,000 Euros.

On Friday more than a hundred of people attended the plenary session of Figueres called by the organization of patients of the heart, CORFI. The reason: a motion presented by the Popular Party of Figueres (PP) requesting that a prestigious cardiologist of the Hospital of Figueres remained in his post.

The Eco-museum de Castelló d' Empúries received during the year 2011, 11,120 visitors to the museum and in addition, 2421 persons attended the different workshops and conferences that have been held.

The Figueres Council presented the first results of the pilot project ' Smart City' , a technological system that permits real time data collection aimed at improving the management and efficiency of services such as road security, street lighting and cleaning.

The City council of Castelló d' Empúries has sent a warning to the proprietors of moorings of Empuriabrava. The 24th of January will be the anniversary of the publication in the State Government Bulletin (BOE) of the demarcation of Empuriabrava and how the Law of Coasts applies to the channels. Proprietors will lose the ownership of their mooring and that, as a indemnification, they should apply for a 60 year concession.

The increase in Property Tax (IB) approved by the Cabinet on the 30th of December will affect almost all the municipalities of Girona. Of the 221 municipalities, 189 will be affected in this year by the increase. Only 14 city councils, amongst them Olot, Roses, Llagostera or Santa Cristina d' Hoop, will be exempt from the increase having made the valuation revision in the real estate boom years.

The strong winds experienced on Thursday last, the afternoon of Kings, caused the wind mill that had been installed in June to fall and finish up in the tiled roof of the new building of Ca l' Anita de Roses. The incident, that caused no personal injuries, caused the area to be zoned off to avoid any further accidents.

The Theatre Jardi de Figueres will feature on 13th January next the ballet “Swan Lake” interpreted by the Russian National Ballet Theatre of Moscow. The performance will begin at 9 PM and the admission prices will vary from 24€ to 30€.

The federation of ERC Alt Empordà is pressing for a communal response to the fight against the elimination of the level crossings and the status of the station at Figueres

Bad numbers in the occupancy rates in the Girona area. According to the Federation of Hotel Traders of Girona, the occupancy figures during the fifteen days of Christmas vacations did not surpass 50 percent

Some long line fishing boats have moved further afield in recent months towards the fishing-grounds of Italy looking for more fish and consequently more rewards According to the Mayor of Roses and President of the Federation of Gerona Fishermen, Antoni Abbot, one from Roses, one from Puerta de la Selva and another one from L'Escala have taken seasonal decision that will allow them to harvest more product for sale at the home port

The Costa Brava is one of the places in Europe where the practice of kite surfing is more widespread. A group of fans to the sport of Girona has created the company Insolit Boards dedicated to the production of 100% organic handmade wooden boards. For decades wood was basis of the product but fibre replaced it in the 1960s. Now, however, these young people espouse that wood is more durable, ecological and suitable for the practice of kite surfing. In addition, the consumer can choose the characteristics of his board

The magic of the festival of Kings will help the bakers through “The Crisis”with an anticipated consumption in Catalonia of 850,000 “Kings Cakes”, the same amount as last year. Although it is expected that the families will purchase in line with their needs, the bakers Union believes that nobody will sacrifice this celebration with the “Kings Cakes”. In order to support the consumption in the present economic environments, the pastry shops have frozen the prices for the third consecutive year and the families will spend, on average, about 24 Euros. As regards the preferred choice of filling the traditional marzipan is loosing ground to ones filled with “creme anglais” , chocolate truffle or cream

The unemployment data for the month of December made public this Tuesday although showing a slight drop for the whole of Catalonia has revealed an increase in the Alt Empordà. The actual number is 11,306 persons, 129 more than in the month of December

The Catalan leisure sector invoiced a year end figure 5.5% more than year end of 2010 as a result of the modification of the rules for night opening hours. The new Order of Schedules allows half an hour later closing for music bars and 45 minutes for discotheques.

The mayor of Figueres, Santi Vila (CiU), has confirmed in an interview in Girona Radio that, according to information from officious sources, there is doubt regarding the opening date of the new jail at Puig Basses.

The commerce of Cadaqués and the Portús have joined the Axis Empordà. The Federation Axis Empordà continues growing and last week the commercial groupings of the Portús and Cadaqués have joined the association. The formalization in the agreement was carried out during the presentation of the platform ' emporda'. The Axis Empordà was formed the 20 of April 2011 and at that time comprised the associations of retailers of Figueres, Roses, Empuriabrava, L' Escala and Llançà. Later Puerto de la Selva and the Association of the Hoteliers of the Alt Empordà were added.

Cadaqués has pre announced the return of film projections on the 7th January in the historical theatre of Art and Jewellery. It has in its' one hundred year existence had different uses, from cinema, theatre, dance hall and art centre under the management of the former secretary of Dalí, John Peter Moore and his wife, Catherine Perrot. In order to be able to offer sessions it will have to acquire projection equipment which will be purchased with the money raised through the sale of a picture from the artist Ramon Moscardó who has yielded to the town hall

The Council of Tourism of the Spanish Confederation of Enterprise Organizations (Ceoe) has last Monday described as the new tourist tax that the Catalan Government wishes to levy in Catalonia as “needless” and opposes it on the same basis as the guest house sector which states it will damage the competitiveness of the sector

The hospitals of Palamós and of Figueres are establishing a strategic alliance to share services due to the economic crisis. The project is one of organization and management which will focus on the optimization of resources in the area of computer science services , harnessing and developing the business knowledge and adapting it to the real needs of our centres and of our territory.

Three of the four opposition groups on the City council of Llançà (ICV, Union llançanenc and the PSC) have criticized the constant increases in property taxes (IBI). The City Council will reduce it by 0.1% but the future changes will mean that it will continue to rise. The councilman of the PSC, Francesc Guisset, calculates the increase from 2006 to today as 10% and says that it is the municipality that is having to pay for bad management.

The City council of L'Escala will mark the local urban furniture with synthetic DNA as a deterrent to possible robberies. This is an innovative system that permits quick identification of any recovered objects. The City council of L' Escala is first in using this marking, that already has been trialled in Llançà, Figueres, the Jonquera, Castellón and Olot. In fact the State data base was operational last month.

The Mossos d' Esquadra caught 41 trucks speeding on the N-II in the direction to Bàscara (Alt Empordà) the 15th December, when they set up a police control, as well as a car travelling at 141 km/h. The permitted speed for trucks in all the highway N-II, where the carriage way is not divided is 80 kilometres per hour and for cars and motorcycles it is 100 kilometres per hour

During Gariguella's main festival, in the Zapatero Hurto room, an exhibition entitled “ Faces of the World” featuring photographic work from the Catalan artist Merece Pons, a Menorcan resident, will be open for visitors.

The Celler Espelt Oak Barrel room at Vilajuiga – where the vintage wines are drawn – will be the scene next Friday - 16th of December – from 9 til midnight of a new meeting in the Empordian winery. On this occasion the reason for the celebration is the now traditional Christmas Concert which has been celebrated in this unusual location for the last five years.

The AVE Madrid – Barcelona – French border will arrive at Girona and join the city with the other Catalan capital cities at the end of 2012. This was stated by the Councillor for “Territorio y Sostenibilidad” Lluis Recoder in an interview with Europa Press.

A strike by Iberian airline pilots will take place on the 18th and 29th of December according to a SEPLA spokesman, the union which represent the pilots, in a press statement releases this last Wednesday

In an interview with Emporda Weekly, the Mayor of Cadaques, Joan Figueras, admitted that the council had not collected “IBI” for the last 4 year from the majority of residents. Figueras was insistent when he stressed that “we are certain that everyone will pay what the y owe” The first remittance of receipts is for 430,000 euros

Figueres is moving forward with its' negotiations with the public company Tabasa. The negotiations are for the construction of the “Ronda Norte” which will include a tunnel under the San Fernando castle, which will be a toll section.

The number of property transactions fell by 11% in October, when compared to the past year. In total of 2,981 homes changed hands, 373 less than October 2010, according on the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE)

From this Tuesday until Friday the 16 December, DipSalut plans to install 17 defibrillator in more than 10 municipalities. The areas are Peralada, Vilamalla, Sant Per Pescador, Albons and Verges that will have them starting from now. All the municipalities will have 2 of these apparatus ( normally located in sports centres, medical centres and public building like the Town Hall) except in Albons that will only install one.

As a consequence of the economic situation the Red Cross organisation of Figueres is planning to distribute toys to more than 300 families on Epiphany (Night of the Kings) . This Saturday the organisation will be collecting the Christmas products from its' supporting supermarkets and on the 22nd will make the traditional collection of toys in the “Plaza de Catalunya” in the Alt Emporda capital.

The Emporda is seeking World Heritage status. Figueres has announced that it will work to gain the recognition for the Dalinario triangle, by Unseco ,of its world wide partrimony

The Christmas Kitchen Master of L'Escala begins its' 17th showing from this Monday. During 3 days some 20 dishes will be demonstrated and there will be a discussion on how to save money in these times of crisis, given by the guest chef, Lola Puig of El Fort d'Ullastret.

The President of the Catalan Autonomous Government, Artur Mas, stated this past Monday that tourism is "the driving force for the economic march of the country" in as much as the sector leads and is an exception during the past few years of economic crisis..

Fourteen restaurants from Roses will participate in the gastrocultural fair as part of the City Council Tourist Embassies project, being held in Solingen, in Germany. This is the city selected for a pilot test of the promotional week of gastronomy and culture from the 19th to 26th March

The Cap Crues Natural Park has won the prize of " Good Practices of Conservation in Natural Spaces Protect-edition 2011" , for environmental restoration project in zone of S' Agulla-Se Camello, in the area of Tudela, previously known as Club Mediteranee. The prize acknowledges the results that EUROPARC-Spain and the Foundation Fernando González Bernáldez achieved with the support of the Foundation Biodiversity to improve the effectiveness in the management of the protected natural spaces.

The Figueres Town Council is in the throes of finalizing the installation of the Christmas Lights with a pioneering new approach, a first for Catalonia. This year the lights will be inset in panels installed on the facades of the city buildings. This is a new solution devised by the council engineers which will permit the Town Council to save money in the awarding of the installation contract, increase the security of the lights and improve the appearance of the facades and the streets

In one of the few occasions that can be remembered The Alt Emporda has come together to ask that the Catalan Government look again at the separation of the N 11 carriageways.

Figueres is offering to put 72 houses into controlled rent status .From 1st December to the 20th January 2012 requests for inclusion can be made. The properties are offered at low prices, from about 140 Euros

The President of the Local Council of the Alt Emporda and the President of the Regulating Council of the Denomination of Origin (DO) Emporda have signed an agreement by which both organisations will closely collaborate in benefiting from a study on the promotion of wine tourism throughout the EmpordaThe Consumer Price Index was set in November at an annual rate of 2.9%, one tenth less than in the previous month, according to the early indicators on the evolution of prices published Spain this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Demonstrations in Perthus against cross-border prostitution. Five hundred people have protested this morning in the Perthus, in the North of Catalonia, against prostitution. The demonstrators cut the main through route of the locality in a protest for the defence of women's rights and for a world without prostitution.

The recent rains have accounted for more than half of the years' total. The precipitations during this period have been especially important in the coast and the coastal areas.

The fourth edition of Catalonian wine guide, that will go on sale this Thursday, will include 1,600 wines of from 370 bodegas, a 10% increase over last year. Jordi Alcover and Sílvia Naranjo, the authors of the book have published it with the intention of creating increased public awareness and Catalan know ledge about their own wines. According to the authors, it is only wine guide that allows one to “taste blind”and where factors apart from the wine itself are taken into account. For the first time, the guide includes a section dedicated 72 beers For Alcover and Naranjo, beer is a drink that is also of interest to the wine drinker

Family doctors will have to deal with specialities that until now have resulted in a referral. This change will be made possible with the use of clinical guides produced the centres of excellence in a speciality or through the medium of of tele-consultations (telephone, email or ' webcam' for example) to consultants.

This Thursday the 24th the award of the prize “Wiki Loves Monuments 2011” prize will take place in the Vigatà of the Palau Moja in Barcelona. This is a European wide photographic contest with the aim of photographing and recording all the monuments the cultural heritage of Europe. Amongst the finalists, three images of the region of the Alt Emporda: the Church of the Castle of San Fernando of Figueres, Castle of Llers and Castle of Verdera.

The Catalonia Square of Figueres hosted the Food Fair of North Catalonia on the 26th and 27th of November. Fourteen French producers offered cheeses, wines, pates and jams, among others products. Next spring products of the Alt Emporda will be promoted in Perpignan

The number of outdoor swimming pools, municipal basketball courts, pavilions and football grounds in the province of Girona grew greatly in the boom years At present, there are 6,283 sport facilities in the Girona region, thousands of which are council property the majority of which have to be managed.

The City Council of Figueres wants to install a second photoelectric canopy, although of smaller dimension, in the running track of the old city pavilion.

The Government anticipates that the electrical connection of 132 kV between Girona, Olot and Figueres that will assure the continued supply and increased capacity will be finished in 2015.

The Rosas Council Tourist Department has begun a project entitled “Rosas, Mediterranean beach of .......your city”, which will develop promotional and loyalty building programmes with European cities of similar profiles that should result in increased conversion opportunities of tourism business for Rosas. The project began with a pilot test in the German city of Solingen, which following initial meetings, has shown a significant interest in the initiative.

Saturday last the Hotel Terraza in Rosas began the first of the Autumn -Winter gastronomic activities with a day dedicated to the new wine harvest in the Mas d'en Coll centre in Rosas. The day activities began in the morning with a visit to the new oenology (science of wine making) centre Mas d'en Coll, of Celler Espelt, followed by the opening of wine casks with the new harvest that the attendees could taste.

The young Figueres artist Albert Llobet, has today opened an exhibition of his recent works in the Art Room of Celler Espelt in Vilajuiga, most of which are large scale, being a collection of abstract work in the acrylic technique.

The fishermen are fighting for the right to carry tourists on-board in spite of the Ministry of Shipping prohibiting the carriage of visitors on fishing boats. The Geronan fishermen see this sustainable tourism as an opportunity to increase their earnings in a time of crisis and at the same time increase awareness of their work.. So far the results of the trials have been positive but the Ministry is impeding the presence of tourists on fishing boats that are at sea to work.

A hiker was injured at midday this Monday after falling near the reservoir of Boadella in the municipality of Darnius, Alt Emporda.

The Government of Catalonia has banned for 3 months the use of the “cerco” nets. The Fisherman's' Guild of Gerona, as well as those of Barcelona and Tarragona have accepted the implementation of this measure.

The organisation “Facua” has published a range of measures to protect the recipients of unsolicited emails . The guide - “Spam - what it is and how to deal with it” – offers information about the techniques used by the originators of unsolicited email, recommendations on avoiding it and the processes that exist for those affected to complain. The consumer guide is available on the web site of the association (http://guias.facua.org) where earlier editions can also be accessed.

The Mosses d'Esquadra detained 134 copper and scrap thieves in the Geronan counties in the past year. The “crisis” and the increase in the price of metal have meant that , since the summer of 2010, these crimes have become a a real headache for the police, not least because the thefts have left entire villages without telephone service for days.

A steam train is once again connecting Figueres and Portbou. The test run was a success and carried some 200 people but had to leave behind a number of passengers as there was not sufficient space on the train.

In the last 6 months the Mosses d' Esquadra and local police have made 286 cautions and 27 arrests as well as stopping 600 people and searching 88 vehicles in the entertainment areas of Alt Emporda.

Castello d'Empuries has detected that one of the palm tress in the area of Moxo de Empuriabrava has been damaged by the presence of the “escarabajo picudo (snout beetle), an plague insect that kills palm trees. The municipal tree specialists are making an immediate visual inspection in the area to find new cases and give advice to the owners of land wherever palm trees are growing.

The strong storm that affected a large part of Catalonia during the last 24 hours saw water levels of between 60 and 100 litres per square metre in many parts of the Pyrenees and the north east of the country. Information from the meteorological stations of the SMC , highlights the 99.5 litres at Espolla (Alt Emporda) , the 92 litres at Fornells de la Selva (Girona), the 69.7 litres at Portbou (Alt Emporda) and the 68.8 litres at La Tallada (Girona). At the same time, the Pyrenean peaks saw the biggest snowfall of the autumn with depths of greater than 10 centimetres above 2,200 M.

Mollet de Peralada hopes to serve up a “ton of bacalao” (salt cod) during the 2nd year of the festival dedicated to the product but with a subsection with the arts as its' theme. Bacalao producers and artists will share the Festival of Bacalao and Arts which will take place on 13th November in the centre of the town with the participation of 4 producers of “bacalao”, 3 wine producers and other suppliers of food and crafts. During the festival they will offer for 5 Euros, 8 food samples and a glass of wine. Some 800 servings are expected. In the 1st year of the festival 2,000 people visited Mollet de Peralada. The art aspect of the festival will be supported by the “Asociacion Cultural Proyecto Desat'Art”. It is expected that around 20 young painters will be exhibiting at the festival which will be enlivened with lectures, puppet shows and bouncy castles for the children.

Medicos de Catalonia (MC) has called a 2 days strike for the 15th and 16th of November in protest against the health cuts and to urge for the restoration of the budget and the social services of 2010. The union alleges that the Government is planning a cut of 4.8% for the 2012 health budget which will be added to the 10% planned for this year. They consider this new cut “unacceptable”.The strike is the first since 2006.

The Town Council of Roses has decided to retain an architect for the newly created post as “Head of Area Urbanistica y Territoria”. The task is to prepare plans for diverse areas that have been awaiting development for more than 25 years in readiness for the recovery of the economy and construction sector. In addition the work will address the planned commercial area at the start of the road to Cadaques

The Mossos d'Esquadra have discovered in La Jonquera a store of more than 15000 items of fake designer clothing and 14,600 counterfeit Euro notes.

The Town Hall of Castello d'Empuries wants to conduct a census of apartment occupants to avoid the possibility of public order problems. This was made public by an official in the office of the Mayor Jose Manuel Gallego in an interview published today in the Emporda, a monthly publication dedicated to the municipality. Gallego says that the council knows that “there are many over occupied apartments and that the legal process is sometimes very slow and that there is a risk of creating public order problems”

September saw the start of works to improve the environment of the river Muga in the town of Sant Llorenç de la Muga The works cover a stretch of 1600M and will involve an area of 5.8Hecares of riverbank vegetation improvement. The objective of the current project is to cut back the indigenous high riverbank growth to allow the recovery of its' natural species as well as reduce the risk of flooding, the retention of fallen tree trunks and to slow down the erosion in this part of the river .

The Mossos d'Esquadra of Figueres Police department detained on 26th October last in Figueres 2 men, Spanish nationals, as suspected authors of 6 robberies with force against persons in their homes in Llança

The rainfall recorded in recent days in Catalonia has not resulted in a improvement in the water levels of the reservoirs which even show a reduction of 4 points with respect to the levels of 2 weeks ago down to 55.9% of overall capacity. The rainfall in the recent days has not translated into an increase since after two months of almost no rain the dry ground absorbed the greater part leaving little for the lakes. The sources of the river Ter - Boadella, Sau and Susqueda – holding 346 cubic hectares – are at 75.3% of capacity .

A report by the accountant of the Roses Town Council concludes that the project for the supply and installation of furniture in the council chambers brought about by the increase in the number of councillors and undertaken by the previous administration did not followed the correct process. The cost of the works soared to 95,275.78 Euros.

Portbou want to be the beach for Figueres. The Mayor Josep Lluis Salas beli eves that the locality of Portbou is the best option for going to the beach for those that decide to go by train.

Some 300 cardiac patients of Figueres have called for the retention of Doctor Paz. The president of the Altampurdian Association for the Help and Prevention of Cardiac Problems – COR-FI, Carlos Corral, has written to the Mayor of Figueres and the President of the Board of Trustees of the Emporda Health Foundation, Santi Vila, to seek their help in avoiding that the renowned hospital cardiologist, Marco Antonia Paz is left with no choice but to leave.

The overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodation , for example, apartments, camping and rural guest houses, increased in September by 10.5% with respect to the recorded data for the previous year. The actual figures were 9.8 million nights booked for September throughout Spain in spite of the fact that the durations of stay were a littler shorter.

A German army helicopter made a supposed emergency landing yesterday morning in a parking area of the industrial zone of Vila-sacra. According to police sources, the apparatus had suffered some type of breakdown and had to put down in this area until it could be repaired and take-off. In spite of attempts to elicit more information about the origin and destination of the convoy , neither the German consulate nor the ministries could add more information to the circumstances that had led to the unplanned stop in this out of the way location.

Renovation of the former hospital site of the Sant Ferran Castle in Figueres. The idea is to restore the main components of the building such that the fortified space may be opened to the public .

This Monday the population of the earth will reach 7,000 million, according to calculations made by the United Nation Population Fund.. During the last 50 years the world has seen a spectacular growth rising from 3,000 million in 1960 to the current 7,000.

Roberto Sancho, of Club Matxacuca was the winner of the first mountain race of the Tramun-trail, which took place this Sunday, with a large participation of some 240 entrants, receiving a very positive assessment on the part of the runners.. Sancho finished the 21,907 metres of the course in a time of 1H.39M.28S with a comfortable margin over the second placed competitor Trafa Canizares of TR Racing who finished in 1h 41M 5S. The first l'Escala to arrive was Jaime Aguilera – sixth in the group – with a time of 1H 48M 22S

The Town Council of Figueres has decided to ask the Government of Catalonia to bestow the status of “Tourist City” with the objective of liberalising the trading hours to allow all day opening throughout the year. This initiative has the support of the Figueres Commerce Association and would apply to the historic centre and commercial areas of the town It would include the area of the Dali Museum to benefit from the million visitors that gravitate to the Dali area each year.

A large tourist complex in the Dominican Republic is taking its' inspiration from Cadaques and the Mediterranean architecture. The 40 million dollar investment project in Bayahibe to construct a complex with a Mediterranean theme is already in progress.

The superb weather which lasted for practically the whole month of September has borne fruit. The occupancy rates in the Hotels of Gerona were 1,356,088 , surpassing those of September 2010 by 6.3%. The growth in occupancy rates was in both foreign and native clients with the latter being the largest percentage.

The area of Riuet de L'Escala has been the subject of a complete restructure of the traffic circulation with t he objective of increasing road safety especially at the crossroads and roundabout of Sant Pere de Pescador ( the road to the camp sites)

The Town Council of Roses approved last Friday by unanimous deci sion to request from the Director General of Land Registry the beginning of the process to revise the Property Taxes of the town with the objective , according the the council team, of reducing the property taxes that the citizens are faced with each year.

The Town Council of Castello d'Empuries is trying to persuade the operating company of the Empuriabrava marina and the Government that it should be allowed to participate in the management of the 23 kilometres of canals. The objective is to influence where the financial investments should be made for the infrastructure improvements. For the Mayor, Xavier Sanllehi, the canals are viewed as streets and it is unthinkable that the streets would be privately managed.

Llança and Albanya will celebrate this weekend the mushroom season. Even though this year has been poor for collecting mushrooms the two communities have organised an event this Saturday.

This Monday the Parks and Gardens Services Department of Castelló 200 will begin the pruning of 4000 trees in the municipality. The work will start at the entrance to Empuriabrava at the Avenida Tramuntana and continue through to the commercial areas of Sant Mori and Moxo

Roses will be increasing taxes by an average of 2.1%. The Council will reduce the IBI by 0.5% but will raise by 1% the property tax.

The Roses Police department responded to 3,854 calls during 2010 including 62 arrests, 1,752 breakdown recoveries and attended 328 accidents. These are some of the facts made known yesterday during the ceremony held in the Teatro which showed the appreciation for the hard work undertaken. The cooperation between the various police and emergency services was emphasised.

The Town Council of Figueres will award the “Motel i l´Asil Vilallonga” with the “Silver Fig Leaf of Merit” one of the most important honours the city can bestow.

The private security in the area of L'Armentera together with the police presence have put an end to the theft of fruit in the orchards of the Emporda

“ The weather has gone mad”. These words , referring to the unusual weather conditions, are being used more than ever. If the past July was the wettest recorded in Girona since 1884, this October has the the data to make it the driest since 1911. During the first fortnight of October, Girona has only received rainfall measuring 0.1L/M2

The Town Hall of Figueres will raise some municipal taxes, for example rubbish disposal, to 5% next year.

The number of properties sold in August in the county of Giona reached around 565 which shows a fall of 26.72% in comparison to the same month of last year.

Some 2,114 businesses in the Girona county received tax demands in the first 6 months of the year. This shows a fall of 25% with respect to the same 6 month period of 2010. Notwithstanding the decrease of the tax payers, Girona is the Catalan county with the highest default rate.

The employers of the private sector together with the “Union Catalana de Hospitales” has called for the introduction of a health payment system together with a review of the public services in order that only essentials services should be free thereby achieving a sustainable health system

Urban development in Sant Pere Pescadaor.. The initial agreement envisages the possible construction of 61 properties close to the river Fluvia

A total of 17 restaurants in l'Escala participated in this years' 17th Gastronomic Days of fish “Suquet”resulting in 17 different tasting menus in which this traditional dish is the main attraction. Prices varied from 27.50 euros to 48 euros with very different offerings

A total of 6,233 specimens of baby eels were set free last Friday in the river basins of the Ter, the Daro and the Muga with the objective of repopulating the area. This is the 3rd release this year.

Around a thousand cyclists inaugurated, this past Sunday, the new path that borders the Muga river between San Llorenç and Empuriabrava. The route had been promoted by the Regional Council of the Alt Emporda and funded by the Ministry of the Environment.

The inaugural ride welcomed cycling fans and visitors from throughout the county, in a day marked by the beautiful weather and enthusiasm to explore the route. Some problems with route signage, soon to be resolved, did not mar the overall satisfaction with the venture.

The Town Council of Roses has notified the Port Director of its´objection to the proposed installation of dry docks in the port, as previewed in the management plan presented to the Government in 2010.

The sole farmer of a herd of cows in the Albera is threatening to put down the 300 animals if the Government does not pay a subsidy immediately. The local Council consideres that the animal is endemic to the Albera and must be preserved for its´ high environemental value.

The Exhibition Center of the Regional Council of Alt Emporda is hosting, from the 4th till the 14th of October, the exhibition “A Bygone Time – Grandma´s Larder” which traces the development of the packaging and advertising of everyday consumer products from the 20th Century.

It is supported with facts and figures from businesses of Figueres. The exhibition is open from 8 AM. until 8 PM., Monday through Friday.

Figueres is losing 60,00 euros of assistance for the electric bus. Councillor Pere Casellas (PSC) is accusing the Mayor of ´´ deliberately lying´´ in not admitting that the funds will not be received.

A large number of people spent Sunday last at the Anchovy Festival in L´Escala., which excelled its´ratings in this 21st year. This popular tasting event had filled the area of la Riba, where the “Habaneras “ singing event also took place and the good weather brought many people to the beach. For this years event some 4000 anchovy snacks had been prepared comprising tomato bread with 3 fillets and a glass of wine

The Mayor of Castello d'Empuries, Xavier Sanllehi, announced yesterday that there would be more job losses in order to balance the grave economic situation however he was looking for ways to avoid this

The Town Council of Roses has approved the replacement of street lighting in the stretch of promenade between the Calle Bernat Metge and the Quebrada , work that it is hoped will put an end to the deteriorating state of the majority of lamps and their poor light output.

The covering of the unused canals of Santa Margarita in order to create parking for buses is one of the plans that the municipal government of Roses has in its' agenda in the coming months.

The Vice- President of the Government and President of the “ Memorial Democratic”, Joan Ortega, presided at last Sunday's traditional tribute in Portbou cemetery to Walter Benjamin on the 71st anniversary of his death whilst fleeing from Nazism.

A hundred parents and students of the “CEIP Montserrat Vayreda of Roses” took to the streets yesterday calling for the immediate construction of the school after 7 years in temporary buildings.

The International Day of Tourism in the Girona region took place against the background of the economic crisis but with a clear concern – the lack of agreement between Ryanair and the Government and the consequences for the tourism sector due to the reduction in flights.

In L' Escala Municipal Health Council meeting that took place last Thursday the Director of Primary Health Care, Jordi Roca, confirmed that the services of CAP will continue as now without change to the emergency night service.

The Mayor of Fugueres, Santi Vila, particpated last Thursday in the inauguration of the Salvador Dali gardens in Marignane (France)

The Rotary Club of Roses, during a dinner last Thursday at the Hotel Risech, handed over a cheque for 2000 Euros to “Caritas Parroquial of Roses” (Church Carers), the money having been raised by the activities of Rotary Circles in the past year.

Figueres enters the Magical World of Tim Burton. An exhibition at the Museum of Toys will feature a selection of poems, drawings and photographs of the US citizen. Offering a window into the personal world of Tim Burton, the Figueres Toy Museum commenced yesterday with the showing of “The Sad Death of Oyster Boy”which one can see until the 1st of November

On this Friday the public school of “Empuries de L'Escala” began celebrating its' 75th anniversary . In front of the students an banner was uncovered which showed two images of the building from 1936 and the slogan – “75 years of schooling”

Castelló activities in the fitness parks, the actual dates will be 23rd and 30th of September and Friday the 14th Octuber 2011.

The President of the Association of Girona Doctors (COMG), Benjamin Pallerés, gave a warning this Friday the the doctors of the province will find themselves “stretched to the limit” directly and indirectly as a a result of the health cuts

The commercial centres of Eroski and Carrefour are both building petrol stations on their sites. This is of concern to the operators of other stations who fear a price war will restrict their operations.

For another year, The Friends of the “Castillo de San Fernando” have organised, for this Sunday, a day of tidying up in the paths and surroundings of the castle.

The “Ecomuseo Farinera de Castello d´Empuries” (flourmill-museum)is offering new ideas for its´ courses.

It will increase the range of workshops with a new one “ We are what we eat ” This objective is that primary schools students should acquire healthy eating habits, an area that the current Catalan education system is working hard on given the cases of obesity or bolemia found in very young children.

The Mayor of Figueres, Sant Vila, accompanied Lola Pacreu to her birthday party this Friday morning in ·”el Asilo Vilallonga”. Pacreu, born in 1904, now aged 107, is the oldest resident of Figueres.

The electric solar panels above the “Plaza de Cataluña de Figueres” is now connected to the low voltage distribution network. After waiting for approval for some weeks, from midday today the 576 panels are supplying electricity to the network

The banking group “la Caixa”, the government of Cataluña and the Town Hall of Vilajúiga have finalised the second phase of the project for the “Parque Agricola” and the “Piedra Seca de Comes Tortes” The project is an initiative of the Vilajúiga Town Hall to return to its natural state the “Comes Tortes”, a mountainous area of the municipality inside the “Parque Natural de Cap de Creus”

“Nace Pirinexus”, is a new circular cylce path that will join the Gironan pyrenees with northern Cataluña “. The project will create a cross border route of 36 kilometres for cyclists.

The Catalan Parliament has approved the construction of a new police station in La Jonquera.

The beaches of Girona province have recorded 8.071 calls for medical emergencies so far this year, 8.3% fewer than last year. Of that tota1 l693 were for jelly fish stings, down 8% from last year, and rescues remained at the same level with 37 reccorded this year.

Last week Figueres held the 27th Wine Fair of DO Emporda, with some thirty vendors though without the presence of the Cocina del Viento collective.

In the first eight months of this year the Dali Museums in Figueres, Cadaques, and Pubol registered more than a million visitors, specifically 1,062,218 people visited at least one of the four museums. This figure represents an increase of 9.3% over last year. The Gala Dali castle in Pubol in the Baix Emporda had an increase of 22.12%, the Dali Jewels in Figueres had a 21.4% increase, The Dali Theatre Museum in Figueres had an increase of 5.55 and the Salvador Dali House at Portlligat had in increase of 3.5%.

Artur Mas, president of the catalan government, has reaffirmed that the MAT and electric connection with France will be ready in four years. Mas highlighted the importance of energy interconnection between Catalunya and the rest of Europe via France.

The continuous control of the Guarda Civil at the La Jonquera border has stopped the entry of immature fish and seafood through the border, according to data released by that agency. The numbers confirm a 90% percent decline in the number of transports, primarily of inferior quality clams and hake originating from Italy.

The Council of the Comarca of Alt Emporda convened the sixteenth edition of the Photography Contest of the Patrimony of the Alt Emporda, a cultural iniciative that with the passage of time has become one of the Photography Contests of the Girona provinces with highest participation. This year the theme of the competition is wine and olives.

According to the president of the Association of Experts of Tourism and Lodging, the poor meterological conditions last month resulted in a 5 to 7 percent decline in hotel occupancy rates. Official data is not available, but the first estimates suggest hotel occupancy rates in Girona province of around 50 percent. The hotel industry hopes the numbers improve in August and that they won´t be affected by bad weather like that of July which is recognized as one of the coldest and rainiest months of July in recent years.

Anyone interested in participating in the traditional Travesías de Natación de Rosas can sign up until the 12th of August at the Municipal Swimming Pool of Roses. The Travesias will be held this year on the 14th and 15th of August. The 300,000 muslims who reside in Cataluña began the holy month of Ramadan last Monday, the 1st of August.

The multifaceted singer and actress Lidia Pujol and guitarist and composer Costa 59 are the opening artists at the Gastromusical festival that fuses music and gastronomy . The festival, which opened on the 2nd of August, is held for the fifth consecutive year at the restaurant el Molí de l'Escala.

The campsites of the province of Girona predict that they will reach 100% occupancy rates beginning the 15th of July and will remain full until the middle of August. The sector is confident that with family tourism and the stagnation of arab markets they will be able to close the season at least at the same levels as the year 2010. The City Hall of Castelló d'Empúries has discovered an old water well of the Muga that dates back to the year 1927. The discovery was made during the work being undertaken in the area of Rincón del Sinofós to move electric and to bury underground the cables that traverse the Muga. .

Colera has debuted a new paseo after forty years without a walkway on its litoral front. Construction is finished and the only thing remaining to complete the maritime facade is landscaping in some areas. In the area where the old hostal was demolished there is work being done to strengthen the mountain and adapt some stairs to integrated lookout points.

With ten years behind it, the festival Acústica de Figueres has a good pretext this year to offer something special. To celebrate its tenth anniversary the festival will tiene este año un buen pretexto para ofrecer algo especial. La celebración de una década de certamen se hará con el concierto colectivo 'Salvador Dalí canta',

The sanctuary of la Mare de Déu del Mont, 900 meters in height, is a strategic point for viewing forest fires in Girona province and especially for three comarcas of Alt Empordà, Pla de l'Estany and la Garrotxa. These last two areas depend solely on this lookout point now that Rocacorba is no longer open. In the last 5 years the Departament of the Interior has closed nearly half of the 18 viewpoints that there were in the Girona comarcas, alleging that, among other reasons, in the more populated zones the points have lost effectiveness because the inhabitants can now alert authorities of possible fires by mobile phone.

The Mossos d'Esquadra and the Local Police of Castelló d'Empúries have put a halt to some twenty vendors at the second hand flea market who are accused of selling stolen merchandise. As of last week the new City Hall has indefinitely suspended operation of the flea market, which had about five hundred stalls each week, and Xavier Sanllehí, Mayor of Castelló d'Empúries, assures that it will not be reopened until the police investigation is complete, and when it does reopen it will do so with a very different format.

Vueling airlines will begin flights from Prat airport in Barcelona to Nantes, the sixth largest city in France, starting September 14 of this year. The purpose is to strengthen the airline´s position in the French market and its general international expansion.

The Local Police of Roses have now equipped three of their vehicles with mobile defribillators in order to provide emergency health service for cardiac arrest.

The City Hall of Port de la Selva has increased its payments for next year by approximately 30%. Some of the increase is attributed to payments for officials attending governmental meetings which were previously not compensated. The mayor, currently Josep Maria Cervera, will now be paid 2.700 euros gross monthly, an increase of 170% over the 1.000 euros paid to the previous mayor, Genís Pinart.

Hunters of the Girona area have developed a protocol to increase control and prevent consumption of wild boar that is infected with trichinella. This year the parasite, dangerous to humans, has been detected in seven specimens.

From now until the 15th of October the Museum of Cadaqués holds an exhibit entitled 'del primer Dalí al Manifiesto Amarillo 1914-1928' that covers the formative period of Salvador Dalí, displaying approximately 150 works, including some 50 that have not been publically displayed and some 40 photos that show the evolution of the young artist from his first sketches to the development of his own unique style that renewed the surrealist movement.

The City Hall of Castelló d'Empúries will offer legal support to the neighbors of Empuriabrava to try to avoid the "appropriation" of the moorings that with the new boundaries (demarcation of the space accorded to the public domain) would pass from being private property to a state of concession. The City Hall is reviewing solutions to resolve the situation, but admits that is very difficult and could end with a modification of the law of the Coasts.

The Costa Brava, and in general the Catalan Coast and the Balearic Islands, are in a good marine state, according to a report made public by the Fundación Mar with the project Silmar, a network of some twenty stations in Catalunya and three in the Balearics that track the state of the marine litoral. The report confirms a more favorable situation in the Girona literal, in the Costa Brava, compared to Tarragona and Barcelona, where there is a serious degradation.

The new train service of the Cercanías in the comarcas of Girona will be effectuve in December of this year. The Generalitat and Renfe, which will be the operator, predict that before the end of the year 2011 the first trains will have begun circulation on a trial basis. There will be a train every hour between Figueres and Blanes with a stop in all of the stations, and an extension between Figueres and Portbou every two hours.

Last week the monastery of Santa María de los Robles of Pont de Molins suffered the third robbery in four months, since the restoration began. This time copper channeling and lightning rods were taken,

Last Saturday the Danish artist Jeanette Thorup (in the photo) inaugurated her exhibition in the 31st Concurso Internacional de Grabado Mini Print de Cadaqués. Thorup, one of the winners of the competition last year held an exhibit in the Taller Galería Fort of some thirty works done with the technique of dry point. The show is open for viewing until Friday.

Llançà has completed the structure of the new 116 meter dike. The works are almost finished and have cost an investment of 4 millon euros. One of the last damages was the fish market and there is not yet a date planned for the repair of that buidling.

Seventy geologists from all over the world arrived last week in Cadaqués to study the rock formations of Roses and the Cap de Creus. The scientists are attending a conference of the prestigious Geology Society of America, which holds an annual conference here to study the rocks of the Cap Creus, which is considered one of the twenty top zones of geolofical interest worldwide.

Endesa has invested 25.000 euros to close an electric ring in Vilamalla with the objective of improving the quality, continuity and security of services to various municipalities of the Alt Empordà, including Figueres, Vilafant, Vilamalla, Santa Llogaia d'Àlguema, El Far d'Empordà, Bàscara, Borrassà, Pontós and Vilademuls,

According to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), this summer is predicted to be hotter than usual. Between July and September the temperature is expected to be hotter and precipitation will remain at the usual rates. In fact, spring was quite hotter than usual, especially some days in April when the registered temperature was the highest since 1949, with an average of 3.8 degrees higher than normal for the month and some days even reached 6 degrees higher than normal. On the other hand, during the first two weeks of of June the temperature has been lower than usual.

The Generalitat has agreed to pay Ryanair 7,5 million euros annually, Half a year after the disagreement between the government and Ryanair and after traffic at the airport at Girona has declined to preoccupying levels, the Generalitat has offered the airline company practically the same amount as in the pre accord, plus the possibility of charging an additional amount for each passenger transported over the 4 milllion base stipulated in the agreement. Now the signature of the airline company remains to finalize the agreement.

The campgrounds of Girona have united forces to celebrate the Day of Camping on the 25th of June. This is the first edition of the initiative, to be celebrated in all of Spain, which is hoped to become an annual event. Several campsites in the Girona area have organized special events to commemorate the Day, and will be open to the public so their facilities can be known to the public ... specifically including the Internacional de Calonge, El Delfín Verde, Cala Llevadó, Les Medes, L'Empordà, and La Ballena Alegre.

Catalan pastry shops are predicting the sale of 1.6 million cocas for the San Juan holiday, 100,000 fewer than the previous year. It is predicted that because of the economic crisis clients will choose to celebrate in smaller ways this year.

A meeting was held in Roses on the 22nd of June for local businesses, with the theme "And in Roses, what can be done to promote commerce?". The meeting included the new counselors of Tourism and Economic Promotion and presented the campaign "Come shopping in the Neighborhood", a campaign developed as part of the official Plan de Barrios to improve area commerce in 2011.

Last week the local police of Roses detected a van parked in Toledo street that was illegally selling fruit and vegetables.

Roses will open several offices in its urbanizations. beginning with Santa Margarita. This is one of the initiatives planned by the new administration of Roses to improve direct relations between the council members and the public in the various neighborhoods of the town.

A strong hailstorm hit several towns in the Alt Emporda last week. In a very short period of time the towns located in the northern region of the county, such as Maçanet, Darnius, Cesta, and Figueres, registered precipitation in the form of large hail that fell in some places with great intensity. The most severe case was in Sant Llorenç de la Muga where in only 15 minutes there was precipitation in the amount of 36 lites per squeare meter. There was an accumulation of hail in the streets between 30 and 40 centimeters.

The Valle de Santa Creu is formed by some thirty homes situated on a priveleged site of the mountain, between the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes and the nucleus of Port de la Selva. In 1998 this area was included within the Natural Park of Cap de Creus, but since then the City Hall and the goverment have defended that the inclusion was an «error» and have attempted to exlude it. Nonetheless, last week the new mayor went to discuss the situation with the neighbors.

The Red Eléctrica plans to begin works with the project of the 400 kv MAT line between Bescanó y Santa Llogaia during the first trimester of 2012 after completing two remaining mandatory submissions - a study of the environmental impact with the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and the announcement of contruction project.

Last winter the eighty campsites of the Camping Association of Girona invested more than 6 million euros in improving their facilities. The improvements include installation of generators for self'sufficienty in the case of inclement weather such as occurred in march last year, the restoration of bungalows, and the creation of new sports areas. With these improvements the campsites hope to attract potential users from all over Spain and the rest of Europe and to distinguish themselves from the others with offers of tranquility and convenience as well as contact with nature.

The wine fair Raíces del Vino was held again the weekend of the 11 and 12 of June in Sant Martí d'Empúries. Organized by Dominic Abernethy, owner of "El Celler Petit " in Sant Martí d'Empúries, the fair is open to the public for all aficionados of wine culture and offers the possibility for tasting the high quality wines of the DO Empordà which are difficult to find in the marketplace in a priveleged location.

The inspectors of fishing and maritime matters denounced seven boats for irregular fishing activities during the night in the Bay of Roses. Two of the sanctions were for using artificial lights from recreational boats to catch calamari, and the remaining five were for the practice of underwater fishing at night, outside the hours established for the activity.

Marian Muro, Director General of Tourism, assured that Catalunya currently has all the ingredients for a good tourist season. According to her, the markets that send travelers to the area are in a good state of economic recuperation, and some of the tourist destinations that usually compete with the area, such as North Africa, are undergoing lamentable circumstances. Muro predicted an increase of more than 5% this season, although she acknowledged that tourism is a sector that is very affected by external circumstances so the projections could change.

The Education Council has approved the starting date for the next school year, which will in all likelihood be the 12th of September.

A total of thirty six projects were submitted as part of the competition for ideas for urbanization of the area along the seafront between Riera Ginjolers and the Riera de la Cuana, which is an area of a total space of 23,826 square meters. The final date for submission of architectural plans ended the 24th of May. At the moment the projects are being reviewed to see that they comply with all the requisites established for the competition.

The World Championship of Windsurfing-Grand Prize Catalunya Costa Brava celebrates the 12th edition from the 31st of May through the 5th of June. This is one of the classic competitions of the international calendar. The point of concentration will be the campsite l"La Ballena Alegre" in Sant Pere Pescador, which is the largest private patron of the event.

The ecological organization Iaeden-Salvem l'Empordà has demanded the "immediate and indefinite cessation" of training exercises in the cape of the Alberas by the military, from its base in Sant Climent de Sescebes. Last Monday an exercise resulted in the burning of 22 hectares and the Fire Department was obliged to dispatch some twenty units to put out the fires. The group complaints that this year (2011) "there have already been four fires caused by the military". Salvem l'Empordà charges that in clear violation of the prohibition on making fires in the area, the military engages in maneuvers that could put the Alberas at risk, and even "at times the maneuvers are conducted during days when there is tramontana", putting the mountain range in danger.

A herd of some two hundred cattle from the Empordà are moved to Camprodon. Fifteen horsemen and five shepherds accompany the herd from Avinyonet de Puigventós (Girona) to Camprodon (Ripollès), passing through Sant Llorenç de la Muga, Albanyà, Sant Julià de Ribelles and Rocabruna, among other places, before the caravan arrives in Camprodon on the 4th of June.

On the 26th of May the municipalities of Roses, Castelló d'Empúries-Empuriabrava, Sant Pere Pescador and L'Escala-Empúries presented to the General Assembly of the 7th Congress of the Club of the Most Beautiful Beaches of the World (held in Senegal) the candidature of the Bay of Roses for inclusion as one of the Most Beautiful Beaches. Representatives of the Club awarded the Bay of Roses the maximum number of points, assuring its inclusion in the group which will be formalized in the year 2012.

It is estimated that a record number of baby storks was born this spring at the Perelada Castle, where the first banding of the babies took place last week. The exact number is not known because a crane is required to access all the twenty three nests, but it is estimated that the number must be at least in the fifties. The presence of storks has increased since the first chick was born there in 1998.

The interconnection of the MAT through the Pyrenees will enter into service in the year 2014, according to estimates made by both the spanish and french governments. The 400 KV will run to the border from Santa Llogaia d'Àlguema (Alt Empordà) and will cross the Pyrenees by a tunnel that will run parallel to the AVE line. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Industry, the new line "will reinforce the security of electric supply" between the two states. The project of construction and putting into service the transborder segment of the MAT is being carried out by the company Inelfe, made up of Red Eléctrica and the french RTE. It is projected that the above ground works will begin at the end of 2011.

The City Hall of Figueres awarded last week the first phase of the project to reform the old slaughterhouse and convert it to a Center for Promotion of Regional Products. This is the beginning of a project with a proposed investment of 3.7 million euros.

Last week firemen were dispatched to put out two fires in forested areas in Roses and in Sant Climent Sescebes. In Roses the fire burned 3 hectares in Punta Falconera, though the proximity to the sea facilitated the work in extinguishing the flames. Because of the moderate tramuntana that was blowing at the time it was necessary to maintain a vigilance so the fire did not reignite. The fire in Sant Climent Sescebes occured on the military base where maneuvers were underway, and attention was required because of the proximity to an area where explosives are stored.

The Roses Foundation Against Cancer collected 7,000 euros last week in the twelfth edition of the Recaudación Popular (Local Collection), an event which takes place coincident with municipal elections.

Dipsalut has initiated a revision of the places where defibrillators are located to insure that the spaces reserved by City Halls for installation of the equipment are in compliance with appropriate requisites. The first municipalities to be reviewed are Bescanó, Sant Julià del Llor i Bonmatí, Cornellà del Terri, la Vall d'en Bas, Sant Pau de Segúries, Villalonga de Ter, Besalú, Espinelves, Garrigàs, San Miguel de Fluvià, Jafre, Palau-sator, Bolvir and Guils de Cerdanya.

The Regulating Council for the Denominación de Origen Empordà has improved its website. The new digital space respects the previous style and structure while improving its image and design, as well as increasing the contents.

The Ministry of Works is arriving at the end, finally, of the works on the NII in the crosssing of La Jonquera, that has been stopped since the summer of 2008.

Last week a blind wine tasting for participating vineyards was held at Empuries as a prelude to the fourth edition of the festival ¨Raices del Vino¨ that will be held in San Marti dÉmpuries on the 11th and 12th of June. Among the participants, the SÁlou 2007 from Viñas de los Aspres de Cantallops was selected as Best Red Wine, the award for Best White Wine of 2011 again fell to the Espelt Quince Robles 2009, from Espelt Viticultors ofVilajuïga, and the Best Sweet Wine of 2011 was chosen as the Garnacha d'Empordà 2009 from the Bodega Mariano Pagés of Capmany.

The tiger mosquito has already colonized in 17.9% of the catalan municipalities, its presence having been detected in 170 of the 947 communities. This represents an exponential growth since the mosquitos were first detected in 2004. To slow their proliferation the most effective action is to avoid the laying of eggs and growth of the aquatic larvae, which can only be done by eliminating the accumulation of water in outside receptacles. The mosquito tiger , 'Aedes albopictus', has the ability to fly up to 400 meters, but is generally found within only 150 meters from its birthplace. It has been discovered that in some cases the mosquitos are transferred to further locations when they attach themselves to motor vehicles.

The Court of Figueres has dismissed the case against the former mayor of Roses, Carles Paramos (CiU) who was charged with having committed corruption during his time in office. The denuncia alleged that during the years 2000 and 2002 he favored certain citizens by canceling fines they had received.

The City Hall of Castelló d'Empúries has an outstanding debt of 958.057 euros of special contributions for the sewer system of Empuriabrava, payments which it has reclaimed from the residents. The majority of people with outstanding bills cannot be located because they have residence in a foreign country. The completion of the work is delayed to the year 2013 because of the partial payment of 250,000 euros received. It is estimated that by the end of May some 75% of the work will be completed.

On Saturday the 14th of May a new art center opened its doors in Fortia, the Mas d'en Dorra which is owned by Fina Trayter. More than 300 people attended the opening, suggesting a prosperous future for the center.

In the open air space inside the Nature Park of Aiguamolls, mud is the star. Submerging oneself in the land for the clay properties that penetrate the body with the help of the sun is a new therapy that for the past five years has been offered by Cote Francis, in a site that each summer attracts the interest of more people interested in ecology as a new form of tourism, an option that lets people be in touch with nature, return to the land, and recuperates the body´s own conscience.

The Fisherman´s Association and Association of Restaurants and Business (ARC) of Port de la Selva have organized a Gastronomic event highlighting crawfish. Various activities are planned during the celebration which will take place from the 28th of May to the 29th of June.

The Catalan Water Agency (ACA), the City Hall of Sant Pere Pescador, the Consortium of Costa Brava, and the campsites Las Palmeras, La Gaviota, the Anfora, Aquarius, El Rio, Las Dunas, and the Ballena Alegre have signed an agreement to connect the campsites to the water treatment facility (depuradora) of LÉscala in order to improve the sanitation of that area of the Alt Emporda. The agreement is the fruit of two years of negotiation among the parties, and will make it possible to treat the waste water of these seven campsites and at the same time assure a good ecological state for the final branch of the Fluvia river, achieving the objectives established by the Water Directives.

The Nautic Club of Llançà celebrated last Sunday a new edition of the Nautic Trophy Club of submarine photography, with the participation of nine federated sportspeople.

Along the coastline of Girona province, from the Cap Creus to Blanes, one can observe a strip of dead vegetation just inside the sea. The cause was an exceptional decline in the sea level caused by the confluence of various phenomena, including the presence of the full moon close to land. Experts consider that the repercussions will not be very significant to the living flora and fauna as they hope the area will have recovered within a year. Nonetheless the appearance of this unusual border that is clearly visible has interested curious navigators and lovers of the sea.

For a while now the French public hospitals have experienced a reduction in available personnel. According to the unions, in the last three years the numbers have declined at the rate of 10,000 per year, even though activity in the centers has increased 4% annually during that time. They say this is the most negative aspect of the latest governmemt restructuring that Nicolas Sarkozy has made in the sanitary system.

The Center of Dali Studies leads an effort to compile and document information about his works and to explain this in detail in a publication entitled Catálogo Razonado. The first edition of the catalogue, which encompasses the works between 1910 and 1920, was published in 2004 in connection with the 100 year anniversary of the birth of the artist. This Thursday the third edtition will be published, which collects documentation of his work up to the year 1951. The group estimates that in a maximum of four years they will have all of his work documented. To date they have studied a total of 605 works of his more than 100 different collections. All of the information will be made available free of charge on the internet.

The Area of Economic Promotion of Roses presents a program on Thursday the 12th of May, a meeting open to the public who would like to participate in the Plan of dynamization of commercial interests of Roses. In this first session, that will continue with ¨ Seminars on experience with commercial dynamization¨, there will be discussion of the principal problems and potentialities of commerce in Roses, such as the actions that might be taken to initiate improvement.

L'Escala is one of the locales chosed by the brand Estrella Damm for its summer marketing campaign. Last Friday the marketing team led by Isabel Coixet visited several sites within the town, such as Archaelogical Museum of Catalunya Empuries and the outskirts of the town.

Fifty years after the ¨reconciliation¨ of Figueres and Salvador Dali the San Ferran castle will hold an exhibition by Joan Vehi of photos of the artist in the capital of the Alt Emporda and other points of the region, such as Cadaques and Pubol. The photo exhibit, which records that historic moment, is open to the public without admission fee until August 31, in the Martin Zermeno salon.

Last week was the opening of the exhibition ¨CRAC 2011¨ (Contemporary Art Creations of Roses) at the Cultural Space of the Ciutadella of Roses. The exhibit will be on display until the 21st of August. The exhibit includes paintings of Albert Pujol, Juan Cardosa, Marisa de Casterllarnau and Particia Soler, sculpure of Laia Segura, Narcis Costa, photography of Maria Velasco and Xavi Torra, gastronomy of Ferran Adria, the installation of Joan Comella, videoart and projection of Luis Izquierdo, Martin Parada and Rodrigo de la Fuente, and additionally music, poetry, portraits, and jewelry.

Last Saturday the new installations at the sports center at the Port of Llanca were inaugurated by Damia Calvet -Secretary General of Land and Mobility and President of the Ports of the Generalitat, accompanied by Pere Vila - Mayor of Llanca, Miquel Ferre - President of the Nautic Club of Llanca, and Dolors Rodriguez - Manager of Ports of the Generalitat. Calvet also visited the construction site of the new dike.

The center of Figueres from the Plaza Catalunya to La Jonquera street were filled last week with rivers of visitors who attended the various Ferias organized by the Casino Menestral, some for more than half a century. The oldest, the Feria of Drawing and Painting, in its 51st edition, was located again in the Plaza Catalunya, this time under a cover that was recently installed to provide cover in case of bad weather.

¨To cover a non-existent niche in the market of Roses¨ is the objective explained by Xevi Viana and Jordi Cusi who have decided to modernize and innovate the offers available to tourists to the city. They will offer rentals of the Segway, a personal carrier with two wheels that operates with the movement of one´s body. Attracted by the implementation of this method of transport in neighboring municipalities, they hope the Segway will be well received in Roses.

The Secretary General of Tourism and Interior Commerce, Joan Mesquido, has highlighted that the predictions for tourism for the coming high Seaton will be “positive” and he estimates that markets such as the German could increase more than 15%.

This Easter week the Generalitat opened to the public for the first time the Paraje de Tudela space that was occupied by the Club Med inside the Natural Park of Cap Creus. Because of the economic situation that space is not open for regular visits. Two guides directed visitors on tours that indicated the principal points of interest.

After approval of the anti-bullfighting law in Cataluña, the last Season of the Bulls opened on the 24th in the Monumental Bullring. During the final months several novilladas (bullfight with young bulls) will take place in the Plaza and the first corrida will be held on the 26th of June and leads up to the better known names during the months of July and September, when the season closes. Two days ago the French government declared bullfighting an intangible cultural patrimony and the Ministry of Culture will consider a proposal for National Observance of the Bullfighting Culture.

In 2013 there will be a shortage of nurses in the Catalan health centres. The College of Nursing attributes the shortage to the flight of trained nurses to other countries and to changes in study patterns. According to the College of Nursing in Barcelona, in the year 2010 a total of 733 nurses requested information for moving to work abroad, an increase of 71% over the year 2009.

An audit of the sports center installations in L'Escala resulted in detection of several deficiencies in some of the materials used in construction of the swimming pool, which is only six years old. At the moment the pool is closed while the floor is changed. Other renovations are planned for a later date, to improve other materials used in the installation.

The new paseo of Colera will have a floor in the form of waves, simulating the movements of the sea. With a floor of concrete, reinforced with stone of Colera, the base will hold in place vegetation and urban furnishings. These will be barely visible. On the other hand, the murals with high walls that are being built have generated concern among the neighbors because they impede the view of the sea. The City Hall has requested the technicians to review the plan and they assure that once finished the walls would be a máximum of 70 centimetres.

The City Hall of Castelló d'Empúries, through the Area for Tourism and Economic Promotion, has initiated a Project called Let’s Make Music, with the objective of encouraging local entertainment venues of the city that offer live music.

The 4th Portalblau of L'Escala, a Festival of Musics and Arts of the Mediterranean held from July 29 to August 14 this year, presents a program highlighting concerts in the principal stage of Empúries: the Roman fórum. Kamel El Harrach will perform on Friday, the 12th of August, Estrella Morente on Saturday the 13th, and Manel on Sunday the 14th. A new stage will be inaugurated in the Plaza Catalunya and will hold a debate that centers on the conflicts of North Africa. The poster that advertises the festival includes an image of one of the dolls found in a necrópolis in Empúries last year.

The ninth edition of the Marathon of Empúries, announced this Friday, incorporates changes introduced last year, offering three different races: the maratón, the half maratón, and a 10 km race. The pace of subscriptions is higher than last year, such that it is predicted that once again more than a thousand athletes will participate. In 2010 the number of subscribers was 1420.

The opertors of Salvamento Marítimo, with the help of the Firemen of the Generalitat, had to intervene last Monday in the work of moving a sailboat that had been left run aground in La Rubina in Empuriabrava.

The Presidents of the Regional Councils of Alt Empordà and la Selva, Consuelo Cantenys and Jordi Gironès, applaud the efforts of the Government in approving regulations that permit eradication of street prostitution.

A four year old girl suffered heatstroke last Wednesday afternoon in the patio of CEIP Esculapi in L’Escala. The mother of the student, who for the last two years has been requesting that the school install a sunshade so the children have shade when they go outside for recreation, asserts that the little girl is the first victim of a situation that has already been denounced,

The Nautic Station of Roses proposes that, for the moment, the subterranean parking lot projected by the City Hall be postponed and that the City Hall cede to them the management of the above ground parking . They have presented the proposal in the form of an allegation against the Project,

Next Thursday, the 28th of April, Ines Padrosa will present the book “The Before of Castello d’Empuries, a graphic collection of Manel Puig and Jordi Canet. The work, a compilation of photographs and postcards of Castello d’Empuries from the last 150 years, covering the period from 1870 (the date of the oldest photo found) and 1975, was produced with the collaboration of the City Hall of Castello d’Empuries.

In March 269,699 passengers passed through the airport of Girona-Costa Brava, 26% fewer than during the same month in 2010. The annual totals reflect a 30% decline, with 656,724 passengers registered this year.

Nearly 500 people atended the live cooking classes held in Vilajuiga during the months of March and April. The classes were a collaboration of 13 restaurants of the Ampurdan, connected to the gastronomic group La Cocina del Viento. The course ended last Saturday with demonstrations by Susi Fabrego and Jose Gurillo, chefs at La Vela restaurant and Hotel Montecarlo, respectively.

Last week the convent of Sant Quirze de Colera in Rabos was completely full as artist Jordi Gispert of Salt opened his collection of paintings in an exhibit that can be seen there until the 8th of May.

The Alt Emporda Tourism association proposes to take advantage of the opening of the TGV high velocity train line from the station in Figueres-Vilafant to Paris to implement a series of promotional actions between the area and various cities in the south of France.

The Mosquito Control Service of the Bay of Roses and Baix Ter has issued an advisory alert that the abundant rainfall registered recently and the spring temperaturas could result in an increase in the presence and activity of mosquitos.

A fire that started from a controlled burning site in the urbanization of Mas Oliva in Roses affected some 400m2 of land. Another 100m2 was also burnt in Vilopriu in the Baix Emporda.

The CiU (political party) of Figueres proposes a type of termal spa connected to the figure of the painter Salvador Dali, called “Theatre of Water”. Santi Vila, current mayor of Figueres and candidate for reelection presented the Project proposal last week, assuring that the project would be financed with prívate capital and would include a four star hotel and a parking area of 500 spaces that would serve the entire area.

The Generalitat has begun the operation to transport four boxes with which the new dike at the port of Llançà will be constructed.

Only 35% of the train stations have 24 hour security in the form of video cameras,and only the stations of Girona, Vilafant-Figueres, Portbou, and Cifueres have 24 hour security guards.

Last week the City Hall of Roses and the Girona Convention Bureau signed a collaborative agreement thanks to which the Municipal Theatre – Congress Hall, the Ciutadella , and the Trinitat Castle are now included as part of the cultural offerings in the area of Girona where congresses and conventions may be held.

Last Monday the council of the City Hall of L'Escala unanimously approved suspensión of licenses for plots in the area of La Clota and Las Planassa as a first step in the modification of the urban plan that will reclassify part of the old military lands so they will remain a green zone for public use.

Beginning this week people over 65 are eligible for a reduced fare for transportation between Roses and Figueres. To request the 1 euro fare the person must appear in person at the bus station of Roses to apply for the personalized, rechargeable ticket.

The Partido Popular remains alone in its request for prohibition of the use of the burka and niqab. Last Tuesday the group presented a resolution that urges the Government to aid the City Halls that are prohibiting their use.

Last Monday morning the works began to install at the southern entrance of L’Escala a monument dedicated to anchovies and salt. The sculpture is the work of the artist Martí Batlle Viader, who won the competition organized by the City Hall.

The Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) has been ordered to pay 180.000 euros for medical negligence that in the year 2004 resulted in the death of a young girl, one year old, from Roses.

The Catalan Traffic Service (SCT) has installed two wind-solar radar systems on two secondary highways. These are pioneering systems in Spain, which, instead of connecting to an electric connection, use a solar panel and a windmill that function autonomously.

According to provisional data from January 1 of 2011 of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) the number of foreigners registered in Catalunya declined by 15,581 (1.3%) in 2010 down to 1,182,957 million, which represents 15.7% of the total population of the catalán región.

Endesa has recently completed installation of a new transformer switch near Besalú, in the Garrotxa area, that will improve the quality and continuity of electric service in three areas (comarcas) including in the Alt Empordà.

The Association of Campsites of Sant Pere Pescador and the NGO Avodreg have just finished a project to bring wáter to a village in Guinea Conakry. The Project involved rehabilítation of a handwell sixty meters deep that guarantees a water supply for the entire villaje.

The Boadella reservoir reaches its máximum level. In less than four hours the reservoir that supports the Muga basin saw its capacity rise from 78% to the maximum permitted level of 85%. The Catalan Water Agency (ACA) ordered the sluicegates open to increase the outflow volume of wáter, to insure that the reservoir could accomodate the rains and the headwaters of the river.

Ikea is studying the possibility of opening a store in Girona. Two iniciatives being considered project an added investment of 120 million euros and the creation of some 600 employment opportunities.

In the year 2010 the National Police detained, in the four towns of the Girona province that border France, some 1300 people for various crimes or for having an outstanding detention order from spanish or international courts. A decline in illegal immigration was noted. According to the agency, during the past year the agents located in La Jonquera, Portbou, Camprodon and Puigcerdà detained 1290 people, seventy fewer than in the year 2009.

A specialty company, Stop Plagas, began yesterday to install nets in the belltower of the church of Sant Pere Pescador, where a concentration of a colony of pigeons numbering in the hundreds was detected. Once the openings are covered a process will begin to capture the birds in cages.

The Department of Education of the City Hall of Roses and SOREA (the business that manages the wáter distribution for the city) have begun in March an educational campaign aimed at school children to teach them the natural cycles of urban wáter and thus to encourage responsable use of this resource. The campaign is called Gotagotham and is based on interactive participation of the students.

Last Sunday in the library Víctor Catalán of La Escala there was a presentation of "11 routes through La Escala. Itineraries on foot and bicycle", a work of the journalist Gabriel Pernau,. It is a guide for those who want an alternative tourist experience in La Escala, one with a cultural and sports focus, as a complement to the sun and beach.

The socialist deputy and ex minister of Public Works, Joaquin Nadal, affirmed yesterday that the money to be used to comply with the agreements in the pre-accord with RyanAir are in the same Budget category of the proposed budget “from which they have come the last seven years”.

El conseller d'Interior, Felip Puig, va expressar ahir el compromís que durant aquesta legislatura es duguin a terme la construcció de les comissaries dels Mossos d'Esquadra que estaven compromeses a la Selva Interior i la Jonquera.

Last Saturday the 19th of March a new Sports Center was inaugurated in Perelada. Thanks to a new system of dividing curtains the center will be able to accomodate two simultaneous competitions or practice sessions. The Center, located on the Paseo de Cataluna, consists of an entry hall, 4 vestuaries, 2 restrooms, a gymnasium, and a storage room.

Last week the City Hall of Colera began work to reform the outdated building of the infant and primary school (CEIP) which will doublé its capacity and make it adequate for the current needs of such a center of learning, with spaces such as a computer center.

It had not been documented nor was it repeated in any other area of the fortified structure, but nontheless during restoration of the baluarty of San Roque in the castle of San Ferran there was discovery of a three vaulted roof dating from the XVIII century that has been covered with earth for more than two centuries.

The group PORT-AM of Port de la Selva proposes the creation of a citizens council as a communications tool between the consistory, the citizenry, and the institutions of the municipality.

Cap Creus offers a new webcam. Situated in the village of St. Marti dÉmpuries (L'Escala), it offers an especially lovely view of this unique village, with its late gothic style church and the forest house, a moderniste work of Puig i Cadafalch, force behind the greek and roman excavations.

This past Saturday during the Fair of the Haricot of San Llorenc de la Muga there was an important demonstration of basketry, a trade very connected with the water, nature, and the village. The objective was to show the visitors to the fair one of the oldest artisanal crafts of Catalunya, including the different types and uses of baskets, and the principal weaving techniques.

The inauguration last week of the nude sculpture of Anton Casamor at the intersection of Pompeu Fabra and San Lazaro streets in Figueres completes the ambitious plan undertaken in the last years by the municipal government. During this time and in two phases, seventeen crossings were reconditioned, with the objective of improving mobility in the narrow streets of the central zone where pedestrians at times encountered problems walking due to the narrow pavement.

Mayor Santi VIla of Figueres confirms that during the coming months a video surveillance camera will also be installed in the Plaza of the Palmera.

The City Hall of Castello de Empuries, because of the number of complaints received from neighbors, has decided to force owners of urban parcels that are in poor condition to clean them up. So far it has achieved that 32 sites have been cleaned up. At the same it has also taken the opportunity to clean up some municipal sites.

Neither Spanair nor Ryanair. At the moment neither of the airline companies guarantees a flight between Girona and Madrid after the 4th of May. Spainair reports that it awaits the final outcome of negotiations between Ryanair and the Generalitat. Government sources have confirmed that there is nothing terminated with the Irish company, but nonetheless it is searching for The Government is

The European Union will deliver to Figueres a second electric bus for the purpose of undertaking a project of tracking the real benefits of this system and how it complements the other bus the city already has.

The City Hall of Sant Pere Pescador has put into place several projects to encourage the practice of sports. Among the projects is a newly inaugurated health park with a two kilometer walk, and installation of a fitness center in the sports pavilion which has a credit system. The health park is located on Emporda street, at the corner with Remences, next to the children´s park.

The report of the European lobby Ferrmed concludes that the tunnel at El Pertus can absorb ¨relatively well´ the passage of freight and passenger trains but only for a limited time, after which it will begin to have problems and become oversaturated with traffic. According to the secretary general of Ferrmed, Joan Amoros, the indication is that in the year 2017-2018 the tunnel will no longer be able to sustain the predicted train traffic and will collpase.

Minister of Interior Felip Puig warns that strong winds and lack of rain have left the catalan wooded areas in a critical situation. ¨The indicators are worrisome¨ he said, adding that in relation to the months of January and February of 2010 the number of fire calls increased from 495 to 947, a 100% increase.

Despite having announced an intention to reduce 18 routes from the Girona airport due to the Generalitat´s negative stance at the time of signing the pre-agreement for subventions, Ryanair announced yesterday that for the coming summer season it will add a new route between Girona and the Swedish city of Karlstad, which is located in the lapland area. Specifically, the route will function from the 28th of March to the 28th of October and will have two round trip flights each week, on Mondays and Fridays.

Empuriabrava, unresolved issue of demolition of the paseo. The concessionaire of the paseo of Empuriabrava and the City Hall of Castello dÉmpuries have requested that the Ministry of Environment extend the concession in order to continue operating the numerous services of the paseo. Since the 5th of February they have been without a concession, waiting for a response.

This week two urban health parks will be installed in Roses, one at the Plaza del Rey next to the Gran Via and the other behind the geriatric residence New Life. The two spaces, ceded by Dipsalut, will begin functioning next week, with the goal of promoting and facilitating physical exercise among the population. The collective The Cuisine of Wind of the Alt Emporda presented at the School of Hotel Management its first book, entitled ¨The cuisine on the table¨, published by Gastronomy and Leisure.

The surface area of transgenic corn cultivated in Girona grew in 2010. During the past year a total of 4,589 hectares of Corn BT MON810, a type of genetically modified cereal authorized by the European Union (EU), was cultivated in this area. This is an increase of 88 hectares compared to the number cultivated in the year 2009.

In 2010 the sparkling wine sector produced a total of 244.8 million bottles, an increase of 11.55% over the previous year, and the sales figures increased 10.87% to 1,031.1 million. During a round of press interviews last Monday, president of the Council of Sparkling Wine Regulation, Gustau Garcia Guillamet, highlighted that these are record numbers. Garcia Guillamet compared this year´s production with that of the 230 million bottles of 1999, which was affected by the change of century, and highlighted that exports also reached a record high in the latest report.

The TSJC suspended the plan of wind parks of the tripartite. As a result of the contentious dispute by naturalist organizations of the Alt Emporda the tribunal has stopped installation of windmills in seven zones of Cataluñya.

Last weekend hooligans destroyed some twenty traffic signals in the historic center of Castello de Empuries. Damages for cleaning and replacing the signals is estimated at a cost of 1800 euros,

The City Hall of VIlajuiga was obliged to close its offices after a fire in the fuse box disabled the electrical installations. In order to carry out certain current services, for example, pre-enrollment in the schools, it will temporarily adapt space in the civic center.

Several members of the Association for Public Transportation (PTP) visited the city of Figueres to see first hand the pioneering measures the city has taken in the matter of sustainability and renewable energy. At a conference at the Toy Museum, City Council member Richard Edelman (ICV) and Director of Urban Affairs Xavier Ludevid explained to those attending the project of the electric bus, environmental organiztions created, the urban system of Figueres and the sustainable village projected in the Alt Emporda capital.

A representative of the State will visit Empuriabrava to evaluate the effect of the demarcation of boundaries. The Mayor of Castello, Salvi Guell, a team of municipal experts, representatives of the association of Property Owners of Empuriabrava, and the Congressional Deputy. Francesc Canet, met last Wednesday with the General Secretary of Sustainability of the Coast and Sea, Pedro Antonio Rios. The meeting was held at the offices of Environmental Affairs, where a dossier was presented that reflects the effect on the city and the thousands of households affected. Rios considered the situation seriously and committed to visit Empuriabrava very soon, thus the Mayor and Secretary General are coordinating their schedules.

In December of 2010 the Department of Public Works (PTOP) of the previous autonomous government appealed a contentious administrative order of the City Hall of Palau-saverdera that considers illegal the license issued to owners of the site in agricultural terrain where the tourist train of Roses is parked.

Two residents of L'Escala, Luis Vilabru and Joaquim Hostench, have donated to the historic archives of that town a total of some two hundred scores of musical pieces that were played by the Principal of Escala at the beginning of the XX century.

The Municipal Pool of Roses received high ratings again from its members and users. A total of 367 surveys were completed betwen 24 January and 5 February, awarding a score of 8.1 points out of 10, an increase of .2 points in the level of satisfaction compared to that of last year.

The City Hall of L'Escala approved a new ordinance that simplifies for businesses and individuals the application for future projects for minor construction works. It will no longer be necessesary to request the traditional license for construction, but instead will be sufficient to communicate using the corresponding form the intended works to be undertaken, and to pay the related taxes and fees.

Some 300 people attended a concert at the Casa de Cultura in Llanca, a tribute to Carles Sabater on the 12th anniversary of his death.

The Alt Emporda lost 18% of its farmers in four years. This Sunday they will hold the fifth elections to choose their representatives.

The governing council of Figueres has announced a concourse for ideas for the drafting of the executive project of the new pavilion of Vilatenim, next to the future Montessori school. The objective is for the participants to design an architectural project to define what could be done with the extra space of the area where the sports center will be located, an area of approximately 10,000 square meters. The Ayuntamiento has also approved the necessary means for conversion of the plaza de Toros to a sports center.

The platform of users of the Renfe line between Portbou and Barcelona has initiated an online site so that people who regularly travel by train can denounce the deficiencies or irregularities of the journey. The group wants to send the complaints to the government. ( http://ves.cat/avFg ).

The Nature Park of Cap de Creus is organizing a bicycle excursion through the trails of the park on the 21st of this month from 9.30 to 13.30. The departure point will be the information center of Cortalet.

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of seagulls and pigeons that populate the terrace coverings and roofs of L'Escala, to the point that in some areas they are creating problems for the neighbors by their disturbances and for questions of hygiene. For this reason the Ayuntamiento of LEscala will again this year implement a population control campaign for these birds, with a business specializing in this and authorized by the Environmental Affairs office.

Figueres will install video cameras beginning in the month of May for the purpose of dissuading and prosecuting acts of delinquency and uncivil behavior. Mayor Santi Vila explained that it is planned to place them in three hot spots of the city, including the Fossos parking area and next to the hospital. During the year 2010 the city experienced the burning of 38 cars but increased police presence has been successful in reducing that activity.

Figueres municipal theatre El Jardi will premiere the theatrical production of Josep Pla´s ¨El cuadern gris¨ on the 25th of this month at 9 in the evening. (Tel. 972501911). Two days later at 7 in the evening there will be a concert by David Knopfler, ex-member of the Dire Straits.

The 22 Primary Attention Centers (CAP) of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) in Girona are delivering to their patients this Monday an informational invoice with the real cost of the prescribed treatment and its specific contribution, generally 40%.

Moroccans are the group of foreigners most numerous in the comarcas of Girona, now being some 40,000 persons scattered in practically all towns. Specifically, in 67 of the 221 localities of the province they are the principal foreign group, including the city of Girona, Salt, Figueres, Torroella de Montgri, Blanes, Palafrugell, Roses, La Bisbal d´Empordà and Palamós, among others. That is to say, the Moroccans are the largest group in the majority of the most populated towns, and results in the final accounting, that they are the ones that add thousands more residents.

Soon the population of Salus/Camallera-Llampaies plans to launch a Center of Services for older people which has been developed beside the municipal clinic.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres has given the green light to works of the project to transform the old slaughter house of the city into the new Center of products of Empordà. The first phase of this initiative has a budget that reaches 1,118,965 euros.

Castell d´Empúries destines ground for an ambulance station. The plot is situated next to C-260, at a point considered strategic for this service.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres has incorporated Virtual Office Access in the municipal web, a new tool that moves the municipal portal toward on-line administration. At the moment in Virtual Office two operation can be done: electronic invoices and telematic registration.

Starting in March, the municipal daycare "El Franquet" of Roses will incorporate for the first time a new classroom destined for the course corresponding to P0, which is to say, for children between 16 weeks and a year of age. In total 8 places will be offered, and the period of inscription will begin next February 11 at the Department of Education of the Ayuntamiento of Roses, located in the Casa del Mar.

The Ayuntamiento of Roses just approved the project of rehabilitation of the building el Faro de Roses (constructed in 1864), with the objective of adapting it for public cultural use, maintaining the necessary spaces for the functions of maritime signaling. The project will be sent to the Port Authority of Barcelona to obtain the cessation of use of the space in favor of the town.

The architect of the Dalí Museum of Florida, interested in rehabilitating the birth house. The Ayuntamiento has approved this week the executive project of rehabilitation.

The events room of the Ayuntamiento of Roses has played a leading role in the emotional act of recognition of the work of 6 residents of Roses, by birth or adoption, that make up the permanent staff of el Bulli for more than 10 years.

The medical dispensary of Empuriabrava not only has not been closed, as some voices assured months ago, but the facilities has been expanded and improved. The work of reform and improvement has displaced the office of tourism to another location. The move has allowed the improvement of the facilities for attention to visitors, giving more space and modernizing the office.

Representatives of the eleven hotels and restaurants of Figueres met Friday, January 28, in a known establishment of the Alt Empordà capital to establish a line of action to protest what they consider unfair competition from the new School of Hotel Arts (Hospitality) of Alt Empordà. The affected ones affirm that, during the inauguration and the time of open doors of the center, the mayor of Figueres, Santi Vila, explained to them that large official dinners would not be held in these installations.

Renfe will convert its freight train division to take advantage of the opportunities that the stretch of European gauge between Figueres and Perpignan offers.

A new control system will facilitate visits to tourism offices. The department of New Technologies of Castelló d´Empúries has developed a made-to-order program for information points. A touch screen is used, which when pressed, brings up the first page with the possibility of chosing if the consultation is made by postal mail, Internet, in person or by phone. Once chosen, the same screen gives options to chose the origin of the visitor by provinces if from Catalunya, by autonomous communities if from the rest of Spain or by nationality if a foreigner.

Thanks to the agreement signed this Monday between ONCE (National Organization of Blind Spanish Persons) and the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dalí, projects and specific programs will be carried out, like the organization of guided visits adapted to facilitate the access of blind persons and visually handicapped in the Castle Gala Dalí of Púbol, in the Theater-Museum Dalí of Figueres and the Casa-museum of Portlligat. Also training courses will be given, organized by ONCE, about techniques of accompanying persons with blindness and visual deficiency directed to the personal of the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dalí.

The use of the Internet continues growing in Catalunya. This growth for 2010 resulted in an increase of consumption of digital information medias--traditional in the network or exclusively digital--up to 32% of the population. This follows from the summary 2010 “Communication in Catalunya” which The Barometer of Communication and Culture published, in conjunction with the Institute of Communication.

This Saturday has begun the 1st Cycle of Historiography Sardanista, organized by the L’Escala, Pubilla City of the Sardana 2010, and with the goal, on part of the Agrupación Sardanista Escala Avi Xaxu, that it would be the first of a series of cycles dedicated to diffuse or spread studies made in the world of the sardana to provide new data for discussion and reflection about the present and the possible future that the Sardana, National Dance of Catalunya, could enjoy.

Five artists of Empordà exhibit in the Celler Espelt of Vilajuïga. The exposition will be inaugurated next Friday, February 4.

The ecologic Platform Salvem l´Empordà yesterday cut the C-31 highway at noon near Ventalló to protest “unmeasured or excessive” urban growth in the comraca under the theme “A comarca for a decent future.”

The public bus service of Figueres, managed by the municipal business FISERSA, has increased the number of passenger again this year. Specifically, 2010 has closed with an increase of 4.37% of users with respect to last year, reaching the figure of 544,326 trips. It should be recalled that in 2005 this service closed with less than 400,000 users.

The Ministery of Environment has planned to pull down in a few days, as confirmed the Ayuntamiento of Colera, the old Hostal situated at the edge of the sea. The action is the beginning of work of reform of the maritime walkway which is expected to be finished before the tourist season. The works have a cost of 1.4 million euros and while they are in progress it will not be possible to access this part of the sea coast.

In the course of the dance at the fiesta mayor, Llançà chose the pubilla and the heredero of 2011 in an event held in the Sports Pavillion. Miriam Pascual Gómez, of the Agrupación Sardanista Llançà, is the new heredera while Eric Tramuntà Juanola, of the Asociación Ball-lan has been proclaimed heredero. Lanzó held the election by popular vote. Some 70 pubillas and herederos from all over Catalunya and even from Andorra, participated in this event.

Endesa has finished recently the work to improve the low voltage network of the town of Agullana, Alt Empordà, with a total investment greater than 25,000 euros, supplied entirely by the company.

The Official Bulletin of the State publishes in the Monday edition the awarding of various contracts for the construction of the connection in Tarragona of the Mediterranean Corridor with the High Velocity Line Madrid-Barcelona-French border. The total budget of the awards reaches 205 million euros.

The councillor of Environment of Figueres, Richard Elelman (ICV), is meeting with various businesses dedicated to renewable energy with object of working together in the future Technological Park of the city.

A man has fractured his leg, and possibly also a rib, after falling this Friday at midday on the coast trail (camino de Ronda) of Roses, according to the Bomberos of the Generalitat.

Twin city status between Figueres and the American city of Saint Petersburg. Thursday of last week the agreement was signed in the US city with the presence of a municipal delegation from Figueres. The two cities are now working to seal the first accords of collaboration that have resulted from the meetings held in the last few days. Next autumn an official delegation of the city of Saint Petersburg will travel to Figueres, probably headed by the mayor.

The Ayuntamiento of Vilajuïga has convoked this Saturday, January 22, a technical conference about dry rock and mountain crops, which features the collaboration of the Department of Agriculture of the Generalitat and the association Via Pirena. Dry Rock is the common architecture work, generation after generation, the people of the land utilized to transform the Rodes mountain range, rocky and beaten by winds, into cultivatible ground. First removing rock from the terrain and accumulating the rock in piles and then selecting the rock to make terraces, huts, bridges and roads, they converted the mountain into a garden of vines and olives and into a means of subsistence.

The work on the sport port in Llançà is reducing commercial activity. The choice to do the works during the winter has been made to avoid possible damage to businesses and restaurants. Of the 400 boats moored in the port of Llançà not even one remains. Their movement to nearby towns like Portbou, L´Escala or l´Estartit has left part of the port a little more lonely than usual. The cause is the work that is being done in the port intended to modernize the infrastructure to convert it into a benchmark within the Catalan environment.

Tobacco shops in the demarcation of Girona foresee a decline of between 12% and 15% in the sales of tobacco because of the implementation of the new antitobacco law that entered in effect two weeks ago. The president of the guild of tobacco shops of the Girona comarcas, Jaume Gou, assures that the new regulation is one of the 'toughest' of Europe and that Spain has passed 'from one exteme to the other.'

The chef Ferran Adrià assures that the next revolution in the world of gastronomy will revolve around the new project of the foundation "El Bullí", which will start up in 2014 and will create a totally new vanguardistic scenario, dedicated completely to gastronomic creativity.

According to data made public this Monday morning by the Ministry of Foment, the general index of the price of housing has registered in the fourth trimester of 2010 a fall of 0.4% with respect to the previous trimester, and 3.5% with respect to the full year. Thus, the average price per square meter is situated at 1,825 euros with respect to private housing.

Roses destines more than 800,000 euros to entities. These subsidies, that can be applied for until March 30, are for the development of cultural, educational, sport and social activities.

The Moscovite chef Elena Tsipshenko now is in l'Escala as the second recipient of the first edition of the International Scholarship Ferran Adrià. During the next two months, Tsipchenko will get to know the principal products and the cuisine of Catalunya, to finish by presenting a menu that takes into account the acquired knowledge.

Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested three people in Pont de Molins, which had stolen a load of diapers from a truck.

El Espacio de Arte of the Celler Espelt begins its season of expositions with an unusual collective show of 16 artists of Girona, for many of which it is the first time that they have exhibited in this space.

The new law of sanitary measures to combat tobacco addiction that prohibits smoking in all closed public spaces and some open air areas like parks and places of recreation will take effect this Sunday in all Spain, with the opposition of restaurants and discotheques. The new law, 42/2010, expressly prohibits smoking in schools and hospital areas and has as its priority the prevention of tobacco addiction in minors. In the field of the hotel industry, smoking will be permitted only in open air spaces, which are those that correspond to the definition of “all space not covered, or all space that, being covered, is surrounded laterally by a maximum of two walls or similar structures.”

The Ayuntamiento of Roses has doubled their effort to try to save the fourth floor of the Royal Marine II building of Santa Margarita, affected by a judgment of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalunya (TSJC) which obliges its destruction. At the moment, the necessary applications are being made which require the resolution of the judge and a budget has been presented of the cost of the removal valued at 2.1 million euros or what is the equivalent, approximately 100 euros for each resident of Roses.

The city of Figueres has added itself to the manifesto of the European lobby FERRMED which calls for prioritizing the creation of a Mediterranean corridor, as a part of a grand corridor which would connect all of continental Europe. To make this support public, the mayor Santi Vila will be present next Wednesday in Brussels where a representation of the political, business and social class of different countries will ask the European Union that construction of rail corridors be made a priority, among them the one of the Mediterranean.

Alt Empordà is the comarca where unemployment increased the most. In Cadaqués the rate grew 32.41%, while in Vilajuïga it fell -23.61%.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres approved yesterday in the full council to ask the central Government that the new Regulation of development of the so-called law of foreigners would establish the necessity that the report which the Ayuntamiento issues of residence would take into account serious or very serious infractions of municipal ordinances that regulate coexistence and citizenship.

The tourism office (clinic) of Empuriabrava will be ended this month. The population of residents increases significantly in Empuriabrava, each day there are more people that reside all year in the urban center, therefore one of the priorities of the municipal Government is “to give Empuriabrava more and better municipal facilities”, as expressed through a press release.

CapCreus is going on vacation for the next few weeks. We are returning very soon with the promise of renewed energy and important changes for our magazine in 2011. All the team at Cap Creus wishes our readers happy holidays and a fantastic 2011!

The Meteorological Service of Catalunya has advised that wind gusts higher than 90 km/hr could be produced this Tuesday night and through Wednesday in the northern comarcas of the country.

The Council of Spanish Ministers met this Tuesday afternoon in extraordinary session in Congress and approved asking the Lower Chamber to extend the state of alarm decreed the past 4th of December after the wildcat strike of air controllers until after the holidays, according to government sources.

The municipal budget of Roses for 2011 confronts with austerity the current setting of general economic crisis and specific lowering of municipal income, and directs all its efforts to maintain and prioritize the quality of services, to avoid the increase of debt in municipal coffers, and to provide contents for the new facilities incorporated in the city, fruit of financing obtained by other administrations.

The Local Police force of La Jonquera has, since several days ago, a new police vehicle, a Citroen van, which is equipped in its interior with all the gear that makes up a breathalyzer for legal evidence, as published in el Semanario EMPORDÀ in its Tuesday edition.

The municipal government of Figueres has reached an agreement with the owner and renter of a property in calle Nou which will permit expansion of the Gardens Puig Pujades by some 1,300 square meters. To make possible this expansion, the Ayuntamiento is going to acquire the interior garden of the cited property with the advantage that it will open a restaurant building, a business that will have access from calle Nou and from the gardens through a terrace with tables and chairs.

There remains only one week for the drawing of the Lottery of Navidad of this year. The drums now are prepared in the new headquarters of the drawing in the Palace of Congress in Madrid.

The Strategic Plan that the Figueres Commerce Association has made and which will be presented in full next Monday, December 13, includes the proposal to raise an Exposition Palace next to the new cover of Plaza Catalunya, specifically where the Ayuntamiento has planned to put the second library of the city.

The Federation of Hostelaria of the Comarcas of Girona has made public the occupation data of the long weekend. The most important days have been Saturday the 4th to Monday the 6th of December. The hotel operators of the zone of the Costa Brava Center Alt Empordà have obtained a tourist occupation of 75%, about as had been forecast. As far a Girona and surroundings, one of the zones most affected by the strike of controllers, finally today the tourist occupation has been 66%.

The Generalitat is finalizing negotiations with Ryanair to close the agreement with the company before Christmas to assure that the airline remains at the airport of Girona. In declarations to Europa Press, the secretary of Mobility, Manel Nadal, has assured that the accord is “imminent” and makes clear that ”there is no pressure” on the part of the Irish company, after it had blocked the sale of flights starting March 27, when the new summer season of the airports began.

Packages of the major brands of tobacco will cost 35 or 40 centims more starting now, fruit of the increase in special taxes for tobacco that the Spanish government approved last Friday and which entered into effect this Wednesday. With this measure, the State hopes to collect 780 million. Some 150 tobacco shops of North Catalunya and other points of France have cut the road near Pertús in protest of the price of tobacco. The demonstrators criticize that, on both sides of the Pyrennes, the difference in a package of cigarettes now reaches 50% and they ask for equalizing the price of tobacco in all Europe to avoid the massive purchases in La Jonquera and el Pertús.

The mayor of L´Escala, Estanislau Puig, has initiated a round of direct conversations with the representatives of different political groups with municipal representation to show them what is the plan that is made for the budget for 2011 and to hear proposals that they can support.

Lost mushroom hunters increase like mushrooms. In ten months firefighters have rescued 71. During only the second half of October 29 mushroom hunters had been lost. In Ripollés, a destination chosen by many Barcelonans, holds the record of rescues with 15. The profile of a lost mushroom hunter does not have specific age or sex, but usually comes from the city, without mountain experience, goes equipped with clothing from big-box commercial stores and begins the hunt in a group led by a guide—who results being as inexpert as the hunter himself--and without knowing the names of any of the towns nearby. Each hour that the firefighters spend looking for lost people costs some 3,000 euros to the Generalitat.

1,530 Gironans have lost the license to drive during the last year, according to data of the Dirección General of Trafico (DGT). The number corresponds to those drivers that have been left without any points and those for whom the withdrawal of permission has been made effective. In effect, this means that they cannot use any vehicle during half a year and that they must pursue a course of driving reeducation before returning to sit at the wheel.

‘The Spanish economy approaches dangerously close to disaster, but it seems that at least one sector—prostitution—is doing very well.’ Thus the ironic and blunt beginning of the article about prostitution in Spain that the British daily ‘The Independent’ publishes this Sunday. The paper dedicates a two-page special to sex and wonders if Spain is ‘the world capital of prostitution.’ The text makes reference to the recent opening of ‘the largest brothel in Europe’ in La Jonquera.

The Ayuntamiento of Borrassà starts up a new information channel to improve information for residents and to be able to take advantage of an archive of videos of the most relevant events that happened in the town. It is a local television channel on-line, Borrassà TV, which has been inserted in the web site of the Ayuntamiento and access is free. The videos also are stored on YouTube.

The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation is pleased to inform of the success and impact of the international expositions that took place in Italy and in the United State dedicated to Salvador Dalí. Specifically, the Palazzo Reale of Milan held the show “Il sogno s’avvicina (The dream approaches)”, from September 22 until January 30, 2011, and now has received more than 136,000 visitors in only two months. For its part, the High Museum of Art of Atlanta (Georgia) is the seat of the Dalí exposition. Later work of Dalí can be seen from August 7 until January 9, and now has been visited by 173,000 people in almost four months.

Llançà will confront the second consecutive budget without committing even a euro to investment to pay down debt, which is around 6 million euros. The municipal indebtedness is situated around 70%, a number much below the 120% at which the law obliges asking permission for new investments.

Headed toward Martinica. The navigator of L´Escala, Rafa Mundet, puts himself out to sea with the “Delhire” making a stop in the Canary Islands. This personal project was born at the end of the summer of 2009, as the protagonist explained in the newspaper EMPORDÀ. The adventure began this past Saturday November 13, in the Club Náutico of L´Escala. He left, taking advantage of the celebration of the Ruta de la Anchoa (Route of the Anchovy). The return is planned for the end of the month of April, navigating more to the north to arrive at the Azores Islands and from there to L´Escala, where it is planned to arrive in the first part of June, 2011.

The municipal government of Roses has applied a double measure of savings in relation to the Christmas lighting of Dalian character that is installed in Figueres during the fiestas. On one hand, this year the Ayuntamiento has destined 85,000 euros to this concept, while in 2008 the investment was 203,000 euros, which signifies a saving of 55%.

The next week, the booth of the Generalitat of Catalunya will promote the ports of Roses and Palamós in the convention of cruises Seatrade Med, which will be held from November 30 to December 2, in Cannes (France).

This puente of Purisma, from December 6 to 8, Roses will again dress for a party to welcome the best sailors of olympic classes of Spain. The Championship of Spain Laser sail 4.7, organized by the GEN Roses, will have this long weekend more than 500 people.

Ryanair announces that from midnight today November 29 it will put on sale a million seats at only 6 euros to travel Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in January and February. These low tariffs “all included” will be available for more than 500 European routes of Ryanair if they are reserved at www.ryanair.com before midnight Thursday, December 2.

A hundred photographs related to the three areas of the Dalian Triangle have participated this year in the ninth edition of the prize PhotoDalicatessen, organized by the cafeteria Dalicatessen in the plaza San Pedro in Figueres. The first prize of 2010, of 40

A few days ago the trains of the rail line between Portbou and Figueres saw their normal schedule altered since the trip of the first train that leaves in the morning from Portbou and the last one of the day that leaves from Figueres have had to be covered by buses.

On November 17 a representation of SEBRAE (Brazilian Service in Support of Pimes (Small and Medium Businesses), an entity that gives support each year to 460,000 businesses) visited Figueres. Specifically the Ayuntamiento of Figueres and CIE (Center of Innovation and Entreprenuers) were visited by a representation of the same SEBRAE and seven mayors of Brazilean cities which were winners of the prize Alcalde Emprendador (Entrepreneur Mayor), an award that recognizes those mayors that favor the Pymes and innovation.

The Area of Youth of Ayuntamiento of Llançà powers up nighttime recreation putting into action the new musical proposal called TOUR MUSICA EN VIVO (Live Music Tour). It will pass through 13 locations and more than a score of acts will be programmed with musical styles that go from jazz to pop-rock going to metal, funk, and rumba. The concerts are scheduled between November 26 and December 11.

Two people detained for burning cars in Figueres. The police don´t rule out that the arrested ones would be implicated in previous cases of burned cars in the city. Agents of the Urban Guard have arrested, this Thursday early morning, two people, as presumed authors of a crime of damage caused by fire. The arrested are F.J.C., resident of Figueres, 31 years old, and A.S.J., 20, also of Figueres.

The new law for tourist establishments focuses on quality. The Government is expected to approve today the new Decree of tourist lodging establishments, a text that simplifies the thirteen standards of the 1980´s that regulated the Catalan tourist panorama until now. The principal novelty of the ordinanace is that it simplifies to a single immediate step the administrative procedures to implement a tourist activity, establishing the ayuntamientos as the “unique window.” The other novelty is a new categorization of hotel facilities, pioneer in Europe, where the square meters are set aside to keep in view other aspects of quality such as offering products of the land for breakfast, tourist information of the zone, or two types of pillow for sleeping.

To go from Figueres to Perpignan in the AVE will cost 5 euros. The new line has a special promotional tariff for the trip on the international stretch between the 2 cities. The official arrival of the AVE Alt Empordà now has the date December 19. Two days later, freight trains of the Mediterranean corridor also will traverse for the first time the international tunnel of Pertús. Travellers of the Barcelona-Paris line will find themselves in the new station in Figueres-Vilafant to make the transfer necessary to continue the voyage. Those coming from France will come in high-speed trains. Those coming from Barcelona and Girona will do it in conventional trains with the modern 449 units, which entered service months earlier.
Mini-Group Tariff: One of the most important novelties that should be made known with the opening of the international stretch of AVE directly affects the relations between the Ampurdan and north Catalunya, since RENFE and SNCF have created the tariff called Mini Group, which is, according to the Spanish company “a special introductory offer, so that users that live near to the link can discover the new rail connection with France. The routes that are being put on sale start at 5 euros per person between Perpignan and Figueres, and starting at 8 euros to Narbonne. This offer is valid until February 24.”

The work to recover the space of Tudela, in the Natural Park of Cap de Creus, now has been finished, after having removed the buildings constructed by Club Med and having removed invasive animals. Specifically, 443 buildings of the old Club Mediterranée have been taken down which has generated 44,000 cubic meters of debris, and more than 3,000 tons of invasive vegetation have been extracted, a quantity that is equivalent to 20 hectares. The councilor of Environment, Francesc Baltasar, has stated that this Monday is a day of “great happiness” because an objective “very important for the Cabo de Creus and for the country” has been achieved.

First Fiesta of Empordàlia in Pau. The 1st Fiesta of Empordàlia ended with the celebration of a public dinner, which brought together about 400 people. Clients, providers and members of the cooperative met at the same table to celebrate the arrival of the oil and the new wine.

The Ayuntamiento of Cadaqués has received a grant of 250,000 euros from the General Budget of the Spanish state for the construction of a youth hostel, the second one in the comarca after the one in Empúries, according to Semanario of Alt Empordà in its Tuesday edition.

Internet and advanced technologies will be “vital” in the new “El Bulli” which Ferran Adrià projects, a center of creativity and innovation that will come to light in 2014 and which will have the support of Telefónica thanks to an alliance that one of the best chefs of the world has signed with the multinational. Adrià and the General Technical Secretary of the Presidency of Telefónica, Luis Alegría, have presented today in a press conference this strategic accord, which includes diverse projects, such as a world tour for Adrià, which would make him an international ambassador of the telecommunications company.

The 16th edition of the gastronomic show Firatast of Girona plans to close its doors this Sunday with an “absolute record” of visits, as the president of the organizing company, Josep M. Matamala, reported. More than 12,000 persons now have passed through the show since Thursday, the day of inauguration, and it is foreseen that this Sunday some 5,000 visitors will try the more than 300 tastings that are there. The cause of the growth has been that this year around thirty restaurants have participated in the show. Among the products that visitors have enjoyed most are highlighted the camel hamburger, which has been the star product of the show, rabbit sausage and the traditional caracoles and panallets.

About a thousand residents of Figueres have enjoyed the last days of the guided visits to the Riera Galligans, where it passes through the Rambla. An initiative so successful that the areas of Tourism and Mayor´s Office now are working on a second edition of visits in this emblematic and renovated space of Figueres. Remember that the visits to the Riera Galligans have taken place the last three Saturdays, October 30, November 6 and 13, and that for questions of security and organization, the visitors go down in groups of between 20 and 25 people accompanied by a service of guides.

The events room of the municipal library Victor Catalán of L´Escala, opened this year, has been baptized with the name Sala Victor Mora, in honor of the writer who created the personality of Captain Trueno and who has established in l´Escala the foundation that carries his name and which has just had its fifth anniversary.

The suspicion that a stolen vehicle might contain explosives caused the closure of access to the surrounding area of the Dalí Museum of Figueres Saturday afternoon. A trained dog detected indications of explosives in the vehicle. Therefore the area of the Theater Museum Dalí was kept cordoned off which closed access to the public before closing time. Around 4 pm a Tedax team inspected the suspected car without finding any explosives in the interior.

The Ayuntamiento of Roses has received all 7 of the plans of employment solicited in the call of the Project Impulso, issued by the Service of Occupation of Catalunya of the Generalitat. These plans will generate throughout 2011 in the town a total of 58 positions of work of six months duration, directed to the unemployed that don´t receive unemployment benefits.

This Saturday Las Muses ARTS inaugurated its new exposition. Marga Grima, after having her paintings on the walls of the restaurant el Molí of l´Escala during Gastromusical 2010, returns to l´Escala with a show varied and full of life. The exposition will be open from November 6 to January 16, both included, and can be visited during the commercial hours of the Espacio Activo Las Muses ARTS (Fridays from 6 to 8 pm, Saturdays from 12 to 2 pm and 6 to 8 pm and Sundays from 12 to 2 pm).

The Department of Culture and Means of Communication has destined 1 million euros to the improvement of audiovisual technical resources of 82 municipal cultural facilities, aid that was awarded this year for the first time. It is the first step in networking through the Cultural Ring, to which has been destined 200,000 euros for cultural activities. For territorial areas, the comarcas of Girona are the ones that will receive most aid, with a total of 21 facilities.

Next Friday, November 12, el Espacio Cultural La Ciutadella will inaugurate the exposition “Jaume Turró. Xameca. Retrospectiva 1955-2005”, first of the events that the Ayuntamiento of Roses has prepared to recover the figure of this artist born in Roses, and to show a global and precise vision of a work loaded with personality. The show will remain open until February 13, 2011, and it will be accompanied by the edition of a catalog, a round table, recreational visits to the show and workshops of painting for the public of all ages.

The memories of the Route of the Exile: Wednesday, November 3, “Danos memoria (Give us memory)” begins in the Theater El Jardi in Figueres with the recording of testimonies and the digitizing of photographs, objects and documents that residents bring. This campaign, which is an initiative of In Albis, Association for Cultural Diffusion and Education, will pass through Figueres (Theater El Jardi, from 3rd to 5th of November), Agullana (tour of various historic spaces of the town, November 6), La Jonquera (Memorial Museum of the Exile, 12th and 13th of November), Girona (Casa de Cultura, from 25th to 27th of November) and Granollers (Can Jonch, Center of Culture for Peace, from 16th to 18th of December). Emulating campaigns for collecting blood, the Association In Albis puts in motion a campaign of collectring unpublished historical memories: Danos Memoria. A mobile team will move through the territory during the months of November and December with the goal of bringing to light testimonies, images, objects and private documentation about the route of exile before the historical emergency of its possible disappearance. The oral testimonies will be recorded in video and all the material will be digitized and returned to its owners for its future conservation.

The group La Puerta de los Sueños (The Door of Dreams) passed the whole day Saturday in l´Escala to record in it the first videoclip of its latest disc, “Aire Libre (Free Air)”. Specifically, the song in this videoclip with the same name as the album and the filming raised much expectation among the pedestrians that encountered it.

Some forty persons have presented applications to be able to have access to the purchase of one of the official protected flats that will be built in l´Escala. The period ended today and now all the proposals presented will have to be analyzed to see if they comply with the established requirements in the call before the drawing which will be held next November 27 to establish the order of preference of the time of choosing one of the 24 flats that will be constructed.

Figueres will have a new ordinance of circulation starting November 3, which will include among other measures, the creation of green parking zones, according to information from the council. Thus, there will be special rates for residents of the city in the paid parking areas. In the comarcas of Girona this system now is established in Banyoles, and in Girona it has been pushed ahead, although in this case, it still has not been created. On the other hand, the ordinance prohibits practices such as reserving a parking space while waiting for the arrival of a vehicle, to avoid the conflicts that this can generate.

Catalan ski areas are preparing to open their doors in the puente (long weekend) of December, when they expect the snow conditions will be appropriate to start the winter season, and after a joint investment of 20 million euros, as various areas informed Europa Press.

One person suffered light intoxication from smoke inhalation from the fire in a cabinet full of books in a house on the ronda Empúries de L´Armentera, as the Firefighters of the Generalitat informed Europa Press.

From the 1st to the 15th of November, in the exposition hall of the Comarcal Council of Alt Empordà, exposition of the Competition of photography of heritage CCAE, thematic sun dials, under leadership of the Service of Culture and Education.

From the 16th to the 30th of November, in the exposition hall of the Comarcal Council of Alt Empordà, exposition of painting and sculpture by Frank Carbonell.

LA JONQUERA—EXPOSITION: During the month of November, los Porches of Can Laporta house the exposition of paintings and sculptures “Cosas y Momentos (Things and Moments)” of Wernher Cools.

In Agullana on November 6 at 11:30 am, the plaza Mayor will be the meeting point for the “Historic Tour through la Agullana of 1939” led by the historian Enrique Tubert. At 7 pm, in the Multipurpose Room of the Ayuntamiento, projection of the documental “Doblemente olvidados (Doubly forgotten)”, by the Foundation Andreu Nin.

Figueres will celebrate the first Fair of the Pumpkin (or Squashes) and Artesan Products November 14 in Avenida de Roses, en la Marca de l´Ham.

RENFE reports that at 8:08 am rail service on the Barcelona-Girona-Portbou line has been normalized. The line functioned abnormally from 6:30 pm on Monday, when the rail company had to establish a connection by buses between Figueres and Portbou (both in Alt Empordà), due to the strong winds.

The vice mayor of Figueres, Francesc Canet, attended this morning the signing of an agreement with the Generalitat of Catalunya in the matter of public spirit. Specifically the subsidy is 29,133 euros and is the first time that the Ayuntamiento of Figueres opted for this aid.

The high concentration of cyanobacteria is the cause of irritations that some swimmers suffered this summer in the Rio Muga, where it passes San Llorenç de la Muga. According to the results that Dipsalut made public on Thursday, the lack of flow and renewal of the water caused the presence of this bacteria that liberates toxins that can provoke rashes. Therefore, Dipsalut has recommended to the Ayuntamiento that it facilitate the circulation of water in this swimming area. For its part, the council has assured that the fall floods reached the wall that makes the water stagnant, but due to the drought that the watershed of the Muga suffers, the renewal of the water at this point has not been sufficient.

The radio stations Flaix FM, Radio Flaixbac and RM Radio disappeared from the airwaves of Perpignan on September 20. The Superior Council of Audiovisual (CSA) French, solicited by the Regional Technical Committee (CTR) of Toulouse, sent a formal letter in Spain, this past month of August, ordering the stations to stop transmitting in the French territory, alleging interference with the stations Radio Nostalgia and Radio Catalogne Norte.

The dolphin that was found earlyMonday morning on the beach of Port de la Selva has died, as confirmed by the center of Conservation and Recovery of Marine Animals (CRAM). Members of CRAM had tried since 7 am to revive the dolphin that had been found hours before in the sea a few meters from the beach of Port de la Selva, but finally toward midday the animal was not able to recover and died.

The Mossos d´Esquadra are investigating an assault that took place this weekend in a jewelry shop on calle de la Jonquera in Figueres, where some unknown persons, after entering the establishment in a spectacular fashion, have taken all the contents of the safe and the jewels that were in storage.

Tickets for French high velocity trains that will connect Figueres and Perpignan at the end of the year will be on sale November 12. Although initially the railway company SNCF had announced that tickets could be acquired this Wednesday by Internet, in the end the start of sales has been delayed a month. The circulation of these trains will permit putting into service the international stretch of the AVE, which includes the tunnel of El Pertús which was finished in 2009. It is planned to have two trains run daily, which will end their trip at the temporary AVE station in Vilafant (Girona).

French customs agents have paralyzed this morning the work of dismantling the police offices at the border on AP-7 in El Pertús. The protest has served to highlight the displeasure of the 60 agents that work in this area. The agents maintain that, until now, no one had informed them officially of nothing, and they fear that once the structure disappears many will lose their jobs. For this reason, they ask that exclusive lanes be prepared for the control of trucks on both sides of the autopista. The work of dismantling, which began last week, costs 17 million euros and the French state pays it fully after Europe filed a complaint for not complying with the Schengen Treaty.

Castelló d´Empúries congratulates the 99 years of age of Joaquim Vergés, who has reached today 99 years, almost a century with very good health and very good humor. Today the first deputy mayor, Dolores del Fresno, congratulated in the name of the town of Castelló d´Empúries this significant anniversary.

The parliamentary group in Congress of ERC-IU-ICV will present a non-binding proposition for the recovering of the beaches of the seashore affected by the storm of the east during the puente of Pilar, so that it would be debated in the commission of Environment, Rural and Sea.

The gas stations of La Jonquera (Alt Empordà) are fuller than ever. Many French citizens are accustomed to come down to this town, the last one before the border, because they find fuel cheaper than in France. To this is added now the protests against pension reform in France, which now has lasted nine days and which has blocked all the refineries of the country making the price of fuel go up.

The largest house of prostitution in Europe opens in La Jonquera. The long litigation between the Ayuntamiento and the company is finished after the TSJC (Supreme Court) obliged the council to grant the license. The house of prostitution could open its doors next Thursday, October 21, after a judicial battle between the Ayuntamiento and the company La Vimetera.

Work of restoration was just finished on the cannon that was moved from the Paseo Maritimo of Roses to the Cultural Space of La Ciutadella in February of the past year, after it was the object of vandalism in which it was painted with color sprays. The piece, together with another cannon taken from the paseo to avoid its deterioration, will be exhibited soon to the public.

The TGV station will be named Figueres-Vilafant. According to publicity of the PSC in its webpage this morning a meeting has been held in the Ayuntamiento of Figueres in which participated the mayors Santi Vila and Consuelo Cantenys and the deputy in the Congress of Figueres, Montse Palma.

The Council of the Local Government of the Ayuntamiento of Figueres (Girona) presented this Monday an appeal by the contentious-administrative path against the area of priority development of the wind energy Euskal by the Generalitat in the comarca of Alt Empordà. In a communication, the council has clarified that it has opted for this path after the Generalitat had rejected the appeal presented by the local government in August and therefore the administrative paths have been exhausted against the Catalan wind map.

In L´Escala the new streets of the development Closa del Llop, in the area developed by Incasol, now have names. This morning the official baptism has been made of the avenues Països Catalans and Dr. Fco Javier Irurita and Calle de Almedinilla.

Rescue teams are looking for a man of 39 years that disappeared this Monday in the early morning when he entered the sea at Collioure (France), despite the strong storms there at the time. As explained by sources of the service Department of Fires and Lifesaving in Perpignan, the missing man was accompanied by another man of 29 years, and the two supposedly went to the beach in a drunken state and entered in the water. This took place around three in the morning. This Monday at the first hour, the labor of search has been suspended because of bad weather conditions.

The company Megatel in Girona has signed an agreeement with the Generalitat to share telecommunications infrastructures. The agreement will permit expanding wide band coverage at a low cost in some zones of the comarcas of Girona. The agreement between Megatel and the department of Governing and Public Administration form part of the project “Catalunya Connects”, which the Secretary of Telecommunications and Society of Information concluded. The project intends the expansion of the coverage of TDT services, wide band, and mobile telephone, property of the Generalitat as well as private operators.

Agents of the team of Technical Specialists in Deactivation of Explosive Artefacts (TEDAX) of the Mossos d´Esquadra have recovered today a hand grenade, presumibly from the civil war, which a mushroom hunter found in the forest of Agullana (Girona).

The city of Figueres has been one of the leaders of the Europe Open Days summit, a meeting held in Brussels, which in its 8th edition has brought together cities, regions and politicians of European scope to deal with different themes of continental environment.

Pont de Molins will have available wide band service at a low price. The company Megatel and the Generalitat will share telecommunications infrastructures.

The program of fall 2010 will bring to the Municipal Theater of Roses a fortnight of shows and will encompass a wide artistic spectrum, which will run from classical music to heavy metal, from the classics of the theater to contemporary creations with introduction of new technologies, through dance and children’s offerings. First love of Samuel Beckett, under the direction of Alex Ollé and Miquel Górriz and with the interpretation by Pere Arquillué, Cyrano de Bergerac of Edmond Rostand, directed by Pep Pla, with Eduard Muntada and Ares Piqué, and the traditional Pastorets of the Theater Group of Roses, are the offerings in the theater section.

Justine de Vilacourt, winner of the scholarship Ferran Adrià. The Canadian will learn Catalan cuisine and products in the next weeks. The winner of the first edition of the International Scholarship Ferran Adrià, Quebec chef Justine de Vilacourt, now has begun his training stay.

The Comarcal Archive of Alt Empordà, with the collaboration of the Institute of Ampordian Studies, is organizing a Course of introduction to genealogy to offer knowledge about this discipline. The classes will be held the Fridays of November 12 and 19 in the archive from 5 to 7

The mayor Santi Vila (Figueres) asks the ministry of Fomento (Promotion) that the new AVE station carry the name Figueres-Girona. Vila explains that the presence of the name of the city is necessary in the face of efficient management of the economic potential of the city.

Emergency services are looking for a man of 65 years who disappeared last Tuesday in Empuriabrava (Alt Empordà). His family presented a declaration of disappearance and since this Monday the local police, Mossos d´Esquadra and Firefighters of Catalunya are looking for the disappeared man.

From October 9 to the 12th in the streets of medieval Castelló d´Empúries you will discover corners full of art. Twenty-one spaces of the village will show you sculptures and paintings of 72 artists connected with Empordà, and also you will find municipal museums with open doors, conferences, concerts… with all the activities free.More information at 972 15 62 33 and in the web www.rutadelart.com

The twentieth anniversary of the Fiesta of the Anchovy has been a new success. The fiesta began with the opening speech and the delivery of the Anchovy of Gold in the event hall of the Ayuntamiento of L´Escala full to overflowing. The central event, as always, was the tasting of anchovies at the beach. Some 15,000 fillets were prepared, which permitted serving some 4,000 portions. Anchovies were served accompanied by pan con tomate (bread with tomato) and a glass of wine.

Telefónica and the reknown Spanish chef Ferran Adrià have signed today in Madrid an alliance for the next four years which will permit the chef to undertake the transformation of his restaurant in Roses, “El Bullí’.

The demolition of two buildings that were at the sides of the church of La Jonquera now has left uncovered a part of the apse that until now has been hidden, according to information published in the paper edition of the Semanario of Alt Empordà.

Sixteen sunken boats in the canals of Santa Margarita are removed. The Ayuntamiento of Roses and the Generalitat confront a cleaning demanded for a long time.

A man of 76 years has died of drowning this Monday afternoon in the beach of Roses (Alt Empordà). The incident occurred around four in the afternoon when the chief of the Fire station of Roses was going on the street where he was stopped by a person that alerted him that a man was drowning in the sea.

Services of emergency and public security of Catalunya and France now are testing the viability of the tunnel of Pertús to check that all is ready to be able to begin running the High Velocity Train (TAV) starting in December.

Some forest property owners are complaining that more than half a year after the great snowfall of March, they still have not received subsidies to clean the affected forests.

Access to the beach of los Palangreros of Roses will be improved soon with the creation of a recreational garden zone, which also will incorporate an access ramp to the beach that will eliminate the current architectural barriers. Specifically, the space that will be habilitated will be that between the parking area and the beach, works that will have a budget of 45,000 euros.

The councillor, Joaquim Nadal, has signed today with the mayor of L´Escala, Estanislau Puig, the agreement of collaboration that will permit pushing ahead the program of comprehensive rehabilitation of the antique center of the town, which will have an investment of 6.3 million euros in the next few years (between the Generalitat and Ayuntamiento). The project of comprehensive rehabilitation of L´Escala takes in practically the whole of the antique center of the village, which still concentrates an important part of the nearby businesses and of the population that resides in the town during the year.

The alleged perpetrator of homicide in Sant Pere Pescador has returned this Monday to his house in handcuffs and escorted by Mossos d´Esquadra for the visual inspection of the place where they found a cut-up body. The woman killed in Sant Pere Pescador, the dismembered body of whom was found in the freezer, is of Belgium nationality, as is the man arrested in relation to this case, Daniel Pierre I., as was confirmed today by his attorney Carles Monguilod.

The town of Figueres will host the construction of the first eco-neighborhood in Catalunya, fully thought from the perspective of sustainability and which claims to be a reference in the establishment of means which serve for evaluating the degree of respect for the environment that can be used in other neighborhoods. The project, which has been presented this Monday by the secretary of Housing of the Generalitat, Carme Trilla, includes transportation and mobility as two of the most innovative axes, since the neighborhood is planned as a space without cars, with parking in specific buildings, informed the Council of Environment and Housing in a communication.

The labor union Ustec-Stes criticized that eight of each ten high schools in Girona province enrolled in the program of computers in the classrooms still are waiting the laptops for the students.

The municipal service of biking of L´Escala has had more than a thousand users in July and August, which represents an increase greater than 6% with respect to the previous season. After three years, this summer service is demonstrating its consolidation, with more and more people interested in renting one of the municipal bikes to be able to visit the town in a comfortable and healthy way.

Thirty-five stands of producers of farm foods, tourist agents and artisans will fill Bergabolet, the fair of mushrooms which will be held in Berga (Berguedà) this coming weekend.

Figueres will triple the number of buried containers in 2012. The eleven spaces of underground containers that are currently in Figueres will increase to 30 in the next two years.

The labor strike in France which will take place from this Wednesday at 8 pm until this Friday at 8 am will alter the circulation of international trains that connect Catalunya with France, Italy, and Switzerland, according to a communication this Tuesday from the National Network of Spanish Railways (RENFE).

Castelló d´Empúries holds the Week of Safe and Sustainable Mobility. From the 22nd until the 29th of September is being organized a series of activities and initiatives that encourage those that want to commit themselves to the cause and to enjoy bicycling.

The electric tariff of last resort (TUR)—the only one that the Government fixes and which can benefit almost 27 million of homes will rise a little more than 2 percent in October, according to calculations made by the sector from data of the auction of energy carried out yesterday.

The campaign initiated at the beginning of the summer to try to eradicate the excrements of domestic animals in the streets and public spaces of L´Escala is giving fruit, in the form of an important decrease in the number of units that the municipal cleaning services have to pick up. In the month of May when a motor-vacuum was acquired to facilitate the process of collecting the wastes, they collected more than nine hundred units in a week.

The Ayuntamiento of Roses just approved the finalization of the works of development of the industrial sector of the road of Vilajuïga carried out by Incasól. Thus a long process is ended that began in the year 2001 and which has had to adopt modifications and complementary projects to preserve the natural environment that surrounds it and to arrive at its current configuration.

Figueres has debuted this Saturday the Route of Patrimony of the Historic Center. An itinerary which, by means of eleven informative signposts, passes through the spaces most emblematic of the city center.

Combating plagues of insects with the use of other insects is possible. This is demonstrated by the company Agricamp of Vilamalla (Alt Empordà), which more than ten years ago introduced beneficial species in green houses, gardens and trees in public streets, among others. It is what is known as biological fight, more and more accepted to be more respectful of the environment than chemical products, and for a greater effectivity in some cases. The ayuntamientos of Girona, Figueres, La Bisbal d´Empordà or Banyoles are found among the two score that utilize these services of Agricamp, which last year reached a billing of 4.6 million euros, and despite the crisis this year expects to increase 5%.

The volume of savings that residents of Girona have deposited in financial entities, especially in savings banks, have seen their volume of deposits reduced significantly. According to data from the Bank of Spain, at the end of June, the residents and businesses of Girona accumulated deposits with value of 14,846 millon, which is a decrease of 55 million euros with respect to the data at the close of the past year.

This Sunday, the Ayuntamiento of Roses will celebrate the end of the works of recovery of the Castle de la Trinidad with the popular fiesta “Todo el mundo en el Castillo (Everyone in the Castle)”, integrated with different acts and entertainment that will permit all the public to come near to the monument from a perspective of family recreation and fun.

The 26th edition of the Wine Show of Empordà closed its doors yesterday with a notable success of participation. In total 68,000 tastings have been served, which caused that they almost ran out of the cups of wine prepared for the occasion.

The Institutute of Empordan Studies, the Association Via Pirena and the Semanario of Alt Empordà, with the collaboration of the Comarcal Council of Alt Empordà, the ayuntamientos of Llançà, Palau-saverdera, Pau, Rabós de Empordà and Vilajuïga, the cellars Empordàlia and Espelt and the DO Empordà, are organizing the first conferences about “Empordà, the Land as Economic Activity.” These conferences will be held the Saturdays September 18 (Vilajuïga), September 25 (Llançà), October 2 (Palau-saverdera) and October 9 (Pablo), jointly with a program of guided visits to the four places emblematic of the comarca: The agricultural park of dry rock of Vilajuïga, the monastery of Sant Quirze de Colera, the Torre Mornau and the Cooperative Empordàlia.

The Mossos d´Esquadra have arrested two young residents of Roses accused of being the authors of the robbery which took place in early morning of the past September 7 and 8 in the Ayuntamiento of this town, from which they took the portable computer of the mayoress, Magda Casamitjana, and that of a councilor.

The next Saturday, the 18th, Vilabertàn celebrates the FIESTA OF SAN FERRIOL. At 5 pm, at the Paraje de la Fuente (Place of the Fountain) a children´s show will take place given by Fefe & Cia. At 6 pm, in the Plaza of the Monastery, there will be an Audition of Sardanas by the orchestra Selvatana. At 6 pm, in the Civic Center, a talk “Perspectives and use of Trichoderma spp” in horticulture given by the Union of Farmers and the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Action. At 7 pm, in the Plaza of the Monastery the Concert of the Evening by the orchestra Selvatana. At 11:30 pm, in the Plaza of the Monastery, Baile de Noche (Night Dance), end of the fiesta by the orchestra Selvatana and Disco Móvil.

The extravagant proposals of the president of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, to reduce costs of the airline, are not to the liking of its employees. In response to the idea of O’Leary to eliminate the copilots, a pilot in charge of the instruction of personnel of Ryanair has written an ironic letter to the British newspaper “Financial Times” in which he proposes to replace O’Leary with a flight attendant, who normally makes some 13,200 euros net per year.

This Wednesday the Acústica de Figueres 2010 begins, a musical festival fully established that attracts public from all Catalunya. In this ninth edition, from the 1st to the 5th of September, more than thirty performances have been scheduled distributed among seven stages in the area of the Dalí Museum.

The events of the fiesta mayor of L´Escala again start on Wednesday, September 2, with sardanas and theater—led by Dosics. The celebration ends on September 5 with the traditional fireworks next Sunday at 10 pm in the Platja.

A man has died from drowning this Sunday morning at a beach of Empúries, within the municipal boundary of L´Escala. According to the Mossos d´Esquadra, it was a man of 55 years of Spanish nationality. The man was at the beach of Rec del Molí accompanied by his family members when he entered the water and drowned. From this newspaper and in the view of the little vigilance existing at the beach, where according to witnesses present the appropriate flag was not placed, we advise to not swim at this beach on days of the tramontana. Unfortunately, this has not been the first accident like this at this beach.

The opening of the festival Visa pour l´Image, this Saturday in Perpignan, will be visited by Frédéric Mitterrand for the second consecutive year. The minister of culture will pass through the Convento de Minimos (Agreement? of Minimums), the principal space of the exposition. In addition to a series of views about the conflicts of the world, environmental challenges, and the disturbing traffic of contaminated metals from Chernobyl, the festival will be dedicated to photographs showing human spirituality.

This Saturday, the 28th, is closed the third edition of the Festival Surpas of Portbou with new and surprising performances. The inauguration took place Thursday with the opening of the exposition. Vida Local of the Finnish photographers Peka Turunen, Ritva Kovalainen and Sanna Seppo and with a very special performance in the tunnel of Portbou of Teho Mäjämaki Tappan Rinne where the two musicians played in acoustic interacting with the geography of the space and of the movement and interruptions of the public.

Unpublished images of the First World War in an exposition in the Museum of Exile in La Jonquera. The exposition integrates a hundred photographs coming from the collection of the General Archives of the Palace. What makes this exposition special this is that the majority of the images, which are supplied by the German agency Bild-und-Film Amt -one must say that also there are English and French-, were brought together by the Spanish king Alfonso XIII (1857-1885), who created in those years the so-called Oficina Pro Cautivos (Office for Captives), in collaboration with the International Red Cross, destined to look after humanitarian petitions of volunteers and combatants of that war.

After two days with temperatures that reached 38 degrees since Saturday in various comarcas of Girona because of the heat wave, it will be prolonged during the week, reaching the highest temperatures of the whole summer according to the Meteorological Institute of Catalunya. For those oppressive moments we recommend seeing this excellent video: http://vimeo.com/11575356.

Nightly stays in the hotels of the province of Girona increase in July. The hotels of Girona are saving the season thanks to local tourism, against the decrease of foreign tourism. The growth experienced by the hotels of the Costa Brava as well as the whole province of Girona is explained only thanks to tourism from the province, which in the face of economic crisis has opted for taking vacations close to home. Thus, the nightly stays in all the establishments of Girona have increased in July by 2% with respect to July 2009 and those of the seacoast by some 3.3%.

The snows of the month of March have delayed this year the beginning of the grape harvest of the bodega Espelt Viticultors of Vilajuïga (Alt Empordâ), the largest extension of the Denomination of Origin Empordâ, with 250 hectares which represent 12% of the total.

The president of the Generalitat, Pepe Montilla, will be in Roses this Tuesday, August 24, to participate in a popular sardinada organized by the coalition of PSC on the maritime walkway (in front of the monument to the fisherman), starting at 7 pm. The mayoress of Roses, the socialist Magda Casamitjana, president of the coalition, will accompany the president.

The man that was injured by a lightning strike last Thursday died this Monday in the Hospital Josep Trueta, according to sources in the health center.

Roses will fine the buyers of the “top manta (mobile street sales)” because, with their consumption, also “they encourage the illegal sales”. This is one of the points that the ordinance of civil behavior will include which is foreseen to be one more tool for eradicating the illegal mobile street sales in the city.

Last Thursday, August 19, technicians of DipSalut took samples of mud, earth, water and the surrounding area of the river Muga where it passes through Sant Llorenç de la Muga where cases of dermatitis have been detected among the bathers.

The head of the Program of Maritime Lifesaving of the Spanish Red Cross, has asked the parents that spend the summer with their children on the Spanish beaches that “they do not give example” with practices such as making holes in the sand to avoid people dying from being buried, a situation that has caused the death of two minors this summer in Spain, one of them in Castelló d´Emúries at the end of July.

Last Sunday the twentieth edition of the Collective Show of Painters of Portbou took place. It was a show in the open air, in the Rambla de Catalunya, during all the day. The influx of people was very considerable. In the Show painters from Portbou, from the comarca, and even from France were exhibited. In total, a score of painters exhibited more than a hundred works of all styles.

The third edition of the festival PORTalBLAU of L´Escala closed this Saturday with the performance of Miguel Poveda and the appearance of rain as an uninvited guest. The sprinkling obliged stopping the concert almost an hour, but afterwards it was able to continue normally. Also affected by the rain was the summer concert of sardanas of the CER and the habaneras of Montgó.

Caminos de ronda (coastal pathways), the task awaiting the Costa Brava. Walking along the Costa Brava to contemplate the coves and beaches from the cliffs is not always easy. Although there are improved stretches, many coastal paths are closed for the lack of security and the risk of rock falls, or simply just don´t exist. To this situation, one must add the imprudence of tourists, who risk themselves by walking at the side of the cliffs or rock slides despite the warnings of danger. From Alt Empordà to La Selva, the ayuntamientos criticize that there are stretches where for two decades no improvements have been made. In fact, the Generalitat still has works pending in the territory since 2007 and many items included in the state budgets are just left in the “cash drawer”.

Rural Agents ask for exemplary punishments against coral harvesters without licenses. Currently when agents take into custody a fisher of coral with illegal catches, they open an administrative complaint. This means that the cases end with only a fine and with confiscation of the coral and the material used by the poachers in this illegal activity.

It was the information bomb of the weekend, the declarations of the minister of Fomento (Development), José Blanco to the European Press in which he stated that the Spanish taxes are “very low” and indicated that in the future one has to think of looking for formulas to “approve the same (taxes)” to the average of the European Union with the objective of obtaining services and infrastructures of first class.

The group Salvem l´Empordà demonstrated in front of the castle of Quermançó (Vilajuïga) to draw attention to the environmental impact that is implied in the construction of wind parks and the lack of participation of the territory in the process.

A man of French nationality and 60 years old is in a critical state after being struck by lightning while he was on the beach of Rubina in Castelló d´Empúries. The mayor of the town advised that it is not a good idea to be on the beach on days of storms.

Last lap for the discoteque Passarel·la. Pasarela, a classic of festive summer nights, will say goodbye next year just when it completes a fourth of a century since its birth. For the part of the Ministry of Environment there is no intention of extending the concession in the same place, and in principle, the discotheque, the pub Marbar and the pizzeria that are just to the side will go to the ground together with other buildings.

The Department of Education of the Ayuntamiento of Roses continues pushing its project of gratitude and universalization of textbooks, subsidizing part of the cost of textbooks of students of the town of obligatory school age and incorporating new material in the Book Bank, created two years ago. These actions have a total investment of 205,000 euros.

The population of Sant Pere Pescador, located in the north of the Costa Brava, lives for and by camping according to a study by the firm Exedra Capital commissioned by the local association of these establishments, which shows that almost half of the PIB of the town comes from this business.

With tickets sold out for the concert of Els Pets, the International Festival of Music of Cadaqués closed yesterday the best attended edition in its history, with 20% higher attendance than last year.

A young woman was gravely injured this Sunday at midday after falling in an area of rocks near the Cala Rovellada, to the north of the town of Colera (Alt Empordà), according to a report from the Fire Department of the Generalitat.

The tiger mosquito has colonized a dozen towns of the comarcas of Girona, mainly those of the Selva seashore that borders with Barcelona. In these towns was where the first arrival of the tiger mosquito was detected and now it is a part of the habitat. Additionally, specimens of this insect, which is characterized by being very aggressive and by making painful bites, have been detected in some thirty other communities. Above all are the comarcas of La Selva, and Alt and Baix Empordà. The Service of Control of Mosquitos of the Bay of Roses and el Baix Ter asks residents that they adopt all the measures of prevention possible to avoid the continuing extension of the species.

In Figueres there are four museums: the Museum of Toys of Catalunya, the Museum of Empordà, the Museum of Technology of l´Empordà, and of course, the Theatre-Museum Dalí. These museums are normally open winter and summer, but now is when they have more relaxed and extended schedules, and a greater influx of visitors. One does not need excuses to visit, however, some are organizing special activities to attract more public.

The Columbian singer Shakira has spent the last week in the studios Music Lan of Avinyonet de Puigventos. The popular artist also has taken advantage of her stay in Empordà to visit, with all her coworkers, the Theatre-Museum Dalí. She did it Wednesday night and was there until the time of closing at 1 in the morning. Shakira, responsible for “Waka-Waka”, one of the official songs of the World Cup in South Africa, that many heard this summer will begin her world tour “Tour de las Delicias (Tour of the Delights)”, in the middle of September. November 24 she will be in the Palau Sant Jordi of Barcelona.

For the first time in five years specimens have been found of the type of locust “Plegamans” in Catalunya. It has been the Natural Park of Cap de Creus (Alt Empordà), which has an appropriate habitat for its reproduction, since it is an open area with roses and heather and not forested with brush. This ortoptero, characterized by measuring up to ten centimeters, is protected at the European level because of its extreme rarity. Also it has the ecological function of eating other types of locusts, which deters possible plagues. The Department of Environment and Housing announced that it will make a follow-up of the populations of the Plegamans locust to try to recover it.

Llançà-The Nautical Club receives certificates of quality. The dining room of the bar-restaurant of the Nautical Club of Llançà welcomed yesterday the act of presentation of the certifications ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 to the cited institution.

The Airport of Girona-Costa Brava recovers starting today the direct access to the passenger terminal by the principal road. It is an access for vehicles that consists of 2 lanes of four meters each with a new gateway of vertical signage to indicate the location of the terminal building and the entrances of the parking garages, P1 and P2.

The young composer, singer and bass player of the USA, Esperanza Spalding, accompanied by three equally talented young musicians-Dana Hawkins, drums, Leo Genovese, piano, and Ricardo Vogt, guitar-offered almost two hours of concert magic in the festival of Music of Cadaqués.

The singer Miquel Gil will perform this Wednesday in the festival Gastromusical put on by the restaurant Molí of l´Escala.

Underwater cleaning of the seashore of Llançà. The Nautical Club mobilizes its members for the 14th consecutive year. This Saturday, some fifty members and helpers of the Nautical Club of Llançà, aboard a dozen boats approached the beach of Canyelles, where they anchored the boats to create a zone of security, to protect the divers while they proceeded to clean the depths of the beach.

The interventions of the Red Cross in the Costa Brava have decreased 30% in July in comparison with the same month of the past year. Up to the 25th of July, the lifesaving teams have made some 3,558 assistances. The intention of this campaign is to promote the service of prevention and warnings and to introduce new flags so that users can identify the danger that is each beach.

The Ayuntamiento of L´Escala has begun various actions to reinforce the local emergency plan and to guarantee the proper functioning of the principle public services in any situation. In this sense, it has been decided to acquire various sets of electrogenerators, the first of which has begun to be installed this week.

The Fundation Gala-Salvador Dalí and the association Comercio Figueres have signed an agreement of collaboration. The objective is the reinvigoration and promotion of the commerce of the city, such as the diffusion of the Theatre-Museum Dalí at Night, which opens its doors in the night schedule from 10 pm to 1 am during the month of August. Specifically, the Foundation collaborates by furnishing tickets to the Theatre-Museum at Night, which will be awarded by a drawing among the users of the Tarjeta Comercio Empordà.

The group of camping organizations of Castelló d´Empúries and Empuriabrava, which includes Almatà, Castellmar, International Alberes, Masnou and Laguna, has denounced the restrictions included in the Special Plan of the Natural Park of los Aiguamolls of l´Empordà.

The first project of microcredits in Alt Empordà is pushed ahead. MicroBank, the Comarcal Council of Alt Empordà, Red Cross of Girona, and the ayuntamientos of Roses (Alt Empordà) and Figueres have signed this Monday their first agreement of collaboration, with the aim of facilitating the access to financing for those who need it and to contribute to the startup of new businesses.

The Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador (Astana) has been proclaimed for the third time in his sports career the winner of the Tour de France, after finishing the twentieth and final stage of the celebration leg between Longjumeao and Los Campos Eliseos of Paris, where he climbed the podium escorted by Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Dennis Menchov (Rabobank).

Aqualia, the business that manages the service of water supply in Cadaqués, made during the year a total of 2,355 analytic tests of the water, in which a total of 127 parameters were monitored, physiochemical as well as microbiological, a number above what is expected in current legislation. This exhaustive control over the quality of distributed water is maintained in the summer season, the time in which the town grows by the influx of tourists, maintaining the necessary guarantees to give effective service in the town.

The promoter of the concert that David Bisbal will offer in Roses, ATA Productions, has reported that now a total of 2,500 tickets have been sold for the spectacle which will take place in the Ciudadela next August 12. This number represents half of the capacity foreseen for the concert in Roses, which, together with Barcelona and Torredembarra, has been the town chosen by the singer to bring to Catalunya the direct and live presentation of his latest work, “Sin Mirar Atrás (Without Looking Back)”.

The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation is pleased to announce that this year the Dalí museums have received up to July 21 a total of 655,745 visitors, a number that shows an increase of 5.13% with respect to the same period last year.

The Acústica festival comes to the ninth edition dodging the crisis and presents a broad and eclectic program. The festival will fill the center of Figueres with live music from the 1st to the 5th of September.

Ryanair gives tickets to Barcelonans for going out for tapas. Next Wednesday, July 28, Ryanair will hold a drawing for 20 tickets completely free in the beach of Barceloneta (Barcelona).

The definitive location of the private Montessori school center is outside of Figueres and could be located in one of the neighboring towns of the Ampurdian capital, specifically in Peralada. The negotiations between the promoters of the teaching center and the Ayuntamiento of this town are very advanced.

The area of Social Wellbeing of the Ayuntamiento of Figueres has published in Braille the “Guide to Municipal Services for the Third Age” and the “Guide to Services for Infants from 0 to 3 years old”.

Excavations in part of the Greek city of Empúries have resulted in the discovery of a Greek bracelet of the fifth century before Christ, to which curative properties were attributed. The amulet, of polished black stone, was round and is decorated with different incisions. “The Greeks put it on the wrist and attributed mystical powers to it,” explained one of the archeologists of the museum, Quim Tremoleda.

The president of the government, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, affirmed that the title of champion of the world won by the Spanish football team is of the 23 internationals that played in the World Cup of South Africa, but also of the hundreds of internationals that have defended the “roja (red)” and “of all Spaniards.”

The artist Jordi Gispert will present next Thursday, July 15, a show of his latest creations in the Art Space of Celler Espelt in Vilajuïga. Gispert, son of Salt and with residence-studio in Gariguella has various years in which he did not have showings in the comarca, and for this occasion he has wanted to present unpublished works, recent works in painting and sculpture inspired by a trip to Tunisia.

The Museum of Cadaqués presents an exposition that revisits the history of the town from a hundred years ago with focus on the stay that Picasso made in the summer of 1910. Unpublished photographs , works of artists that represented the town in paintings and a dozen reproductions of works of Picasso are put at the disposition of the public starting this weekend and until January.

The company Endesa is inspecting by helicopter more than 2,500 kilometers of the medium voltage electric network of Girona. The apparatus, equipped with an infrared camera, follows the 160 lines that are in the demarcation and takes different readings to detect weak points, which is to say, those where the temperature is higher than normal and where there is risk of breakdown. Until now, Endesa has found some fifty (in the network renewed after the snowstorm as well as the old).

Colera will reform and expand the school Puig de Asquers with a project that has a cost of half a million euros. The works began this week and will be divided in two phases, the reform of the building which is scheduled to end in the summer for the beginning of the school year.

The councilor of Territorial Policy and Public Works, Joaquim Nadal (PSC), assures that the level crossings in Figueres will be eliminated, but that this will be when the work of the TAV is ended in 2012.

Rosas projects an amusement park and a large sports complex with a wind tunnel. The park will be constructed at the entrance to the town and will open from June 15 to September 15. The wind tunnel will be situated on land near the company Zodiac.

The Llançà will open a new building for firefighters. The new facility will be situated across from the football field and will multiply the current space by ten.

Since last Friday in Cadaqués the new regulation for parking spaces has begun operating in the area of the Riera de Sant Vicenç. From now on, only residents who pay the tax of circulation in Cadaqués and which carry a sticker which the Ayuntamiento gives free to its residents will be able to park.

Four ports of Alt Empordà obtain the blue flag of quality for their waters. These are Llançà, Port de la Selva, Roses, and L´Escala. Currently the distinction of quality is awarded by the Association of Environmental Education and of the Consumer—European Foundation of Environmental Education.

The full session of the Ayuntamiento of L´Escala awards the first 17 parking places of the new garage inaugurated a few days ago in Plaza Catalunya.

This weekend, July 16 and 17, Llançà will give honor to the oldest residents of the town with the celebration of the Fiesta of Carmen, a marine festival that features the traditional procession of the Virgen of Carmen through the streets of the town.

Last Friday night, a joint operation involving local police, Mossos d’Esquadra, and the Guardia Civil took place in Roses against illegal sales which resulted in the seizing of 250 kg of material.

The subterranean parking at Plaza Catalunya in L’Escala opens its doors this weekend, with an offering of 205 places next to the urban center of the town. The act of inauguration has been Friday, and this Saturday and Sunday one was able to park without charge, to make the new infrastructure known.

Roses will be converted this summer, together with Barcelona, into one of the Catalan stages chosen by the singer David Bisbal to present his latest work “Sin Mirar Atrás (Without Looking Back)”. The concert, for which now a total of 10,000 tickets (25 euros) have been put on sale, will take place August 12 in the Cultural Space of the Ciutadella, as a part of the Fiesta Mayor program of the town.

The councilor of Environment and Living, Fransesc Baltasar, has assured that the new water purification plant of Colera (Alt Empordà), inaugurated Friday morning, will guarantee “forever” the supply of water to the area and will improve its quality.

The ecological group Salvem l´Empordà cut the highway C-31 at midday yesterday near Ventalló to protest against the unchecked urban growth of the comarca under the theme “A comarca for a future with dignity.”

The forests of the Albera park show tourists how cork is obtained. The Bodega de Vino Espelt of Vilajuïga plans guided excursions to learn the fabrication of cork bottle tops.

The fishermen of Roses distribute about 2,000 servings of fish suquet. Ferran Adriá participates in the fiesta and delivers the distinctions or honours of the gastronomic campaign.

The expansion of the bridge over the river Fluvià in Sant Pere Pescador enters into service. The new bridge, which has a bicycle lane totally separated from car traffic, has won in esthetics and safety.

The heat of last week has raised the temperature of water at the beaches. On average it has risen from 18º to 20º. At the beaches of Empuriabrava and the mouth of the Muga river, sea water presented a green color due to the proliferation of microscopic algae.

Cadaqués was two days (last Friday and Saturday) without telephone service. The company Movistar had a breakdown that left the town without service of fixed or mobile phone or Internet.

Change of location of the staging of the festival of the Castle of Peralada with a double motive: to reclaim the Renaissance façade of the castle that up to now was covered and to put emphasis on the gardens that make the environment so special. Until now the stage was set up next to the castle, but starting this year it will be placed at a far corner of the garden.

The occupation in the Girona coast during the 4-day weekend of Sant Joan has been situated between 80 and 90%.

Motodescoberta SCP, a small business created last year in Empordà, has presented a project called MotorbikeXperience, which advertises the street motorbike as the best means of discovering the territory.

The Guild of Itinerant Merchants of the comarcas of Girona have planned to begin a series of demonstrations to demand that the Thursday market in Figueres return to be held in the barrio of Poble Nou, specifically in Avenida de los Països Catalans.

Rosas claims the Suquet de Pescado (Fish Stew). The kick-off of the campaign takes place next July 2, coinciding with the popular tasting that the Cofradia of Pescadores offers each year.

A band of thieves that worked in Roses is broken up. Six people have been detained as presumed authors of eleven robberies in houses, most of them second homes, which occurred since the past month of March.

The councilor of Innovation, Universities and Business, Josep Huguet, has inaugurated this Saturday in Vilajuïga the second Center of Tourist Housing (CAT), which is being put into operation. This CAT, which has seen an investment of more than 800,000 euros, is dedicated to sacred hiking trails, taking advantage that Vilajuïga is located near the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes.

A wine cellar of Cadaqués plans to live a direct experience about the world of wine. Ten years ago the family Martin Faixó recovered the tradition of family wine-making on some lands in the middle of Cap de Creus. Near this place, in 2003 they acquired Mas Perafita, a masia of 1,800 square meters from the 14th century which they converted into a bodega where they make the wine Cadac y Perafita. Now also they offer a plan of wine tourism, which combines housing with an introduction to the world of wine.

The sailing ship Nessum Dorma will set sail this midnight in the port of Roses with the objective of making a tour of the world, sponsored by the Board of Tourism Costa Brava.

The members of the full council of the Ayuntamiento of La Jonquera have passed a resolution to reduce the salary as an anti-crisis measure and also as a gesture of solidarity for the officials.

A team of architects and draftsmen from China have visited Cadaqués to photograph its corners and recreate them in Xiamen, in a project of construction of a city of vacations inspired by this town of Empordà.

Friday July 2, the mayor of Llançà inaugurates the School of Art of J. Martinez Lozano in la calle de La Creu, 11, at 7:30 pm.

Also on Friday is being organized a popular session of aerobics in the Plaza of L´Univers a 7 pm in L'Escala.

The same day, July 2, Roses plans to celebrate the day of San Pedro with a popular Suquet de pescado (fish stew) in the plaza of Sant Pere at 5 pm with the local Cofradia of Pescadores in charge.

The Ayuntamiento of Castelló d´Empúries, meeting in regular full session on May 27, 2010, approved UNANIMOUSLY supporting the allegations presented by the Association of Campings of Castellón before the next approval of the Special Plan of the Natural Park of the Aiguamolls of l´Empordà.

The cruise ship The World has made its first stop in the port of Roses this Monday with 241 passengers aboard. This ship has apartments available in which the passengers are owners or renters, which permits it to be a floating residence and to travel by sea to different countries of the world. The port of Roses is becoming the second port of the Costa Brava that receives cruise ship traffic. The tourists that arrived today aboard the cruise ship have planned to walk through the town and to visit the Dalí museum and the city of Girona, among other points of the Costa Brava.

After months of debate and of making a survey of the residents of the residential marina of Empuriabrava, the new group called Unidad y Defensa de Empuriabrava (Unity and Defense of Empuriabrava) (UDEM) has been inscribed in the registry of political parties this month of June, presided by the activist Joan Augé.

The ground floor of the municipal building in the street del Puerto, 49, now is the headquarters of the Collection of Malacologia Matilde Espinosa. It was opened this Sunday and permits educating about mollusks of 400 different species of the world.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres will modify the Ordinance of Civility and Coexistence so that citizens could not wear a face covering in municipal buildings and facilities, the use of the Burka being prohibited in this type of installation.

Again this year, the Council of Culture of La Jonquera has organized, with the collaboration of the Photography Section of the ACEJ, the Photographic Contest of the Albera, with the aim of stimulating artistic creation toward the values of this natural park.

The chef from Quebec Justine de Valicourt and the Moscovite Elena Tsipchecko have been the winners of the first International Scholarship Ferran Adriá. The scholarship allows a stay in the Casa de los Forestales of Sant Martí d´Empúries, l´Escala, to develop their projects.

Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries existed in Europe and also in Catalunya the so-called witch-hunt. An exposition of the Museum of History of Catalunya analyses this phenomenon uniquely and suggests some explanatory hypotheses. The show in itinerant format makes a stop in the Canónica of Vilabertran where it will remain until October 17.

The rehabilitation of the center of Roses continues. The Plan of Neighborhoods has a total budget of 8.63 million euros, supplied in equal parts by the Ayuntamiento and the Generalitat, for the four-year period 2009-2012.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres and representatives of the hotel establishments of the city have decided, after different meetings held in the last months, to work on initiatives that would serve to promote and extend the stays of visitors in Figueres. The first of these actions, worked on by the municipal area of Tourism and the hotel sector, has firmed up a new tourist package that includes: a stay in one of the hotels of Figueres, entrance to the Theater-Museum Dalí, a guided visit to discover all the corners of the city, as well as discounts in the rest of the cultural installations like museums and the Castle of Sant Ferran.

As of today´s date the beaches of Alt Empordà are free of jellyfish according to the latest reports of the Catalan Water Agency (ACA). The quality of the water is excellent at 100% of the Catalan beaches. The temperature of the water is between 19 and 20ºC at most of the beaches.

Selective collection of municipal trash in the comarcas of Girona remains stable. In 2009, 28.5% of the trash generated was collected selectively, a number similar to that of 2008 but below the Catalan average.

The school Jaume Vicens Vives of Roses will begin the new school year next September, introducing new classrooms and spaces destined to the smallest students of the center.

The Commission of Patrimony asks the owner of the Castle of Vallgornera of Peralada that an archeological survey be made in the works that have been done without permission. The works of adaptation of the monument into a hotel have been done without the obligatory agreement of the Commission, and despite that the Ayuntamiento of Peralada has asked that the works be legalized, Patrimony has not done it. Now the case remains in the hands of the General Direction of Cultural Patrimony of the Generalitat which will take adequate measures after knowing the results of the survey. However, the director of territorial services of Culture, Miquel Sitjar, now has announced that a sanctioning action could be initiated.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres will present an appeal against the agreement of the government of the Generalitat, approved the past June 1, in which are delimited the seven priority zones of development for the installation of wind generation parks in Catalunya.

The Englishman Andrew Gourlay has been the winner of the tenth edition of the International Competition of Orchestra Direction of Cadaqués after surpassing his rival, Venezuelan Domingo Garcia Hindoyan, in the final test. This competition, which has been held between the 3rd and 8th of June in Cadaqués and the Auditorium of Girona, has been convoked since 1992 with a biannual frequency with the objective of discovering and promoting young directors and to offer them the opportunity of having a tour with some thirty of the most important Spanish and international orchestras.

The Ayuntamiento of Perpinyan has approved unanimously a motion to convert Catalan into the language co-official language, together with French, in the territory of Catalunya del Norte.

This past Tuesday the Association Tramuntanets, association of parents of handicapped children and young persons of Roses and surroundings, and PRODER SL, a municipal business charged with the management of the Municipal Pool of Roses, signed an agreement that permits the access of the members of the entity to the sport installation through some special conditions.

An assassin in Darnius inspires a novel. The writer Llorenç Capdevila, known for his historical stories such as “Serrallonga, el Ultimo Bandolero (the Last Bandit)”, puts aside the genre and, starting with some real facts, constructs his new title, “Bajo la piel (Under the Skin)”, a black novel, with an important psychological component and some characters on the edge of the abyss.

PORTalBLAU – Festival of Music and Arts of the Mediterranean, of L´Escala, organizes the 1st conference of debate Cultural Cooperation in the setting of the Mediterranean. It deals with a series of debates and activities that should contribute a point of reflection and of interchange among the festivals that are held in the different shores of the Mediterranean.

Next Saturday, the 19th, Cadaqués organizes a festival of Urban Music in “La Sala” at 10 pm.

Also Sunday at 10:30 pm in Llançà a concert of Habaneres takes place at the ermita of Sant Silvestre.

Roses organizes a guided visit to Cap de Creus—Punta Falconera Saturday the 19th at 10 am. It leaves from the road of Cala Montjoi.

The summer campaign begins with 100% of the beaches with excellent quality. It is planned that during the season some 16,000 inspections of the Catalan beaches will be performed, a minimum of 4,500 samples of swimming water analyzed and about 1,200 weekly mailings of the results. Also a videocamera will be installed in the aircraft that will record all the flights of control to analyze the presence of jellyfish in the open sea and to be able to evaluate with more precision the observation of the coast.

The crew of Thalassa celebrate 20 years with events in various towns among which is el Port de la Selva, where the ship moored yesterday afternoon, and where diverse activities will be done such as a sardinada, habaneras, or visits to the ship. The town has been the stage for reporting on various occasions.

The entrance of the economic crisis has made fall by 17% the profits of the 100 companies of Girona with the greatest billings. So a study finds, made by the consulting firm KPMG and the University of Girona (udG), which analyses for the first time the principle economic indicators of the group.

The average price of renting in Catalunya has fallen for the sixth consecutive trimester and has been situated at 823 euros monthly, 6.5% less than a year ago, according to the Department of Environment and Living. Thus, the price of the rentals continues the tendency downward that started 18 months ago, when it was 926.3 euros per month in the third trimester of 2008 and has continued decreasing to arrive at 823,29 euros.

Two thousand years ago, during the era of the Romans, the towns of L´Escala (Alt Empordà) and Port-Vendres (Rosselló) had a fluid commercial relation by sea. Olive oil, wine or salted fish filled hundreds of amphoras in the boats. Now 2,000 years later, the two ayuntamientos have been united to begin a tourist route that brings visitors by boat from one town to the other. A trip of some two hours during which the tourists get to know details not only historical about the commercial relation between the two ports but also about the geography of the coast. The routes begin in July and, each Saturday, also permit the visitors to stay to pass the day in one town or the other.

Figueres projects to install towers in roundabouts with wind turbines to generate electricity. A wind turbine company has proposed the system based in small wind generators that could supply current to 20 houses.

They place the first stone of the visitor´s center of Empúries. The restoration of the Roman forum of Empúries permits knowing about the vital center of the ancient city.

The first inhabitant of Castelló d´Empúries discovered. Only her legs were uncovered but it was sufficient to determine, four years after the excavation, that it dealt with the first person of Castelló. A girl buried between the years 659 and 778 in the subfloor of the antique pre-Romanesque church of Puig Salner. With the analyses of carbon-14 in hand it has been possible to determine that the remains of that skeleton belong to the Visigoth era and therefore are the oldest ones found up to now in the municipality of Castelló d´Empúries.

The ayuntamiento of Sant Pere Pescador, the Comarcal Council and the company Sersall1995 SL have presented publicly the implementation of trash containers Easy in this municipality.

The delinquency rate is reduced in a spectacular form in Perpignan. The services of the State in northern Catalunya communicated Tuesday the decrease of 38% in the delinquency rate since the month of January in the disadvantaged neighborhoods La Real and San Mateo, near the city-center of Perpignan. The forces of development and of strategy of the state police, above all technologies, such as the cameras of vigilance installed by the Ayuntamiento of Perpignan, form part of the plans officially promoted.

Roses will recover the old laundry rooms of the Riera Ginjolers. The old laundry rooms, situated at the street Puig Rom, were constructed in the times of the Second Republic (1932), with the municipal purpose of making them available to the most disadvantaged families of the population, that did not have available a living space with running water nor the space necessary to do the washing:

Only one of each ten vehicles that have passed by the radar controls in l´Escala surpassed the permitted velocity limit. In the last three months, there has been a campaign of information, during which the velocity of 2,740 vehicles has been measured. Of these, only 273 circulated above the maximum velocity marked in the street, but much less (1%) were the ones detected by the radar at a speed that could be considered dangerous, which is the attitude that is claimed to be achieved with these controls.

Ecotourism in Llançà. The Area of Tourism of Llançà has put into action initiatives such as gastronomic conferences and routes through vineyards and wine cellars.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres will install security cameras in the street after an avalanche of robberies in cars parked in the city has been registered in the last weeks..

The Audiencia of Girona has absolved the hotelier of Cadaqués (Alt Empordá) Joaquin Martinez Miró, accused of defrauding the personal secretary of Salvador Dalí, John Peter Moore. The accused faced a penalty of 21 years in prison, accused of abusing the confidence that the secretary had in him to cheat him and make him sign a document of rent to gain control of the hotel that Moore had in property in Cadaqués, ´La Residencia´. The ruling, however, dispels doubts, it is believed, point by point in all the version that Miró gave during the trial and absolves the hotelier of all charges. The Audiencia emphasizes that there is no proof to conclude that the signing of the rental contract was obtained by means of fraud.

The Department of Environment has announced a new economic item to continue the work of cleaning in the forest zones affected by the snow storm of March 8. In this way, the five million to recover forest trails one must add 3.5 million more to continue the tasks beyond next June 15.

The ecologic group Salvem l´Empordà yesterday at mid-day cut the highway C-31 near Ventalló to protest against the “unchecked” urban growth of the comarca under the slogan “A comarca for a dignified future.”

The group Salvem l’Empordà has held this Sunday at mid-day a protest demonstration about C-31 where is passes Ventalló in protest against the new roadway that connects Figueres and la Bisbal, and the project of installing new wind turbine parks. The event lasted about an hour and brought together more than a hundred people.

Sunday, during the whole day, Castelló d´Empúries held the 13th Fair of bread, flour, and wheat during the weekend “enfarina’t!”. A fair for smelling, trying out, touching, dancing, playing, learning…. Bread, buñuelos, food, sticks of bread and cheese, Catalan bolos, country, and games have been the leading players. And a market with the most diverse products!

The Art Space Espelt of Vilajuïga opened this Friday its doors transforming its space into a type of gigantic box full of imagination, creativity, and fiesta. The aim is quite simple, since has been inaugurated the exposition “Ventura & Hosta machés: 30 years”. An anthological exposition in which is collected much of the work of these art masters of paper maché since its beginnings in 1980!

The Ayuntamiento of Roses applies starting this Monday new improvements in the reduced tariff that it offers in regular transport service of travelers between Roses and Figueres to those greater than 65 years old, such as a cheaper price or the creation of an identification that will permit the recharge of trips and does not need to be renewed. Starting this Monday, May 24, the users that benefit can present themselves in the bus station to apply for the new card. The application of the new improvements permits the beneficiaries to make the trip Roses-Figueres o vice-versa for only 1 euro.

The beach of Empuriabrava continues to obtain certifications of quality. A few months ago the main tourist beach of the town obtained the prestigious recognition of the Institute for Spanish Tourist Quality, the Q of Quality. Now the Ayuntamiento of Castelló d´Empúries has worked intensely to obtain two new certifications that accredit as the System of Integrated Management of Quality and Environment, ISO 14001 and the EMAS.

The second edition of the Fiesta Andaluza organized by the football club based in Roses has had a great success of participation this weekend. The event with most attendance was the outdoor Mass.

Catalunya has received during this month of April a total of 1.13 million tourists, 7.2% less than the same month of the past year. The closure during a number of days of the airspace of Europe because by the volcanic ash cloud has been one of the causes of this decrease of tourism in our country, which has been aggravated in the rest of the State, where the fall in tourism in April has been 13.3%.

The Department of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Action (DAR) in colaboration with Education and Health and with the associations of fruit producers Catalunya Quality and Asofruit, will promote in the next school year the consumption of fruit and vegetables among students of primary schools of Catalunya.

This Sunday, May 23, has been held in Perelada the second Meeting of Classic and Antique Cars. This event has brought together the owners of more than 50 antique cars—up to 100 years—and classics—up to 25 years—which were exhibited in Avenida Constitution.

In Roses they have just finished the works of expansion of the municipal cemetery with the construction of 44 niches. With this project, it is wanted to give response to the needs of the Roses cemetery, which currently has about 3,000 niches, to be able to meet demands in accordance with the forecasts and the current occupations.

The mayoress of Roses, Magda Casamitjana, has suffered this Tuesday morning an aggression with a knife while she breakfasted in an establishment near the ayuntamiento.

The Ministry of Environment has licensed the works of reform of the maritime walkway of Colera for a total of 1,414,530 euros. The time foreseen to finish is 5 months, and the resulting walkway will have a length of 175 meters and a width of 18 meters. The current one was constructed in the 70’s and since then there have not been improvements.

The works of remodeling of the Ribes of Cadaqués that the State just finished will oblige restricting access to businesses intermitantly for a question of security, while machines proceed with the demolition of the litoral to replace the services (restrooms). The work, which now suffers delay, should be finished before June 15.

The port of L´Escala again is the showcase of the boat. This refers to the Floating Show of New Boats, which this year celebrates its 2nd edition, May 8 and 16, thanks to the work together among the association L´Escala and the nautical businesses of the zone.

Santa Margarita distrusts the municipal proposals. The residents of the residential marina do not see clear the posture of the Ayuntamiento of Roses. None of the three times of meeting in different languages that the Ayuntamiento of Roses convoked last week in the Municipal Theater have served to change the attitude of the residents of Santa Margarita about the situation of the delimitation with the Law of the Coasts.

The last episode of rains has augmented the reserves of the reservoir of Boadella, the only one of the Catalan reservoirs that since months ago drags in a precarious situation. The water that has fallen in the last hours has permitted the stored volume to surpass 22 cubic hectometers, and the reservoir now is found at 36.6% of capacity.

The Roman Forum of Empúries of the municipality of l´Escala, recently restored, will receive, this summer, the third edition of the PORTalBLAU-Festival of Music and Art of the Mediterranean, with an ambitious goal of improving spaces and programming. Miguel Poveda, one of the great figures of contemporary flamenco, will be the headline of the poster of the festival.

The councilor of Fiestas of Figueres, Joaquín Felipe, reports a positive balance of the Fairs and Fiestas of Santa Cruz. “Despite the inclement weather we were able to speak of a positive balance of the fairs just finished”, explains Felipe who adds that “the majority of the sports and street events that were suspended the first weekend because of rain have been able to go forward, as is the case of the children’s street.

Castelló d´Empúries receives an important resource from the XVIII and XIX centuries. The family Mayor has given a collection of books and notarial documents of great historical importance for Castelló. The destination of this documentation is the Municipal Archive of Castelló d´Empúries, where these documents will receive adequate treatment, will be elaborated in the corresponding catalogs and will be put at the disposition of investigators and users that consult the Municipal Archive.

The fishing sector loses about 200,000 euros because of the tramontana. The sea storm and the strong tramontana that affected the Costa Brava have left practically 100% of the fishing fleet of Girona moored in the ports. The intense waves and the gusts of wind, which have reached 169 km/hr, have made it such that few of the 200 boats of the fishing guilds of the Costa Brava would dare to cast their nets.

The electric company Endesa will compensate residential clients with 60 to 80 euros per day that they passed without supply of power because of the snow storm and wind of March 8, excluding the first 24 hours of outage, informed the company, which also will create a fund of 1.5 million for the ayuntamientos of the affected towns.

Next Friday, May 7, a hundred students of the Isla de Rodas Institute of Roses, culminate the work carried out in preparation for the Day of Europe of this year, with an intense academic and celebrative program, in the Ciutadella of Roses

The Ayuntamiento of Roses will approve in the full council of May a new ordinance that regulates the activities permitted on the beach. The text places sanctions of between 150 and 6,000 euros for the illegal masseurs that have proliferated in recent year on the beaches of the town.

The number of participants in the different competitions of the Marathon of Empúries has reached 1,420 persons this year, some 45% more that the past year (1214 have finished the races).

Public roads in danger in the comarca of Alt Empordà. It raises the question by the 2 weeks they have closed the neighborhood road from La Jonquera to Espolla in the town of Cantallops at location of the limits of the place of la Corpella and the place of Bell-lloc. This attempt against the rights of passage and public roads, defined and achieved in a secular manner, is found just to the side of a controversial street recently paved and a few meters from a newly constructed road and in judicial process.

The eve of Sant Jordi, last Thursday, April 22, in the evening, was the date chosen by Brau editions to present a round table in the setting of the Art Space of Celler Espelt, in Vilajuïga, with aim of the presenting the book “Ernest Lluch and the Economy of Empordà”, by Joan Armangué.

Toni Nadal, the meteorologist of TV3 gave the starting shot of the 7th Fair of the Countryside of Catalunya in Palau-Saverdera with a talk about the weather, titled the “Tramuntana”. The Fair has lasted all weekend and had its ending this Sunday with a Round Table about “The Tramuntana and our Health” and the closing musical of the Trio Musical’s.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres, through an agreement of the Local Government Council, has approved the creation of 94 new jobs with a contractual duration of 6 months. The contracts will be from June to December of this year and a total of 658,000 euros are destined.

The Cultural Association Project Desat’Art of Figueres and the Glam Group have begun the promotional events of the Glam Festival that will be held next June 26 in the Ampurdan capital, a festival of contemporary art with artist booths from all Catalunya.

The artist Antonia Vallejo shows a dozen works with the principal theme based in images of the Ampurdan capital in the Café París of Figueres.

The project to install a Montessori school in Figueres has raised the interest of up to four towns of the urban area of the city. However, if there is no unexpected change at the last moment, the Montessori will not be moved from the capital.

The organization of the Marathon of Empúries, which will be held Sunday May 2, makes this year a jump ahead for opening itself to the maximum number of participants possible. In this sense, in addition to the marathon (42.195 km), there will be a half marathon and a popular race of ten kilometers, leaving eliminated the third marathon that had been done in past years.

The programs of the Fairs and Fiestas of Santa Cruz 2010 include few new items with respect to other editions, above all, for the budgetary cuts that the representative municipalities have placed at 30%. The total quantity of the events also has been reduced, passing from 150 in 2009 to 100 this year.

The Spanish Congress of Deputies has approved this past Wednesday a proposition not of the law in which the Government is asked to freeze the proceedings of demarcation carried out by the Ministery of Environment in the Empuriabrava marina.

The administration of the lottery number 1 of L´Escala, known popularly as “La Anchoa Millonaria (The Millionaire Anchovy)” is selling Christmas Lottery with date of the final of the Champions League. The administration of L’Escala has also the number 22510 for the drawings on Saturdays. La Anchoa Millionaria now has begun to receive requests from different points of Catalunya and the rest of the State to buy decimos (lottery ticket shares).

The Empordan business Miquel Alimentactió Grup has announced that it will initiate a plan of expansion of the Spar supermarkets that will open 500 stores in all of the State in the next 5 years.

The past Sunday, April 18, 2010, the pianist and composer Josep Vicens Busquets left us at the age of 92 years, grandson of the prestigious musician and composer of L´Escala, Josep Vicens Julio, “Avi Xaxu (Grandfather Xaxu)”. Destiny made it that Vicens y Busquets would die on the same date as his grandfather, which happened April 18, 1956.

The Mossos d´Esquadra have arrested José R. M., resident of Malgrat de Mar, age 41, accused of a crime of robbery with force. The accused attacked telephone cabins in Roses and the material damages caused surpassed 700 euros.

The Department of Culture definitely authorizes the works of expansion of the Hostal d’Empúries in L´Escala after the commission of Patrimony received the results of the study recommended by archeologists of the department, where it was confirmed that they do not affect the archeological remains.

It has taken 5 months for the architect of Figueres Jordi Cuadras to construct in three dimensions the cathedral of Castelló d´Empúries. The result of the intense work takes practically the aspect of an aerial photograph with all kinds of detail: the flying buttresses, buttresses, roof tiles, apse, side chapels, bell towers, etc. (http://www.castello.cat/upload/Flash/basilica.swf)

The Andalusian airline company Andalus has suspended ¨temporarily¨ the routes that unite Girona and Maón, Palma de Mallorca, for the ´very low demand´ that it has had this month of April according to the head of Marketing and Sales of the company, Juan Hidalgo.

After long and intense meetings between the Ayuntamiento of Figureres and the promoter business Promo Artes Music, this Monday has taken place the signing of the agreement that guarantees the continuity of the Acústica Festival in Figueres during the next 3 years.

The Generalitat has activated four new transmission centers for Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) in the comarcas of Girona. The action is laid out in the plan Catalunya Conecta. The new transmission centers have been activated in Begur and Calonge, in Baix Empordà, and in Olot and Pont de Molins, in Alt Empordà. The new equipment gives coverage or expands what already exists.

Three of each four persons of Empordà recycles. 19.2% of those surveyed try to purchase products with the least packaging possible.

The Area of Environment of the Ayuntamiento of Roses is implanting a system of control of seagulls to minimize to the maximum the bother that these birds cause on flat roots and elevated zones of the buildings of the town. The placement of devices on the public facilities and the loan of a service of assessment to private persons form part of this campaign, subsidized by DIPSALUT.

The Ayuntamiento of Roses will be present next April 16 and 17 in the tent that will be installed in the plaza of the Constitution of Girona with motive of the realization of the exposition “La Europa Social (The Social Europe)”. During the event, Roses will present the project “ESF6 CIA”, consistent in the study of the procedures and resources that help with labor insertion in agreement with the new parameters of the European labor market.

The works on the crossings of the streets of Figueres enter into their final stage. The Area of Mobility of the Ayuntamiento guarantees the opening of all streets during the fairs and fiestas of Santa Creu.

The Foundation RACC (Royal Auto Club of Catalunya) has collected the complaints of citizens about mobility, and among the most numerous is found the absence of pedestrian crossings in the highway N-II, where is passes through La Jonquera. The Foundation has claimed that residents play with their life in many cases in crossing the road.

Next Friday, April 16, in Roses prizes will be awarded to the best photographers of the recent Carnival at 7 pm in the Municipal Library.

L´Escala is organizing an interesting guided visit to the megalithic grouping of Els Estanys Mas Baleta (La Jonquera-Catallops) and to the Dolmen del Barranco of Espolla. It leaves from the Museum of L’Anxova next Saturday, April 17, at 9 am.

Castelló d´Empúries is organizing a walk against Cancer Sunday, April 18, from the football field of Empuriabrava starting at 10 am.

The tourist operators of Girona province have managed to avoid the crisis this Semana Santa. Hotel occupation, in the coast as well as the mountains, has satisfied the most optimistic expectations.

In Garriguella, in the comarca of Alt Empordà, has been celebrated the now traditional Fair of Garnacha and el Buñuelo. The buñuelo, very appropriate for Lent, is made with a dough of egg, milk, flour, and water, which goes to the skillet to be fried. It is a dessert proper for Lent. In addition to trying the buñuelos and the Garnacha, also it was possible to participate in the competition of tasting of Garnacha, an exceptional sweet wine, typical of the area, warm and silky.

The Living Way of the Cross (El Via Crucis Viviente) of L'Escala occupied the streets of the old town center this past Friday evening, with some 130 actors involved in the presentation. This is the second year that this spectacle has been presented, organized by the Cultural Association El Rosetón, and which incorporated some new items in some of the eight scenes.

Zodiac is organizing in its factory in Roses from the 7th to the 9th of April, a conference directed to the principal merchants and distributors of the military and professional sectors. On the occasion of this event, the company will carry out demonstrations of its new boats from the Port of Roses, which will serve to make the equipment known among professionals that have come from all the world.

Cap de Creus and la Albera, candidates for European Heritage. The Comarcal Council of Alt Empordà presented at the end of the year in the European Union the candidates for selection to the seal of Patrimonio Europeo (European Heritage). At this moment, they are completing the requirements that have been sent to them. Initially, the candidacy had been put together for selection for Patrimonio Mundial (World Heritage), but it was withdrawn before Unesco took the final decision because they had the certainty that it would be rejected for some deficiencies.

The mayor of Palau-Saverdera, Narcis Deusedas (CiU), confesses in an interview that the Semanario of Alt Empordâ publishes this Tuesday that the problem generated by the decree to destroy the Sun Village complex has brought upon him many personal conflicts, even to the point that he was ready to present his resignation, which was not accepted by his party.

Álvarez de Castro and his time (1749-1810) is the exposition that is installed in the Sala Martin Zermeño of the Castle of San Ferran of Figueres, until June 18. It deals with an anticipated representation of what should be the future Military Museum of Figueres.

Endesa guarantees power for Semana Santa. The Generalitat approved this past Tuesday a decree of help for those affected by the snow storm, according to an announcement today by the councilor of Governing (Interior), Jordi Ausàs, in Girona, where Endesa has guaranteed to businesses and storekeepers the supply of electricity during the next vacations of Semana Santa.

This Friday has been celebrated in the Celler Espelt of Vilajuïga the inauguration of a collective exposition with the title of “9 Arte Nuevo (New Art)” with the presentation of the works of four young artist of the comarca. Among them Elena Kudry, Russian creator established in Vilajuïga who has exhibited in different galleries, among them, 3 years ago, in the same space Espelt and who now will present us her latest creations for the “Legends of Catalunya” and a show of a great literary-pictorial project for the Canadian and North American market.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres will initiate the steps for the installation of citizen security cameras in three specific spaces of the city. The measure is taken as a reaction to the increase of theft in vehicles parked in the public streets. The points where it is planned that the citizen security cameras be installed are the street Rubadonadeu and the public parking areas of los Fossos and of the Polideportivo (Multisport).

This Monday evening, the Espacio de Arte Espelt, in Vilajuïga has held a new edition of the “Citas con … (Appointments with …)” in which running through the different sessions have appeared outstanding persons of the world of culture, gastronomy, and the world of wine. In this occasion, it has been the turn of the reknowned chef Sergi Arola (Barcelona-1968), who before some 400 persons has explained his life and experiences in the world of cooking.

A strike in the French railway company SNCF between this Monday at 8 pm and this Wednesday at 8 am will alter the circulation of the long-distance trains between Barcelona and Milan, Zurich, and Montpellier, as has explained Renfe, which will put into effect an alternative service by highway.

Cap de Creus and las Medas, setting of a game for the Wii, “Dive: The Medes Islands Secret” tells the story of a treasure hunt in search of the secret of Martin I “The Human” and the mysteries of his order.

The Generalitat has opened a notice of subsidies to facilitate for those citizens that live in urban areas and rural zones that have a total or partial lack coverage of TDT the acquisition of equipment to capture the signal of digital television via satellite (TDT-SAT).

The consequences of the snowfall are still present. Although Alt Empordà has not been punished as much as other areas of the region, such as Baix Empordà, there are still problems in diverse zones with fallen power lines that provoke intermitent cuts in electricity. Normality is being recovered progressively and it is hoped that this week this sad episode can be left behind. A total of 111 mayors of Girona province now have signed the manifesto that demands measures of the electric companies and the Government to avoid the situation that the towns have lived through after the snow storm “is not going to be repeated ever again.

The Generalitat of Catalunya is added to the legal measures against the expropiations in Empuriabrava initiated by the Ayuntamiento of Roses headed by its mayoress, Magda Casamitjana.

The businessmen of the hotel industry face Semana Santa, which this year is celebrated from the 1st to the 4th of April, with a “very low confidence” in many zones of the coast of Andalucia and the Eastern Peninsula due to the fact that the beaches and seaside have been seen very affected by the storms. As far as the controversy over the increase in the IVA, the businessmen assure that they should be able to pay from their “theoretical profits” the recapture decreed by the government of 1% that applies to this activity, which is currently 7%.

The snowstorm produced a landslide on the road that unites Llançà and Port de la Selva. The two towns are without communication until road crews of the Ayuntamiento reestablish traffic.

The works of reform on the Casino Menestral of Figueres are under way again after the signing of an agreement between the Ayuntamiento and the constructor. According to the mayor of the city, Santi Vila, the reforms could be finalized by the summer of 2011.

The Ministry of Defense will begin the works of rehabilitation for the future military museum in the castle of Sant Ferran of Figueres next year. Thus announced yesterday the Director General of Infrastructure, Mónica Melle, during a meeting in the fortress where she also explained that the reform implies an investment of 9 million euros and that during this year the architectural and museographic projects of the space will be brought to a conclusion. The edifice of the Casa del Gobernador (Governor´s House) will house the museum in an total area of 2449 sq meters distributed in 2 floors.

Castelló d´Empúries has restarted the project of regeneration of the beach of la Rubina and the State will invest 500,000 euros in the works. The first phase will consist of construction of a parking area and an elevated walkway.

The Castle of Púbol reopens its doors with the temporary exposition of the book “les chants de Maldoror”, a book illustrated in the year 34 that combines the text of the author with heliogravures.

Perelada offers the possibility of again enjoying the pleasant movie “Un Chien Andalou” within the cycle of Cultural Experiences of the Museum of the Castle of Perelada next Saturday the 20th at 11 am.

Port de la Selva is organizing an excursion to the natural park of Cap de Creus Saturday, March 20. For more information, you can call 972-529-360.

Figures is organizing the first urban race of San José Sunday, the 21st. The race will begin on the Rambla at 10 am.

The snowfall of last Monday in the comarcas of Girona provoked chaos without precedent in Alt Empordà as well as in Baix Empordà. In a few hours, from the middle of the day on Monday until nightfall, between 20 and 50 centimeters of snow fell in practically all the towns, even those on the coast. It was sufficient that the most important highways, N-II and AP7, were blocked for hours. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped and their passengers had to spend a horrible night enclosed with the heat on maximum in the hope of being rescued, something that did not happen until Tuesday morning.
Three towers of the High Voltage line that came down on AP7 made enormously difficult the deployment of the services prepared by the plan of the Catalan government, to now sadly known as NeuCat, which did not function at all.
As a consequence of the fall of the towers and of numerous electric poles, the large majority of the towns of Empordà lost their electric supply—specifically around 3pm on Monday.
Without power, without heat, without hot water and in some cases without water, we have lived these last days. The majority recovered, in a stepwise manner, the supply yesterday, Wednesday, around 7pm. More than 2 days in darkness that many took advantage of to flee to the house of relatives or friends, leaving towns empty with stores closed and with a ghostly aspect.
Today, still there are important towns such as Lloret, Sant Feliu de Guixols or Platja d’Aro that hope the supply to be restored, something that seems only possible if electric generators are put in place, since in the Costa Brave south the electric infrastructure is very damaged and it could take even weeks for it to be repaired. According to the electric company, today still 30,000 people continue in darkness.
As far as mobility, today important retentions still exist to cross the border at La Jonquera although traffic has been opened and it is possible to circulate.
RENFE still accumulates important delays in its lines that circulate from Girona toward the north. Today, Thursday we have to lament the first death, which deals with a resident of Ultramort (Baix Empordà, near Verges) who has died because of inhaling smoke from a home generator.

Tourism raises its head lightly and who knows if it will again descend, but for the moment the data corresponding to hotel occupation for the month of January permit a certain optimism. While nightly stays have increased in Spain an insignificant 0.3% and in Catalunya a notable 15.6%, for the hotels of Girona province the increase has been a more than hopeful 33%, even though January is the least touristic month.

This morning has taken place in the Ayuntamiento of Roses the signing of the agreement of collaboration between Dipsalut, the Ayuntamiento of Roses and the Roses Foundation Against Cancer for the study about the use of alternative complementary therapies with cancer patients. The project, which foresees that it will last until March 2011, will be carried out with patients of the Catalan Institute of Oncology submitted to treatments of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical interventions.

The Ministry of Fomento (Promotion) considers as priority the construction of the European gauge railway between Figueres and Portbou in “a very short time”, according to words of the secretary for Mobility of the Government, Manel Nadal, who has pronounced this Friday a conference titled “The Intermodal Platform of l’Empordà”.

More than 2,000 Gironans wait for operations. The waiting list of patients to be operated in the Health Region of Girona maintains itself in relation to 2008.

The police have accused 6 people in Empuriabrava of having simulated robberies. In the first case, it had to do with five tourists that pretended a robbery with force in the dwelling where they stayed in order to collect insurance and, in the second case, it dealt with a seller of lottery tickets that claimed that he had been victim of a robbery with violence and intimidation in the street.

The users of the CAP of Empuriabrava should direct themselves to Castelló d’Empúries while the works of remodeling are finished.

The new office of tourism of L´Escala situated in the zone of Riells will be 10 times larger than the current one and will be inaugurated this Semana Santa.

Cadaqués adds itself this year to the Picasso Network and recalls the stays of the painter in this area. In the next days will be celebrated a commemorative exposition and the signing of an agreement with the Picasso Foundation.

Port de la Selva organizes a voluntary donation of blood today, Tuesday, March 2, starting at 6 pm in the Sala Ball del Moll.

Next Friday, March 5, in Figueres is to be inaugurated the exposition “Lyric Constructions. Man Ray/ Leandre Cristófol. The object and the spirit dada” in the Municipal Theater El Jardi.

The wine cellars Espelt de Vilajuïga present a collective exposition of paintings and photographs about Sant Pere de Rodes until the 14th of March.

The Watercolor Museum of Llançà plans an exposition of the artist Rosa Grau until the 28th of March.

The Ayuntamiento of Roses will appeal to the Spanish National Audience the decision of the Ministry of Environment approving the demarcation of the canals of Santa Margarida. The ministry has rejected the allegations that the ayuntamiento had presented against the proceding. Facing this situation, the ayuntamiento has opted for the judicial path because the administrative one now has been exhausted. The resolution of the ministry has approved the demarcation of a total of 13,791 meters of length of the marina of Santa Margarida, awarding the condition of goods of public domain maritime-terrestrial.

The Ayuntamiento of L’Escala has sent 3,820 euros to the Catalan Fund of Cooperation for Development for making tasks of aid to ones disadvantaged by the earthquakes of Haiti. The municipal groups renounced their allotment of the month of January to participate in this cause.

A man died of drowning when his car fell in the principal canal of Empuriabrava, Castelló d´Empúries. The vehicle, with French plates, has been extracted with a tow-truck at the middle of this day.

Portbou and La Jonquera want the State police to patrol the streets and they affirm that the current Mossos d’Esquadra are not sufficient.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres approved yesterday the recognition of the invoices not admitted from 2009 for a total of 337,855.95 euros, of which 224,616 are entered in the area of Culture. The rest, with value of 113,239 euros, correspond to other councilors. The secretariat has issued a report in which it says that the contracts of Culture do not comply with the standards and the PSC defends its management.

The unions of professors have convoked today a strike for next March 17 against the policies of the Councilor of Education of the Generalitat, which Ernest Maragall directs.

The informative session about the 28 flats of official protection that were constructed in L’Escala now has a date. It will be held Tuesday, March 2, at 7 pm in the event hall of the Ayuntamiento.

The arrival of foreign tourists grew 0.9% in Catalunya during January, according to the Survey of Tourist Movements in the Border (FRONTUR). As far as the countries of origin, the French market has continued its recovery and has returned to show an increase in the number of arrivals with an increase of 5.5%, although the United Kingdom and Germany—despite having negative percentages—continue being the origins most relevant.

Almost a thousand and a half persons have enjoyed this year of the Carnival of Castellón. A good time accompanied the four pasadas that were organized in Empuriabrava and Castellón, making the Carnival a true fiesta of music, light and color.

Foreigners affiliated with Social Security fall 5.88%. In all of the State there are 1,806,873 foreign contributors, 3.7% less than in January of the past year.

Professors of the University of Rome and the International Organization of Museums have visited the Ciudadela of Roses this week.

El Espacio de Arte Espelt, in Vilajuïga, will hold next Friday, February 19, starting at 8 pm, a double cultural encounter. On one hand, the presentation will take place of the novel “Tras los Muros (Behind the Walls)”, by Núria Esponellà. In parallel a collective exposition will be inaugurated of different artists which, with the title of “Visiones de Sant Pere de Rodes”, offer us their particular vision of the monastery in painting, sculpture, and photography. The participating artists in this collective show are Sebastián Agell-Sastre, David Ansón, Ricard Ansón, Carles Bros, Carme Esmerats, M ª Pilar Farrés, Yvonne Heinert, Elena Kudry, Daniel Lleixà, Francisco Moreno-Jiménez, Joaquim Pedret i Rovira, Monse Plan, Begoña Ramos, Lluis Roura and Jaume Simón. The exposition can be visited in the Espacio de Arte Espelt until Sunday, March 14.

This Thursday, February 18, the new installations of Emergency Service of the Hospital of Figueres enter into operation. Starting at 7 am the persons that need this help should be directed to the new unit, located in the East Building and which has its own access from the Ronda Rector Arolas.

A project for a cross-border ring of cyclo-tourism. The proposal, called “Enlace (Connection, Link)”, consists in creating a cyclo-tourism route between Catalunya and France of 400 km that would take advantage of networks of green routes and cyclo-tourism and that would unite the Catalan speaking territories on both sides of the Pyrenees.

A project driven by the Diputación of Girona and “La Caixa” has permitted environmentally recovering grounds of the natural park of Cap de Creus affected by fires. In all, 6,500 cork oak trees have been planted in the area of the trails of Santiago and of the Dólmenes, in Vilajuïga, with the objective of recovering the forests of this species that had been in the zone.

All the artists that have participated in the 29th Mini Print International of Cadaqués will begin to receive this month the catalog of this edition. This shows the six winning engravings at real size and the reproduction to scale 40% and color of all the engravings that have been exhibited in this edition. The catalogs also are sent to relevant institutions, museums, coworkers and MEDIA especialized in all.

The Ayuntamiento of Llançà has projected to locate solar panels in two of the municipal buildings, the multi-sport pavilion and the football field, for supplying hot water.

In the hope that the ministry of Environment would initiate the project of the second phase of the maritime walkway, the Ayuntamiento of L´Escala will invest some 150,000 euros to complete and improve the emergency works that were made last year.

The new daycare nursery of Castelló d´Empúries has begun to be constructed, therefore the Ayuntamiento of Castelló d´Empúries has initiated a campaign to find the best name for this future education facility.

Alt Empordà Tourism has attended, this past weekend, with its own booth and under its own logo in the Salón de Tourism Mahana of Toulouse, with the participation of the offices of tourism of Llançà, L´Escala, Empuriabrava and Figueres.

A decision of the Superior Court of Justice obliges the Ayuntamiento of La Jonquera to give, in the period of 15 days, permission to continue the works of the macroprostibulos (brothels) stopped in 2006. The Ayuntamiento denied the license basing it on a report of the Mossos d’Esquadra that affirmed that the local could bring problems of traffic and crime.

The mayor of Figueres, Santi Vila, has decided to suspend the councilor of Culture, Ciro Llueca, of his functions. The decision has been motivated by the relation of invoices from the year 2009 without budgetary appropriations originating from the area of Culture.

A vehicle cleaning company of Llançà, Ecowash, has launched a new product to wash cars without water, biodegradable, harmless to the environment, which generates no waste, and which does not require energy consumption, permiting saving between 100 and 250 liters of water.

The mayor of La Jonquera, Jordi Cabezas, is blunt when he says that his town has many more possibilities than the city of Girona so that IKEA would decide to install itself in his town. Jordi Cabezas affirms that La Jonquera gives many more urban facilities to the Swedish chain and one of the giant steps that has been taken to appear more attractive in the eyes of the managers of IKEA has been to rezone some rural lands without development that are industrial so that they can be converted to commercial uses.

The temporary move of the Thursday clothing market in Figueres will be a reality next February 18. During recent weeks all the applications that remain pending to start the works of construction of the underground parking of the Paseo Nuevo have been released, which will oblige moving the booths to the neighborhood of Poble Nou.

Sant Pere Pescador has held the event of inauguration of the new mulituse sports pavilion presided by the vice-president of the Government, Josep Lluis Carod-Rovira.

The reservoir of Boadella is 20 percent below the average of the last 10 years.

The famous meteorologist of TV3, Tomàs Molina, offered last Saturday in the hall Pere de Noves of Garriguella a discussion about meteorology before 200 people.

Figueres has been designated by the European Commission (CE) as leader of the Project Imagine, a task that it will develop together with the French city of Rennes, and which will fall upon the councilor of the Environment, Richard Elelman. “Our work as leaders of Imagine will be to promote the interchange of environmental experiences and initiatives among the public and private sectors”, explains Elelman.

The mayoress of Roses, Magda Casamitjana, received the Certification of Family Tourism Destination for the town of Roses, in the framework of the celebration of the Fair FITUR that took place in Madrid and which ended the past January 25. Roses thus becomes part of the destinations of the province of Girona accredited with this distinction, which until now only Blanes and L’Estartit boasted, with which is certified their specialization in family tourist housing.

A workshop of the Educational Plan of Environment of Roses plans the creation of a musical group with recycled material. The workshop will take place starting next February 5, every Friday, in the Activities Center of Roses (CAR). To be able to participate, it is necessary to enroll on February 1 (from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 to 6 pm) in the Department of Education of the Ayuntamiento on the street Tarragona, 83.

Roses now is a member of the Spanish Association of Nautical Stations. In a meeting held the past Tuesday in Madrid was accepted its entry and the obtaining of the certificate that accredits it as Nautical Station, a tourist travel mode that in Europe moves some 18 million people.

The military zone of Sant Climent puts at risk a possible tourist future for the Alberes. A military base at the foot of a natural park creates a certain ideological opposition, added to the list of small incidents that have accumulated in the memory of the residents of Sant Climente over the years, makes some residents of the small nucleus of Vilartoli, a neighborhood next to the field for military exercises, question whether this activity is compatible with the future development tied to ecological agriculture and perhaps rural tourism.

Almost one of each three people that have died on the roads of Girona have been victims of traffic accidents on National II. During 2009, there have been a total of 62 fatal victims on the interurban roads of the province, of which 18 have lost their life on this highway.

The castle of Sant Ferran of Figueres is holding starting this Friday a photographic exposition about the daily life of six homoparental families.

The Department of Environment has pushed forward new projects and work for the prevention of forest fires in the Natural Park of Cap de Creus, which will affect an area of more than 32 hectares.

The full assembly of the Ayuntamiento of L´Escala has approved this Friday, unanimously, the project of constructing the new municipal daycare nursery, a proposal that is desired to be an example of sustainability and of the use of renewable energy, an objective especially important for the installations destined to the early training of the smallest residents of the town.

The citizens of Castelló d´Empúries will be able to request a protected housing unit from the ayuntamineto. Once the petition is formalized, the person receives a temporary code for access to their application. At the moment that there is a movement in the process of award, the Administration puts together a list according to the type of housing (for youth, for older people, for example), the type of award (rent, buy, or rent’to’buy) and the location, and finally holds a drawing.

After the work of closing the Municipal Multisport Track (Pista Polideportiva) of Roses located on the road Mas Oliva, a project that was just finished, the Ayuntamiento of Roses is preparing now its adequacy as Municipal Multiuse Space. The objective is that the building could be used during all the year, for sports activities as well as other social events, parties, etc, that are held in the town..

Portbou is holding an exposition of photographs about the withdrawal of the republicans and the exiles after the Civil War.

The campaign of Navidad closes with fewer sales. Figueres Comerce Association situates the fall between 5 and 10% and forecasts the season of rebates to be similar to that of the past year.

The Ayuntamiento of Castelló d´Empúries sees a positive balance in the flow of people that have taken advantage these past Christmas holidays to visit the town. As always, the tourist offices are a good indicator, taking note of the consultations that they receive during this period. Of the statistics prepared, it should be highlighted the 894 consultations made between the two offices, increases in the number of visits received in the historic center and maintaining those of Empuriabrava with respect to 2008. 53% of the consultations made represent the French public, and the rest are Catalans, Germans, and the rest Spanish.

The Technical Specialists in Deactivation of Explosive Artifacts (TEDAX) of the Mossos recovered and destroyed in a month, before the recent holidays of Navidad, a total of 945 explosive artifacts from the Civil War in a forest of the town of Capmany.

The second phase in the shutting down of analog television in the comarcas of Girona will begin this Wednesday, January 13. Although TDT is practically guaranteed in all areas, there are up to 28 inhabited nuclei of 17 towns that do not have sufficient coverage in the province and they must wait for TDT to come to them by satellite. In Alt Empordà, we find 3 whole towns situated in a dark zone without TDT coverage, which are Biure d´Empordà, La Selva de Mar, and Terrades.

The total prohibition of smoking in entertainment venues in Spain will penalize around 70,000 establishments that carry out reforms for a value of some 1,500 million euros to adapt to the regulations that came into effect in 2006, as has criticized the Spanish Federation of Hosteleria and Restauración. However, during the first days of 2010, the prohibition seems to have little repercussion in the venues of Empordà. In the majority of the establishments where it is permitted to smoke, smoking continues, above all in bars and nighttime venues.

The Ayuntamiento of Portbou plans to start the last works on the Sala Teatro (Theater Hall) La Congesta which should permit definitely opening it.

Motor fuels have risen 3% the first week of the year. Once more the counter of euros goes faster than the one for liters of gasoil (Diesel fuel). And again, to the disgust of consumers, gasoil increases. A liter of this fuel surpasses again the euro in some gas stations.

The Camino de Sant Jaume will reach the urban section of El Port de la Selva after the works finished by the town council with the objective of avoiding that its beginning and end would be at the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. The avenue JV Foix of the center will be the physical point of arrival and departure of the emblematic Sant Jaume, which will be marked with a monolith of identification. Moreover, the Generalitat has edited a guide of this space of the section between the coastal town and Montserrat.

Peralada will hold on Sunday, January 17, the traditional Fiesta of San Antonio Abad during which there will be a gathering of the herds in the Paseo de la Principal of Peralada and afterwards the horse ride through the streets with the accompaniment of a band to the church of Sant Marti, where the animals will be blessed. The fiesta will be accompanied by other sardana bands and a popular dance in the afternoon.

L’Escala is organizing a day of blood donation next Friday the 15th in the Multipurpose Room of the Casal of retirees, starting at 4 pm.

Llançà is organizing an act of finalization of the year Amades next Sunday, January 17, in the Plaza Mayor at 12 noon.

The Ayuntamiento of Figueres has made known this Monday the numbers of the budget for 2010, a year still marked by the economic crisis and therefore with measures of contention. The total number reaches 55.9 million euros, numbers fairly similar to those of the year 2009, which were 54.7 million euros.

The Reyes Magos (Magi) arrive in Cadaqués this Tuesday January 5 at 6:30 pm at the entrance of the town. In Llançà they do it half an hour earlier, at 6 pm, and in this case they do it by the sea, in the port of the town. Two hours later they arrive in Roses, at 8 pm in the Plaza Federic Rahola.

The Generalitat has proposed that an important center be made in L´Escala for the interpretation of natural and socio-econmic means that connect the natural park of los Aiguamolls de l´Empordà and the future natural park of the Montgri, las Medes and the Baix Ter. The department of Environment highlights the strategic importance of L´Escala as a municipal boundary that ties the two parks together and solidifies the interest for making this center of interpretation in Mas Vilanera.

Again this year the three Kings (Magi) from the East will arrive in Castelló d´Empúries by sea. They will disembark from their boat in the sport port of Empuriabrava and will attend to the boys and girls in the Plaza de las Palmeras. At 7 pm their majesties will arrive at the historic center by the street Santa Clara with all the royal court, offering a short journey by the streets until their arrival at the Plaza de la Catedral. In case of rain, the receptions will be held in the civic center and in the municipal salon.

To confront the urban growth that Roses experiences, the Ayuntamiento has initiated the process of renumbering the streets of the town with the objective of solving the lack of signage and numbering that some streets present and thus avoid the problems of that this fact implies to the residents. The Ayuntamiento brings this project to a close to facilitate the locating of properties of Mas Boscà, Mas Matas, and El Cardo.

The famous Hotel Terraza of Roses is 75 years old. The commemoration has begun Saturday January 2, 2010, with the presentation of a book and a DVD.

Prices rose almost a point in España in December. The harmonized IPC is situated at 0.9% in the month of December, 2009, after rising a half a point with respect to November.

A study ordered by the Generalitat of Catalunya reveals that Alt Empordà is the comarca with the most sport anchorages of all Catalunya while that Baix Empordà is the one that offers the most places of tourist lodging.

A young man of 23 years was evacuated yesterday morning from the Cave of the Infierno, in Cadaqués, after suffering an accident and needing the assistance of fire fighters to remove him.

The Urban Guard of Figueres will increase the use of mobile radars during 2010. The presence of this type of radar will be situated principally in the main roads of access to the city according to a report from the Ayuntamiento.

This Tuesday a new parking area with 416 spaces will open behind the Hospital of Figueres. The new parking area can be seen on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd1tfrB9jgY.

The municipal budget of the Ayuntamineto of Castelló d´Empúries forecast for the year 2010 is placed at 20,303,000 euros, 6.2% more than the previous year.

The comarcas of Girona will have a network of cooperatives throughout 2010 so that groups most disadvantaged by the crisis will be able to acquire food at a better price.

The citizens of L´Escala have given a warm welcome, this day of Sant Esteban, to the Roca del Fraile. A storm from the east knocked over this emblematic rock 27 years ago. The rock had to be put on a pedestal of concrete and the point has been marked in the ground from which one has to look to see the figure of the fraile, since it is visible from only one specific angle.

Cadaqués is organizing its New Year´s Dance in the municipal pavilion on the 31st at 12:15 in the night.

Roses is celebrating the end of the year with a fiesta in the plaza Federic Rahola at 12:30 with the presence of the popular discomobile Gres-K. Admission is free.

Next January 2, 2010, Llançà plans the traditional concert of Navidad in the Casa de Cultura at 12 noon and with the performance of the group Musijoves.

The first day of the year is received in Perelada with the performance with live actors of a living nativity in the gardens of the Castillo at 7 pm.

The administration of the lottery L´Anxova Milionària of L´Escala dealt out more than a million euros in the last drawing of Navidad. Among the prizes awarded, the most important was for the number 09994 which matched the termination of the first prize of 78294.

El Port de la Selva will save 700,000 liters of water when the new tank of reclaimed water enters in operation. Situated in the zone of el Mirador II, the water from the tank will be used mainly for the irrigation of gardens, industrial use and cleaning. The cost of the installation has had a cost of 452,000 euros.

Impressum: Ernst Witzel, Paul A. Hoffstein, Manuel Fernández Vila, Christel Arnold, Geraldine Steffler, . Article contributions, even when being seriously serious please to cconline@cbrava.com. CapCreus online, every day a little more
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