A house in La Siesta in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca has been left unfinished for 14 years .The Town Hall has requested that the plot be cleaned up and that a wall be built around the property to keep out vagrants and others .It has become a centre for anti-social behaviour .An order was issued to the owners at the end of December 2008 to get the work done within a three month period .The Town Hall knows that the order has been received .A representitive of the Twn Hall will now check on the property and if the work has not been done an embargo will be placed on the account of the owner to withdraw 10 monthly amounts of money to cover the cost of the work .Once the money has been paid then the work on the property will begin .

The owner has asked for more time to do the work and says that he has a potential buyer .However this is a ploy that he has used before and he has never fulfilled his obligations.This accessing of people’s bank accounts without as much as a ” by your leave ” is truly a very scary thing for the state to be able to do .Tere have to be other methods of acquiring what is needed from a citizen .

Tourism occupation in the Costa Blanca’s Finestrat reached 87% during the San Jose fiesta weekend There were lots of Spanish visitors , especially from Madrid .They represented 44% of the total market .There was also a visit from a group of 30 Norwegian visitors who were given a conducted tour of the area by the Mayor .

Mundomar in Benidorm isn’t just a place to go and look at animals , there is a more serious side to the park and that is their breeding programme , particularly for animals which are at risk of becoming extinct .The latest additios are three ring-tailed lemurs .It is a native of Madagascar and is in danger of extinction there .Because they have to get moving from birth the babies are born with a full coat of fur and with their eyes wide open .The Benidorm brothers Miguel and Luis Noriega were welcomed at the Town Hall last week to congratulate them as winners of the XXII edition of the 200 Millas A-2 Altea -Ibiza -altea race .The Noriega brothers are the sons of a well known retired British doctor .

Many Costa beaches have started their cleaning programmes in readiness for the Easter holiday .Alfaz del Pi began doing their improvement work , cleaning , repairing and improving the popular pebble beach .Here there is a play area for children , a beach library and many other facilities .

The largest environmental conference takes place in Alicante until April 3.In 2007 there were more than 17,000 visitors .More than 140 companies who are committed to sustaining the environment will be showing their products and services .

March 29 saw the Alfaz del Pi dog show taking place on the Costa Blanca .The show was specialised as it only featured German Shepherd dogs .The show is staged in conjunction with the Real Club Espanoldel Perrode Pastor Aleman and it will be the 39th to take place in Spain .Almost 200 dogs will compete in 12 different categories .All of the dogs have a pedigree and are certified to take part in the show .The dogs are not just local but come from across Spain and other European countries .

There was an arrest on the Orihuela Costa this week when a Lithuanian man was taken into custody .He had three arrest warrants outstanding which had been issued in courts in Trrevieja and he had forged identity papers .Anther couple , this tome Romanian , were arrested for pickpocketing in a supermarket .

Pieces of art from the British Museum will be on view in the MARQ Museum in Alicante from April 2 .The artefacts travelled to Alicante by road and were guarded by a team of experts en route .Each exhibit was packed in its own especially made transit case and some of them had thermal imaging devices within the packages which helped control the temperatures .

It comes in strange forms this aid for the unemployed on the Costa Blanca .There is the unprecedented offer of a major builder Enrique Ortiz who is offering those who purchase his 150 unsold properties in Alicante the promise that should they lose their jobs and are unable to pay their mortgage then the mortgage payments will be paid by his company for a maximum of three years or he will offer them a job .This is the first time a builder has made such an offer in Alicante Province and many warn that you need to read the small print in the contract very carefully  before embarking on such a course of action .His properties cost from 250,000 euros and cover 3 and four bedroom apartments .Unions see this as a ploy to support his ailing company .

Telefonica is also making special offers to the unemployed by giving their unemployed clients a reduction of 20 euros on their phone bills .The President of the company has also said that mobile and fixed line users will have 50% reduction on their bills until the end of the year .People should apply on line .

The hotel chain Magic Costa Blanca is also offering the unemployed discounted holidays at their hotels , up to 35% for an unemployed couple .How people who are unemployed are able to take holidays is another thing and a highly unlikely state of affairs for most sane people however much they would like to do so .

The Mayor of Denia had to go to court last week to answer charges of holding a government post without the required qualifications .Sra Kringe was given the post working for the Provincial Government in Alicante and she was promoted to the position of head of the ProvincialTourism Board ., a job which she held for one year before ousting the then Mayor of Denia Paqui Viciano .

In her defence she says that she was given the job by the Provincial President Sr Ripoll.She was assured by him that everything was in order and done correctly .She also claims that she was given the post because of her close links with Sr Ripolland that he gave her exemptions from the necessary qualifications .She also claims that the information was published more than a month before she took up the post and nobody made any complaint .

Sice becomig the Mayor of Denia Sr Kringe has shifted her allegiance from Sr Ripoll to that of the President of the Valencia Government Francisco Camps and has distanced herself from Alicante .

The ongoing dispute about the removal of sand from beaches in Denia continues as the pipeline being built to carry gas from Denia to Ibiza goes on .This week the environment councillor demanded the return of the sand to the Les Deveses beach .It appears that there is still a shortfall of sand and this must be replaced otherwise there will be disastrous consequences in stormy weather .