CalpeNoticias EN

What to do in Calpe this weekend, 16, 17 and 18 May

Friday, 16:

• • From 2 pm - 25th anniversary of IES Ifac. Music, games and lots of fun. Plaza Mayor.
  • 5 pm. Blood donation. Local Red Cross Assembly. Calle María Jorro, 1 (local 1).
  • 8 pm - 2nd Calp Piano Festival with a performance by István I. Székely. Saló Blau. Free admission.
  • End-of-year exhibition by ADA (Friends of Art) students. Exhibition Hall of the Casa de Cultura. Until 30 May.
  • Exhibition ‘Personajes’ by the Frax Foundation. Exhibition Hall of the Ajuntament Vell. Until 29 May.

Saturday, 17:

• • Event ‘Tarjeta de Embarque Berberiscos’ (Berberiscos Boarding Pass). Purchase tickets from members of the filà. In aid of Alférez Moro 2025. Plaza Mayor:
  • 2.30 pm – Lunch
  • 5 pm – Afternoon concert with Xaranga
  • 9 pm – Performance by DJ Incógnito
  • 5 pm. Gardening workshop. Youth Club (Punt Jove - Plaza de la Constitución).
  • 6.30 pm – Guided tours of the old town. Registration required on 965836920 / 965838532 / 677912754 / turismo@ajcalp.es. Maximum 25 people per group. Meeting point: Casa de Cultura.
  • End-of-year exhibition by ADA (Friends of Art) students. Exhibition Hall at the Casa de Cultura. Until 30 May.
  • Exhibition ‘Personajes’ by the Frax Foundation. Exhibition Hall at the Ajuntament Vell. Until 29 May.

Sunday, 18:

·       5pm – Table football tournament. Youth Club (Punt Jove – Plaza de la Constitución).

The Town Council puts out to tender the pruning service for the next four years for €612,040

Calpe Town Council is putting out to tender the pruning and maintenance service for the central reservation in the municipal area for a period of four years, until December 2028, with a total tender price of €612,040.

The contract is divided into four lots: 1) old town and urban expansion, 2) southern area (Avenidas Masnou and Valencia and residential areas), 3) beach area (Avenidas Ejércitos Españoles and Juan Carlos I and beaches) and 4) northern area (access roads, school and sports areas and residential areas).

The purpose of this contract is to prune the trees on public roads and green areas in Calpe, including the comprehensive maintenance of the vegetation on the central reservations of various avenues and streets in the municipality.

The document details the content of each lot: work to be carried out, spatial scope (parks, green areas and roads contained in each lot) and tree species. The specifications also include plans detailing the areas of action.

The specifications also specify the types of pruning allowed, the pruning seasons, the specific requirements for the removal of plant debris to authorised landfills, etc. It also establishes that the comprehensive maintenance of the shrub species on the central reservations of the avenues will be carried out four times a year and that this action will include pruning, weed control and maintenance of the irrigation network.

In addition, the successful bidder will provide the City Council with a series of GIS layers showing the location of trees and hedges on the central reservations, along with their location, pruning date, code and name, etc.

Calpe will have a Municipal Housing Plan

Calpe Town Council plans to tackle one of the most pressing problems in the municipality: the lack of housing. To this end, it will hire an external specialist firm to draw up the Municipal Housing Plan, a document that will study the housing situation in the town and propose a programme of measures to address the problems identified in the assessment.

The aim of this initiative is to facilitate access to decent housing for citizens. The lack of housing in Calpe has become a structural problem in the municipality, aggravated by the increase in tourist accommodation and prices, compounded by the fact that the municipality has a limited and highly urbanised territory. The situation has led to sectors such as tourism being unable to find workers due to a lack of affordable housing.

This strategic plan will be a roadmap with short-, medium- and long-term measures and is intended to have a cross-cutting approach, i.e. urban, social and economic, and to be adapted to the characteristics of the municipality.

In this regard, the study of the housing situation provided for in the plan should include an analysis of the population and the housing needs of families residing in Calpe, especially those used as primary residences, with a specific section on people and groups at risk of social and residential exclusion, as well as on the situation regarding evictions. Likewise, an analysis of the housing stock in Calpe will be carried out, reflecting its state of repair, tenure (rental, ownership, transfer of use, etc.), as well as empty or disused dwellings and second homes. Inadequate housing and substandard housing will also be included, and an analysis of the housing market and its supply (volume, regimes, prices, type and location, among other parameters) will be carried out. Special consideration will be given to the situation of social housing.

The assessment will also include an analysis of how urban and territorial planning influences access to housing and whether it really meets the housing needs of the municipality.

With all this information, strategies will be established to carry out an action programme aimed at ensuring that citizens have access to decent housing that is suitable for their needs, in economic conditions that are proportional to their household income.

‘We are particularly excited to begin this process. It is only the first step, but it is a very necessary one to guarantee the right to decent housing for families and young people in Calpe,’ said Housing Councillor Mireia Ripoll, who is committed to implementing “an innovative and sustainable management model that goes beyond new construction, taking into account that Calpe is a municipality with limited land and highly developed urban planning”.

The tender for the drafting of the Municipal Housing Plan is expected to be published shortly.

Calpe will have a Municipal Housing Plan

Calpe Town Council plans to tackle one of the most pressing problems in the municipality: the lack of housing. To this end, it will hire an external specialist firm to draw up the Municipal Housing Plan, a document that will study the housing situation in the town and propose a programme of measures to address the problems identified in the assessment.

The aim of this initiative is to facilitate access to decent housing for citizens. The lack of housing in Calpe has become a structural problem in the municipality, aggravated by the increase in tourist accommodation and prices, compounded by the fact that the municipality has a limited and highly urbanised territory. The situation has led to sectors such as tourism being unable to find workers due to a lack of affordable housing.

This strategic plan will be a roadmap with short-, medium- and long-term measures and is intended to have a cross-cutting approach, i.e. urban, social and economic, and to be adapted to the characteristics of the municipality.

In this regard, the study of the housing situation provided for in the plan should include an analysis of the population and the housing needs of families residing in Calpe, especially those used as primary residences, with a specific section on people and groups at risk of social and residential exclusion, as well as on the situation regarding evictions. Likewise, an analysis of the housing stock in Calpe will be carried out, reflecting its state of repair, tenure (rental, ownership, transfer of use, etc.), as well as empty or disused dwellings and second homes. Inadequate housing and substandard housing will also be included, and an analysis of the housing market and its supply (volume, regimes, prices, type and location, among other parameters) will be carried out. Special consideration will be given to the situation of social housing.

The assessment will also include an analysis of how urban and territorial planning influences access to housing and whether it really meets the housing needs of the municipality.

With all this information, strategies will be established to carry out an action programme aimed at ensuring that citizens have access to decent housing that is suitable for their needs, in economic conditions that are proportional to their household income.

‘We are particularly excited to begin this process. It is only the first step, but it is a very necessary one to guarantee the right to decent housing for families and young people in Calpe,’ said Housing Councillor Mireia Ripoll, who is committed to implementing “an innovative and sustainable management model that goes beyond new construction, taking into account that Calpe is a municipality with limited land and highly developed urban planning”.

Calpe will renaturalise the urban section of the Quisi and Pou Roig ravines

Calpe Town Council will soon put out to tender the drafting of the project to renaturalise the urban section of the Quisi and Pou Roig ravines. This is the first step in a project that is highly desired by the current government team, which will involve the removal of invasive species and their replacement with native vegetation to increase the biodiversity of the environment and improve and guarantee the safety of the ravine.

The draft of the technical project has a base budget of 30,000 euros and is expected to be carried out within nine to 11 months. The project will include the removal of Arundo Donax, an invasive species that proliferates in the ravine bed, to prevent possible obstructions that could cause the river to overflow in the event of heavy flooding. It was precisely during such an incident that local police officer Juan Manuel Policarpo Moll lost his life in the line of duty in September 2022. To eradicate this invasive species, the solarisation technique will be used, involving black tarpaulins to reach high temperatures that kill the plant's roots, after which native species will be planted.

The project now out to tender only covers the urban section of the Quisi and Pou Roig ravines, which is the responsibility of Calpe Town Council, although the council's aim is for these measures to be carried out along the entire length of the Quisi ravine, much of which runs through the municipality of Benissa. For this reason, the Calpe Town Council, together with the Benissa Town Council, have formed a group to apply for grants in the latest call for proposals from the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and have committed to working together to obtain authorisation from the CHJ, which has jurisdiction over the non-urban section of the ravine, and thus make this project a reality.

This first project, which will be put out to tender shortly, will also include the renaturalisation of the Saleta park, a municipal park located next to the Quisi, which is also invaded by many Arundo Donax reeds, with the aim of converting it into a riverside forest.

Once the project has been drawn up, Calpe Town Council will carry out the planned work, for which it will have a budget of £145,000.

‘We estimate that by the end of the legislative term we will begin to see the results of a much-needed project in Calpe that will benefit the health of our environment and improve safety in the event of torrential rains, which are becoming increasingly frequent due to climate change and can cause the ravines to overflow,’ said the Councillor for the Environment, Pere Moll.

Calpe wins 12 medals at the 15th MiniJocs de la Marina Alta

Athletes from Calpe won 12 medals —three gold, three silver and six bronze— as well as two diplomas at the 15th edition of the MinniJocs Olímpicos de la Marina Alta held this weekend in Dénia. Calpe participated with a delegation of 103 athletes who competed in football, basketball, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, tennis, indoor football, volleyball, chess and sailing.

In rhythmic gymnastics, Radmila Kondenko and Milans Kasian won gold in the duets category, while Liubov Fedkova, Noa Bote and Milana Pushkar took first place in the trios. The third gold medal went to Claudia Fernández, who shone in the freestyle swimming event.

As for the silver medals, Sergio Murenko took second place on the podium in sailing, Ginés Estupiñá did the same in freestyle swimming and Claudia Fernández repeated her success with a second place in backstroke.

The bronze medals went to the men's and women's basketball teams, Andrei Daniel Chira in chess, and Ginés Estupiñá, who added two more medals in the butterfly and backstroke events. Lorena Andrea Romanesi also took bronze in rhythmic gymnastics.

In addition, the Calpee men's football team finished in fourth place, earning them a diploma, as did gymnast Shopie O'Reilly, who was also recognised for her performance.

The Councillor for Sports, Ximo Perles, said that he was ‘proud of the incredible level of grassroots sport in Calpee’. He also pointed out that the council ‘will work to encourage more children to take part in the next edition of the MiniJocs, as it is not necessary to belong to a club or be enrolled in sports schools to take part in this event’.

The SGAE headquarters hosts the presentation of SONAFILM 2025

The Marina Alta Film Music Festival, SONAFILM, will present its 7th edition this week in Madrid. The presentation will take place on Friday 23 May at 12 noon in the ‘Manuel de Falla’ room at the SGAE headquarters in Madrid.

During the event, the main theme, the complete programme and the guests of this new edition of the only festival dedicated entirely to the music of the seventh art held in the Levante region will be revealed.

The event will be opened by Antonio Onetti, president of the SGAE, and will feature the participation of Javier Gil Pérez, director of SONAFILM and manager of the Universal Symphony Orchestra, the festival's resident orchestra, Pedro Mérida, producer of SONAFILM, and Isabel Royán, composer.

Also participating will be Guillermo Sendra Guardiola, Councillor for Culture in Calp, Raquel Mengual Bisquert, Councillor for Tourism in Ondara, Rosana Marí Blasco, Councillor for Culture in Ondara, Raúl García Reina, Councillor for Culture in Dénia, Mario Ortiz Fuentes, Councillor for Festivals in Beniarbeig (representing Ana Gallart, Councillor for Culture), Mavi Pérez Font, Councillor for Culture in Xàbia, Ricardo Sendra García, Councillor for Tourism in Pego, and Maite Serrat, manager of the Teulada Moraira Auditorium.

The presentation will be accompanied by a musical performance on the piano by Jorge Gil Zulueta.

The Sonafilm festival has established itself as a musical benchmark dedicated to the great soundtracks of the seventh art. The idea emerged in Ondara seven years ago and captivated the public. Its format as a major cultural event encouraged other municipalities such as Dénia, Calp, Teulada-Moraira and Beniarbeig to join the initiative. In 2025, Xàbia and Pego have also joined the project.

The Local Government (Somos Calpe, PSPV and Compromís) has today approved in plenary session to allocate 1,775,108.25 euros from the Treasury surplus from the settlement of the 2024 budget to a total of sixteen initiatives. The council has drawn up a report on the works and investments that will be financed from the surplus and which must be carried out by 2025.

Among the investments, the Empedrola - Balcón de Bernia road project stands out with a budget of €220,000, the accessibility works on the Banda and Social Services building with an investment of €150,458, and the asphalting of roads in the Bassetes, Calalga and La Fossa residential areas for a total of €650,000.

In terms of sports, €126,757 will be allocated to the creation of an outdoor municipal gym, €71,984 to lighting for the football pitch and €15,262 to lighting for the Benítez sports courts and the Frontón area.

There are also plans to allocate €90,000 to LED lighting in the Old Town, €48,000 for acoustic improvements to the Civic Centre and €40,000 for lighting and sound in the Auditorium.

Other projects included in the surplus are the Local Police hut in La Fossa for €35,000, the installation of the Tourism Department hut on Arenal-Bol beach for €60,000, the installation of railings and ropes in Las Salinas for €80,000 and on the beaches for €20,000.

In addition, €60,000 will be allocated to fencing the El Saladar pet park, €7,645 to the purchase of a vehicle for Civil Protection and €100,000 to continue with the installation of video surveillance cameras.

The mayoress, Ana Sala, stated that ‘the Economic Plan requires us to be cautious and, although it allows us to spend up to €8 million in 2025, we are not going to do so. What we will do is implement a series of projects that are already prepared, representing investments worth €1,775,108.25’.

The Popular Party spokesperson, Miguel Crespo, pointed out that ‘the numbers do not add up. We are concerned that they are patching things up and conditioning future budgets. We have detected shortcomings that we do not know how to solve in the future and that may limit Calp's progress. I want to raise the alarm because this is a paradoxical situation: either we break the spending rule again or the investments are not made’. Councillor Ximo Perles replied that ‘this is not the case, the surplus is more than 8 million, we can spend up to that 8 million and for the moment we are going to spend 1,700,000 euros’.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PLAN

According to the government team, Calp Town Council currently enjoys a healthy economic situation, with no bank or financial debt, €46 million in cash in its bank accounts and a treasury surplus of €26,825,247.80.

However, current fiscal rules require the City Council to present a Financial Economic Plan (PEF) 2025, due to a breach of the spending rule. This breach is temporary, not structural, and is directly related to the readjustment to state fiscal rules, following their suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Plan was approved today in plenary session, with the votes in favour of the government and the abstention of the opposition, with the aim of controlling and limiting spending.

Statements

The spokesperson for Defendamos Calpe, Paco Quiles, pointed out that "Calp has exceeded its spending by 6 million. Defendamos Calpe has been warning that the spending limit was being exceeded. To say that Calp Town Council is in good financial health is not accurate. We would like to know what the money has been spent on and we would like to see an investment schedule. The money should not be in the bank; it should be used to provide public services".

Miguel Crespo of the Popular Party stated that ‘the economic and financial plan is a political document because it derives from political management. In our opinion, they have mismanaged the economy. They have broken the fiscal rules and spent 6 million euros more than they could have. This plan will condition the Town Council's management for the coming years and represents a 30% failure to execute the budget.’

Ximo Perles, government spokesperson, has indicated that ‘The plan has no adjustments because it is not expected that the budget will be executed 100%, but it is impossible to execute the budget 100% for various reasons, whether in chapter 1 or in the reductions in contracting. It is not fair to talk about disastrous management; what we disagree on is what to spend it on.’

The mayoress, Ana Sala, has indicated that ‘We did not comply with the spending rule because 2023 was an election year, and in an election year, especially if there is a change of government, it is impossible to execute the budget. In 2023, spending was reduced, and in 2024, which was a full financial year, the budget was spent as planned’.

The National Police will now issue ID cards and passports immediately in Calpe thanks to the new mobile units recently incorporated. These are Integral Documentation Vehicles (VIDOC), launched by the Directorate General of the Police to improve the efficiency and accessibility of digital public services for citizens and businesses.

This morning, the new VIDOC vehicle arrived in Calpe to issue and renew ID cards and, for the first time, passports, as until now this document could only be issued at police stations, meaning that Calpe residents had to travel to Dénia or Benidorm. In addition, they have been able to obtain these documents instantly, which is a complete novelty, since the Mobile Unit that came to Calpe to issue ID cards from time to time had to return a second day to deliver the National Identity Document to its holder.

The VIDOC vehicle is scheduled to visit Calpe every month from 9.30 am to 1 pm. The next session will be on 12 June and anyone interested should go to the Citizen Service Office in advance to make an appointment. Citizens should also bear in mind that card payments will not be available, as the vehicles are not equipped with card readers, so fees must be paid in cash.

"The arrival of the VIDOC vehicle is a major step forward for Calpe. Our residents can obtain both their ID card and passport without leaving the municipality and, what's more, in a single visit, which is particularly beneficial for the elderly and those with mobility difficulties. We would like to thank the Directorate General of Police for launching this service, which brings the administration closer to the public," said Paqui Solivelles, Councillor for the Citizen Services Office.

The Calpe Town Council has begun the tender process for the installation of photovoltaic panels for self-consumption at the municipal swimming pool, with a budget of €57,438 and a completion period of three months.

The project consists of installing a hybrid photovoltaic system for self-consumption on the roof of the municipal swimming pool, with 50 kW of surplus energy fed into the grid and the possibility of energy storage. A generator consisting of 104 modules or panels with intelligent monitoring will be installed.

The solar panels will cover the facility's own energy needs with renewable energy, reducing the electricity bill and carbon emissions. This installation will complement the municipal swimming pool's biomass boiler and LED lighting, which are designed to maximise energy efficiency and savings at this sports facility.

 The Councillor for Sports, Ximo Perles, pointed out that ‘the City Council is committed to renewable energy, and this is a measure of sustainability and energy efficiency. We aspire to be as environmentally friendly as possible. The installation of photovoltaic panels at the municipal swimming pool to reduce consumption is the first of other investments along these lines to reduce pollution’.

Friday, 9:

• II CalpPiano Festival with a performance by Carla Gómez. The renowned pianist from Alicante will perform pieces by Chopin, Albéniz, Falla, Granados and Piazzola, among others. 8 pm. Saló Blau – Free admission

• End-of-Year Exhibition by ADA (Friends of Art) students. Exhibition Hall of the Casa de Cultura.

• Charity exhibition ‘Arte por la DANA’ (Art for the DANA Flood). Masía Casa Nova de Calpe.

• Exhibition ‘Personajes’ (Characters) by the Frax Foundation. Until 29 May in the Exhibition Hall of the Ajuntament Vell.

Saturday, 10:

• Geek Pride Day! With workshops, games, dancing and much more. From 4pm to 9pm. Parque de la Glorieta – Youth Club

• Borja Montón's Magic Show. 7pm. Casa de Cultura Auditorium. Advance tickets €12 (on sale from members of the 2025 Festival Committee) and €15 at the box office one hour before the start of the show.

• End-of-year exhibition by ADA (Friends of Art) students. Exhibition Hall of the Casa de Cultura. Until 30 May.

• Exhibition ‘Personajes’ by the Frax Foundation. Until 29 May in the Exhibition Hall of the Ajuntament Vell

• 10 am to 2 pm. Charity exhibition ‘Arte por la DANA’. Masía Casa Nova de Calpe.

Sunday, 11th:

• Walk of the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Association of #Calp. At 11 a.m. From the Plaza de la Constitución.

• 5 p.m. – Pasapalabra contest. Youth Club (Punt Jove - Plaza de la Constitución).

Calpe is moving forward in its commitment to becoming a Smart Tourist Destination. As part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) funded by the European Union - Next Generation, Calpe Town Council plans to implement a smart lighting and irrigation system in the near future, as well as monitoring environmental parameters in order to offer more sustainable and efficient management of the municipality.

The Calpe Town Council has already put out to tender the first two contracts: one for the installation of smart irrigation sensors and the other for the implementation of the three verticals - irrigation, lighting and environment - on the council's Smartcity platform, which are currently being evaluated and awaiting award. It plans to put the contracts for smart lighting and environmental monitoring out to tender in the coming weeks.

This marks the start of the technological actions of the PSTD, which were already included in the Calpe Town Council's Master Plan for Tourism. The smart irrigation project will enable the irrigation of different green areas of the town to be controlled remotely using information recorded by sensors that will measure soil temperature and humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, ambient temperature and rainfall. The aim is to optimise the use of material and human resources in the operation and maintenance of the irrigation area, as well as to reduce water consumption and related costs. It has a base budget of €62,126.03 and is expected to be completed within a year.

Similarly, the smart lighting project aims to install low-energy streetlights and a lighting management system that will enable any faults or breakdowns to be detected immediately, take real-time readings and discriminate lighting needs according to the tourist season and the number of people in each public space. For its part, environmental monitoring will provide information on pollution levels in the municipality, air quality and UV rays, among other parameters, through weather stations installed in public buildings.

These verticals must be integrated into the Smartcity platform, where all the data recorded by the different sensors, weather stations and other sources will be collected, both in real time and for historical consultation. This contract has a base price of €52,000.

‘With these actions, Calpe is taking a firm step towards a more innovative, resilient and sustainable tourism model. The data recorded will facilitate decision-making, as well as improving the response and quality of services provided to citizens,’ said Mireia Ripoll, Councillor for Tourism Planning.

Calpe Town Council has completed the administrative procedures to allocate €120,000 from the 2024 municipal budget to victims of the DANA flood in Valencia. These funds come from the Protocol and Advertising budget for the previous financial year.

To carry out this initiative, it was necessary to make a budgetary credit modification to allocate the amount of €120,000 to aid for the affected populations and to submit the modification file to the Local Government Board for processing.

The aid will be paid into the bank account of the Treasury of the Valencian Regional Government set up for this purpose. As established in Decree Law 11/2024 of 12 November of the Regional Council, these donations will generate credit in the Regional Government's budget, in accordance with the nature of the actions to which they are allocated.

The income from these donations will be used to cover expenses arising from the DANA flood, such as aid to private individuals or legal entities who have suffered damage to their property or rights, repair of damaged infrastructure, supplies, materials, and any other expenses that may contribute to strengthening recovery and a return to normality in the affected municipalities.

This financial aid is in addition to the solidarity campaign to collect products and food carried out by Calpe Town Council, thanks to which 40 trucks of urgent humanitarian aid were sent to Valencia. In addition, the Town Council sent personnel, vehicles, machinery and safety and emergency equipment to the affected areas.

Civil Protection personnel from Calpe, local police officers and municipal general services workers travelled to the municipalities affected by the DANA flood to help with the clean-up, along with vehicles and workers from Acciona, the local cleaning service contractor, and Aguas de Calpe.

In addition, various private initiatives have been organised in Calpe to help those affected by the DANA, such as the Calpe Music Festival for the DANA, which raised €6,620 for the Catarroja Music Union and La Unión Musical La Artesana de Catarroja, and the Solidarity Art Exhibition for the DANA.

One of the companies bidding for the contract for regulated parking on public roads has lodged an appeal, which is delaying the administrative process and the start of the service.

Last February, the tender for the concession of the regulated parking service on public roads in Calpe began after the drafting and approval of the specifications. Companies were able to submit their bids until 17 March.

The Procurement Department is trying to process the file as quickly as possible, but the contract cannot be awarded until the appeal has been resolved. The local government apologises for the delay, which is beyond its control.

The most notable feature of the new contract is the reduction in the blue zone rate for residents and businesses by almost 50%, while in the orange zone (beach area) the reduction for residents and businesses is 22%.

Thus, if until now the hourly rate in the blue zone for residents was €0.40, it will now be €0.25, and in the orange zone it will go from €0.45 per hour to €0.35 per hour. However, the general rate for the blue zone will increase from € 0.85 per hour to € 1.10 per hour, and in the orange zone from € 0.95 per hour to € 1.45 per hour.

This change in rates is intended to benefit residents, who will see a reduction in the cost of parking in regulated parking areas.

The timetables are also being changed, as until now the maximum time allowed in the blue zone was two hours and in the orange zone was three hours, and with the new regulations this will be three hours and six hours respectively.

Other changes include the absorption of the green zone into the blue zone, i.e. the green zone, which was a regulated parking area only in the morning, will disappear, and the mixed orange zone will be eliminated. This means that the blue zone will now have 920 lots and the orange zone 1,135 lots.

In addition, the specifications establish as an investment the replacement of those parking meters that do not allow payment by credit card. Furthermore, the concessionaire must provide a tow truck service. For this reason, the proposed annual fee is €350,000 plus VAT, which may be increased by companies that choose to retain the contract.

On 9 May, Calpe Town Council will once again celebrate Europe Day with a festive day aimed at highlighting the cultural diversity of the municipality and strengthening the feeling of belonging to the European Union.

The events will begin at 11 a.m. with the raising of the European flag in Plaza Colón. At 12 noon in the Calalga area, a manifesto will be read in several languages, recalling the fundamental values of the Union: democracy, freedom and respect for human rights.

At 1 pm, in the Calalga car park, there will be a giant paella tasting open to all citizens.

The Town Council encourages all residents to take part in this event, which aims to strengthen ties between the different nationalities living in Calpe.

This initiative is part of the BELC programme (‘Building Europe with Local Authorities’), an initiative promoted by the European Commission, which Calpe joined with the aim of bringing European policies closer to the municipal level and encouraging citizen involvement.

The councillor responsible for the BELC programme, Marco Bittner, stressed that ‘with this day we want to consolidate an intercultural meeting place and promote the integration of all European communities present in Calpe’.

As a symbolic gesture, several public buildings, such as the Town Hall and the Casa Nova, as well as various roundabouts, will be lit up in blue, the colour representing the European Union.

Europe Day has been celebrated every 9 May since 1985 in commemoration of the Schuman Declaration, considered the starting point of the European integration project.

Friday, 2:

• From 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. - Craft Market. Special Mother's Day and May Bank Holiday. Until 4 May. Calle Alemania-Paseo Marítimo de la Playa del Arenal.
• 7pm - Opening of the ADA (Friends of Art) End of Year Exhibition. Exhibition Hall at the Casa de Cultura.
• 8pm - Calpe Piano Festival: performance by Plamena Mangova. Saló Blau.
• Charity exhibition ‘Art for DANA’. Masía Casa Nova de Calpe.

Saturday, 3

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Charity exhibition ‘Art for DANA’. Masía Casa Nova de Calpe.
• From 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. - Craft Market. Special Mother's Day and May Bank Holiday. Until 4 May. Calle Alemania-Paseo Marítimo de la Playa del Arenal.
• 5pm. Board games. Youth Club (Punt Jove - Plaza de la Constitución).
• 6.30pm - Free guided tours of the historic centre of Calpe. Registration required on 965836920 / 965838532 / 677912754 / turismo@ajcalpe.es. Maximum 25 people per group. Meeting point: Casa de Cultura.
• 8.30pm - Mig Any de Moros y Cristianos: Farewell to the 2024 officials and presentation of the 2025 officials. Plaza Mayor.
• End-of-year exhibition by ADA (Friends of Art) students. Exhibition Hall of the Casa de Cultura. Until 30 May.

Sunday, 4th:

• From 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. - Craft Market. Special Mother's Day and May Bank Holiday. Until 4 May. Calle Alemania-Paseo Marítimo de la Playa del Arenal.
• 5 p.m. - Chess Exhibition. Youth Club (Punt Jove - Plaza de la Constitución).

The Association of Moors and Christians Santíssim Crist de la Suor will celebrate the ‘Mig Any’ festivities this weekend, marking the halfway point of the festival season, which will see the departure of the 2024 festival organisers and the arrival of the new captains, flag bearers and ensigns.

On Friday, the different ‘filaes’ will have dinner in the kábilas before starting the different xarangas. Saturday will be the most important day of the festivities. The most eagerly awaited event will take place in the Plaza Mayor at 8.30 pm: the changeover, farewell and presentation of the 2024 and 2025 festival officials.

This will be the moment when Quico and Andrea Thewissen Pastor, from the Filà Moriscos, and Miguel Crespo Martínez and Fani Poquet Mut, from the Filà Contrabandistas, will say goodbye as Captain Moro and Favorita and Captain Cristiano and First Lady, respectively, to make way for the Captains of 2025, Adrián Romero and Fini Ortiz from the Filà Tuareg and Ángel García and Estefanía Moll from the Filà Mozárabes.

Another important position is that of Standard Bearer of the Association of Moors and Christians, which this year will be held by Celia González Jorro from the Filà Berberiscos, who will take over from Puri Verdú Balaguer from the Filà Almogávares. As for the Christian and Moorish ensigns, Joaquim Pastor Pastor from the Filà Mozárabes and Juan Ramón Clares Trabalón from the Filà Tuareg will pass the baton to Marc Císcar Martins from Marins Corsaris and Marc Sala Perles from the Filà Berberiscos.

Sunday will begin with the traditional paella contest on Conde de Altea Street. In the afternoon, the children's parade of corporals and squads will bring the Mig Any Fester to a close. This Mig Any is organised by the Associació de Moros i Cristians Santíssim Crist de la Suor, chaired by Rocío Pastor.

Starting this Friday, 2 May, Calpe will host the second edition of the Calpe Piano Festival, which will bring together prestigious pianists from the national and international scene.

The concerts will be held at 8 pm every Friday in May at the Saló Blau, with free admission.

The festival will kick off with a performance by the renowned Bulgarian pianist Plamena Mangova, who has enjoyed a brilliant international career. Trained by Marina Kapatsinskaya at the State Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria, and later at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, she has performed with some of the most prominent orchestras, such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio France, Luxembourg, Tokyo, the Belgian National Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has received numerous awards, including second prize in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition in 2007, as well as recognition in other competitions such as the Paloma O'Shea Piano Competition in Santander and the Vittorio Gui Chamber Music Competition in Florence.

On Friday 9 May, Carla Gómez from Alicante will perform. She completed her Higher Degree in Music, specialising in piano performance, at the Óscar Esplá Conservatory in Alicante with Professor Mª Dolores Costa. She has given concerts in Valencia, Murcia, Seville, the Canary Islands, Ghent (Belgium), Bari (Italy) and Warsaw (Poland), where she played at the National Philharmonic, as well as in the main concert halls of Alicante and its province, as a soloist, in chamber groups, with orchestras and with bands.

The Calpe Piano Festival will once again feature Hungarian pianist István I. Székely, who will perform on 16 May, following the success of his performance last year. A teacher at the Katarina Gurska Conservatory in Madrid and the Franz Liszt Centre for Young Talents in La Nucía, he has won several prizes in national and international competitions. He is an internationally renowned concert pianist and teacher, having been invited to give classes at various arts faculties and conservatories in Austria, Hungary, Israel, Serbia, Colombia and Spain. He is the founder and artistic director of the ‘Ciudad de Alicante’ Piano Competition, the Denia International Piano Festival, the Franz Liszt Centre International Piano Competition, the Great Piano Masters Competition, the Alicante International Piano Competition and the Sombor Philharmonic Orchestra in Serbia.

On 23 May, one of the most important Valencian pianists on the current piano scene, Rubén Talón, is scheduled to perform. In fact, critics consider him one of the best pianists of his generation and one of the most promising young musicians in Europe. He has won numerous national and international competitions in Spain, France, Italy, Austria and the United States, and has been recognised with special prizes for his performances of works by Manuel de Falla, Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as the Exceptional Talent Award in Salzburg.

The Calpe Piano Festival will close with an innovative performance, a four-handed concert by Russian pianist Natalia Kucháeva and Malaga-born Jorge Lechado. Natalia Kucháeva, born in Moscow, is completing her postgraduate studies at the Gnessin Academy in Moscow with maestro Vladimir Tropp. She has won numerous international competitions in Russia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Greece and Spain. She has also collaborated with the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville as a répétiteur for opera. She is currently a repertoire teacher at the Alfredo Kraus Chair at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid.

Jorge Lechado is professor of piano at the CSM in Malaga. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid with Joaquín Soriano and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he completed his postgraduate studies with pianist Pavel Nersessian. He has won awards and been a finalist in several national and international competitions.

The Councillor for Culture, Guillermo Sendra, said that the department ‘has made a significant effort to surpass last year's level’ and highlighted pianists of international renown such as Plamena Mangova, who ‘performs on the world's best stages and will also be performing in Calpe’, and István I. Székely, ‘who made a huge impression on the audience after his performance last year’. He added that Rubén Talón, Carla Gómez and the four-handed concert by Natalia Kucháeva and Jorge Lechado ‘will also surprise the audience with the high quality of their performances’.

The Calpee-based NGO Visió Sense Fronteres has carried out a total of 148 eye surgeries in its latest campaign in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, one of the largest concentrations of displaced people in Africa, which is home to nearly 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers.

Most of the operations were for cataracts, although patients with pterygium and the after-effects of trachoma were also treated. One of the most notable operations was performed under general anaesthetic on a three-year-old boy with bilateral congenital cataracts, who was able to see for the first time thanks to this operation.

Three ophthalmologists, two nurses, an anaesthetist, three optometrists and a volunteer travelled to this refugee camp. They were assisted by the humanitarian organisation Embracing the World in Kenya, as well as two local nurses who carried out intensive screening in the weeks leading up to the campaign, enabling around 900 people to be examined.

‘The days have been intense and marathon-like, from dawn to dusk, but the dedication of the team—made up of ophthalmologists, optometrists, nurses and local staff—has made it possible to complete all the planned surgeries, deliver 220 pairs of sunglasses for post-operative protection and fit prescription glasses to improve the quality of life of the patients,’ said Visió Sense Fronteres coordinator Isabel Signes, who thanked UNHCR, the Turkana County Government and Calpe Town Council for their collaboration. ‘Thanks to this, we have been able to restore sight — and with it, dignity and hope — to people who had been living in darkness for years, affected by advanced cataracts or other untreated eye conditions,’ she said.

The Kakuma refugee camp, located in north-western Kenya, is home to refugees and asylum seekers mainly from South Sudan and Somalia, but also from other African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan and Ethiopia, most of whom fled war, violence and persecution in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.

‘The campaign in Kakuma has been a real milestone, not only in terms of clinical results, but also in terms of its human impact: it has literally brought light back to those who need it most,’ he said.

Calpe is gradually returning to normal after yesterday's power cut. Today, municipal offices and facilities are reopening as normal and schools are opening their doors, although there will be no classes.

Throughout yesterday afternoon and evening, the local police force was reinforced and a thermal drone was deployed. One of the first measures was to close intersections regulated by traffic lights to prevent accidents. The local police and Civil Protection rescued around twenty people trapped in lifts.

The Town Hall provided a generator for the health centre and also carried out a manual census of people in the municipality who require a respirator at home.

Yesterday at 5 p.m., a meeting of the CECOPAL was held, attended by municipal officials, the Local Police, Civil Protection and the Red Cross, where measures were agreed upon, such as transferring ambulances to the police station, as the health centre was not receiving any calls. CECOPAL provided petrol for ambulances and police and Civil Protection vehicles, maintained constant contact with the municipality's nursing homes and delivered bottled water to one of the nursing homes that had problems with its water supply pump.

The power cut did not cause any drinking water shortages or sewage relief. Aguas de Calpee worked until the early hours of the morning to manually control the reservoirs and continuously refill the GGEEs at the sewage treatment plants.

The thermal drone was in operation during the night to prevent vandalism or looting, and several Local Police and Civil Protection vehicles also patrolled the streets of the municipality. The Councillor for Public Safety, Guillermo Sendra, reported that there were no traffic accidents or acts of vandalism and highlighted the calm of the population in general.

Advice and recommendations were broadcast to citizens on the Municipal Radio. The mayor, the councillor for public safety, the chief of police and the head of civil protection broadcast several messages of reassurance to the population on the municipal radio station.

Mayor Ana Sala said, ‘I would like to highlight the civic and responsible behaviour of the residents of Calpee and thank the local police, civil protection and Red Cross for their work during these hours’.