The number of passengers travelling Alicante-Elche Airport grew by 9.7% to over 1.3 million people in April, coinciding with the Easter holidays, while the regional´s capital, Valencia Airport registered an increase of 12.9%, with 752,055 passengers. During the first 4 months of the year, 3.9 million passengers travelled through Alicante airport compared to 2.4 million at the Valencia hub. In …

This weekend in Torrevieja, the “Festival Orient el Hob” begins. What is it? It’s the International Belly Dance Competition. Launching in the Hotel Fontana on Friday (19th) evening, the Festival Orient el Hob will see dancers from around the world descend on Torrevieja, all hoping to be crowned the best in their field. On Saturday, the event moves to the …

Officers from the Guardia Civil have arrested a 48-year-old man at Alicante-Elche Airport, as he was about to catch a flight to Eindohven (Netherlands) with 27 kilos of marijuana hidden in two suitcases. The Guardia Civil report that it was specialist officers from the Office of Fiscal Analysis and Research (ODAIFI) who located the drugs …

Two billion are malnourished. Among the different advertising campaigns published in different media, designed by the MSF carries the motto; "Sudan; 1.2 million displaced by the violence. Now they have to escape hunger and epidemics ".

They have to survive from the violence and rudeness to finish dying of hunger or cholera.

The lack of necessary goods hits all levels. Edible arriving are scarce. The lack of drinkable water and the absence of hygiene exacerbate disease. "Rebel against poverty" is the slogan of the advertising campaign launched by the Alliance Against Poverty which aims to sensitize governments that should end homelessness in the world. The intention of the campaign is to publicize the call for a large demonstration in the world.

Moreover, the FAO reports that a third of the global population, more than 2,000 million people, suffer severe nutritional deprivation that alter their body and brain development. In this population each year five million people die. FAO also predicts that about 20 million babies are underweight and at risk of death or endure severe disabilities.

For Manos Unidas, food shortages and poverty are intimately connected, since it is not just about the lack of food or tangible goods, but the deprivation of health assistance, schooling, employment or decent housing.

The lack of solidarity in the world is clear if we observe that only Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have met the objective set by the United Nations to achieve the 0.7% of GDP for Development Aid. The international community says that "violence against the lives of millions of human beings, especially children, forced into poverty and hunger, is due to an unjust distribution of resources between peoples".

When Augustine was asked what does love look like, he replied: It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

clementeferrerrosello@gmail.com Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of advertising and public relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.

The European Commission has presented plans that will facilitate the implementation of devices that block vehicles from starting if it detects that the driver has consumed alcohol. The plan extends a mechanism that already applies to drivers punished ...

Domestic traffic has grown by 22.5 percent at the airport in Alicante-Elche in March, compared to the same month last year, with an additional 107,628 passengers. Overall, a total of 669,004 passengers, 4.4 percentage points higher than 2014 were reco...

In a combined operation between the National Police of Huelva, Narcotics Group of Cartagena and the Portuguese Judiciary Police, some 14 people have been arrested accused of playing a part in a major drug distribution network that operated in various ...

A Belgian engineering student has presented his design at the University of Delft in the Netherlands this week, which could revolutionise the first response live-saving emergency process. Perhaps often associated with death and killing, this new use ...

The annual pepper picking season for the Murcia region has already begun a month earlier than normal, due to the extremely mild winter and spring. With an abundance of crops, all said to be of high quality, it is hoped that the price will be cheaper t...

Roundabout that encourages drivers to select exit before entering - and stick to it

It sounds like something destined for the future, but the fact is that the turbo-roundabout or turboglorieta is already a reality in several Spanish cities.

Devised by the Dutch to improve the capacity of very congested roundabouts studies show that they improve the flow of traffic whilst, at the same time, reducing the number of accidents.

Now the municipal group UPyD are proposing the construction of a trial roundabout in Alicante, starting at a location by the University of Alicante, where la avenida de la universidad, the A-70 and the A-77a converge.

The concept is simple but novel.

The lanes of traffic will have plastic separators, which will encourage traffic to stay in the appropriate lane, and encourage vehicles to slow down to do so. The layout also gives cyclists priority and means they are in the line of sight of drivers when vehicles exit the roundabout.

Although cars will be able to cross lanes, they will get a ‘bumping' sensation reminding them to reduce their speed. The result is that lane changes and side collisions between vehicles are avoided.

The trial roundabout by the university is currently a major point of congestion, at certain times of the day suffering from major traffic jams. It is one of the most important junctions in the city.

At any one time of the year the University of Alicante has 26,000 students enrolled in addition to 1,259 employees and 2,331 administrative staff and scholars. This volume of people makes the junction a high-traffic location. The junction is also a connection point for the city with many northern towns of the province, including San Vicente from where many people travel into Alicante for their work.

"The main benefit of these turbo-roundabouts is to prevent traffic jams forming and therefore provide a much safer flow of traffic," said UPyD spokesman, Fernando Llopis.

In an official statement presented to Parliament, the politician has asked the City Council to urge the Ministry of Public Works to make modifications and changes to improve the traffic flow at the University roundabout, with the turbo-roundabout as an interesting option study.

In Spain, there are already several cities that have this system of roundabouts in place. The first was installed in Grado (Asturias) in 2009 since which time they have also been implemented in Oviedo, Mallorca and Talavera.

They are a regular feature in the Netherlands, and have also been implemented in several other European countries, such as Germany and the UK where they are currently being trialed in Bedford.

And for me, well, anything that can make the management of roundabouts here in Spain safer for motorists and cyclists will be a most welcome benefit, as traffic islands seem to be a complete mystery to many Spanish drivers.

Amazingly, despite being the only country in Europe to have such a regulation, the authorities at the DGT continue to accept that the inside lane of the roundabout serves no legal or practical purpose and where it is quite correct for a driver in the right hand lane to turn left, often with no indication, the result often being the screeching of quickly applied foot brakes from vehicles travelling in the left hand lane with the intention of carrying straight on.

A reminder that whilst rules of the road are seldom enforced in Spain, they do exist and where, on a roundabout, the car in the right hand lane always has priority, even to the extent of completing a 360° turn, without need of any indication.

In a press conference on Wednesday, it was revealed that Spain will be flying the Blue Flag of quality on a total of 573 beaches and 108 marinas this year, an increase of 34 over last year. Of those new flags gained, 23 of them relate to beaches, the ...