The Foundation of the Holy See "Aid to the Church in Need" (ACN) has released some advertising campaigns with these messages: "Emergency in Iraq. Christians have fled Mosul.

They need your help urgently. Do not let them alone. "In another message, ACN states that "With you we can: build and rehabilitate centers; provide sustenance for priests and religious; forming seminarians, novices and priests; publish and distribute catechetical material; provide transportation for evangelization; media to spread the Word of God. "A new advertising slogan says: "Help us raise the church in Nigeria.

There have been nearly 800 murders, more than 430 attacks on churches. They can destroy our buildings and temples but not destroy our faith in Jesus Christ. "The following has also been published: "The hope of Christians in the Holy Land. They are just 2% of the population, but the visit of Pope Francis has given them courage and the certainty of knowing they are not alone.They should not disappear from this sacred Land! "Another ad reads: "Emergency CAR.Thank you for your generosity!

id to the Church in Need would like to thank the generosity of many benefactors who are enabling the collection of urgent assistance to the Central African Republic”. Donations can be done at Banco Popular: ES12 0075 0080 17 0601667548. The journalist Fernando Haro put a face to a tragedy in his latest book "Christians and lions," asserting that the persecution of Christians has become a colossal drama .

It is estimated that about 100,000 Christians are killed each year because of their faith throughout the world. "It's one of the great tragedies in this beginning of the XXI century and has the dimensions of the great persecutions of the times of Diocletian in the fourth century or the twentieth century Stalinism".

Elsewhere in this book he says: "Christians have found something; Jesus Christ, for whom it is worth giving life. Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world." The history of violence in which victims are hundreds of thousands of Christians around the world, passes unperceived for the vast majority of society and also to the media.

clementeferrer3@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.

In the biggest anti-corruption sweep in the country's history, dozens of people across the whole of Spain were arrested on Monday, many of them senior politicians from the ruling Partido Popular. According to the anti-corruption prosecutor's office, fo...

Sunday 9th November, is Remembrance Sunday, the day traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today. On this day people from across much of the world will pause to reflect on the sacrifi...

This video is a love story. Undoubtedly the greatest love story ever told. It can be seen on YouTube under the title: "The best love story." It is also a story of dedication and sacrifice, solidarity, of redemption and holocaust. A love story between a father and son that transcends all cultures in all ages.

The pace of the video is slow, soft, contemplative. This let the emotions flow slowly. Perhaps the first minute may seem slow, but then it gains momentum and flock expressiveness, drama, emotion. The images come from a short film called "Most", a production of Eastwind Films directed by Bobby Garabedian.

The idea of the second ad campaign was a lucky break. One of the persons responsible for AFAL (Association for Families with Alzheimer's in Spain) attended a conference and at the end of the sessions, came to know the city. He was accompanied by a tour guide, Elena, who enjoyed remembering all the relevant data from the history of the city. In that drive, Elena transmitted more than the art data: she made him live the spirit that remains on the stones, the dregs of history, the identity and feeling that time has stopped there, and which is still alive because every day someone reminds it to others.

In this guided tour, the manager of AFAL realized a terrible fact: we are what we keep in memory: in it are our roots, our loves, our history; without memory, we are nothing. If we forget what others did, and if we forget what we did and love, we were greatly reduced; we keep, simply, the most basic emotions of our primal brain.

Forgetting everything is what makes the Alzheimer patient to become a being in permanent farewell. This cruel disease robs the sufferer of his history approached from itself and requires the exclusive interpretation of others.How important it is in these situations that we know to give love ... even if the patient does not notice! (Source:: Publicidad y Cine con Valores).

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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY The El Corte Inglés department store in Alicante has celebrated its 25th birthday, by handing out 3,000 portions of a giant cake to visitors to the store. The shop also held a party with music, dancers and entertainment for the ...

More than five hundred enthusiasts from Spain were joined by aficionado's from Germany, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Australia, India, France, England, Portugal and the United States at the 6th National and 4th Murcia edition of the ‘Relive History through Film' re enactment weekend, a spectacular staging of many of the most important battles in history.

The event was organized by the Codex Belix Association, in co-operation with the city of Murcia, the Ministry of Defence and a number of local companies. It was attended by over 50,000 people in

cluding Consuls, Defence Attachés and other diplomats from a number of embassies, following the formal opening on Friday afternoon by Municipal representatives and Murcia's director of Codex Belix, Javier Muñoz.

The main campsite and display area was established in the Gardens of Malećon alongside the river where there were dozens of stands manned by re-enactors depicting military history through the ages, complemented by activities for all the family who, primarily, had gone along to enjoy the mock battles and the static and vehicle displays.

For WW11 enthusiasts the vehicles on show included more than fifty historical civilian and military vehicles including a German anti-aircraft gun which was used in the Spanish Civil War, an American M-41 tank and a German truck that was used in the film 'Valkyrie' starring Tom Cruise.

The first re enactment took place on Friday afternoon in the Plaza de Santo Domingo when scenes from the 1944 Warsaw Uprising were played out.

That was followed on Saturday morning by a Napoleonic re-creation tribute to the Count of Floridablanca (1810), and then on Saturday afternoon, the main event of the weekend, a short remembrance Service and wreath laying ceremony in the Gardens of Malecon.

The service itself was conducted by representatives of Murcia Town Council, the Spanish Foreign Legion and its airborne Division. The wreath was laid by Terry Watson, President of the Torrevieja Veterans Association. It was followed by a Veterans Parade which included two Chelsea Pensioners, Wayne Campbell and Skippy Teasdale, who had flown over especially for both this event and Wednesday's launch of the RBL Poppy Appeal in Spain. They were joined by well over two hundred members of the Costa Blanca Service Associations, The RBL, RNA, RMA and RAFFA.

Following the parade we then stood in awe as, for almost an hour and a half, we watched the re enactment of the WW11 ‘Operation Plunder', the 21st Army Group's crossing of the Rhine, which began on the 23rd March 1945 and had involved Twenty-Nine Divisions.

The crossing was led by a heavy artillery shelling and supplemented by an airborne operation (Operation Varsity) by the American 17th Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division and was one of the final stages of World War II causing the breakdown of the German army.

On Saturday afternoon in Murcia the Codex Belix Association replicated the battle in Murcia City Centre, along the Paseo Teniente Flomesta and across the Rio Segura in front of 5,000 captivated spectators.

One re-enactor who had travelled from Kent, Michael Jolly, has been doing this around the world for eighteen years and shared what he thinks the crowd likes the most.

"They like the action of the tank and the halftracks rolling around, they are always good for the spectators, the explosions, the gunfire really makes the whole thing so very authentic, and in Murcia they did a really good job."

Sunday was a little more laid back for the participants with another opportunity for the spectators to visit the main campsite and its static displays in the Gardens of Malecon.

The day was concluded by a military vehicle parade and then the final re enactment of the Liberation of Paris, also known as the Battle of Paris after which the Mayor of Murcia brought down the curtain on what had been an excellent weekend of nostalgia and history in support of a hobby that is quickly growing in momentum here in Spain amongst people both young and old and from all walks of life.

If you didn't take the opportunity to go along this year then do make sure that October 2015 is put into your diary now!

The current owners of Blackpool Airport, Balfour Beaty, have confirmed in a statement today that the airport will close, after they failed to find a buyer for the loss-making transport terminal. The official statement read, “We regret to announc...

Archeologists digging in the Huelva town of La Fontanilla de Palos believe they have found the exact location where Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World in 1492. The excavations have been taking place for two months at the site and this lat...

American/Turkish entrant Team Alvimedica fired the opening salvo in the 2014/15 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race by winning the Alicante In-Port race on Saturday. Now, though, the action switches from the relative safety of Alicante bay where tactics a...

All of this week, the historic city of Cartagena is transformed to represent another time, another world, another and more sinister places, as the annual Romans against Carthaginians battle is recreated. Cartagena has a history of three thousand years...

October is usually a time of ideal holiday weather in Spain. A combination of long lies, sitting on the balcony of a quality hotel, sitting in the sun sipping a cold drink beside the pool, wandering down to the local seaside town, and days out to bea...

The size of the vineyard in the Lagunas de la Mata Natural Park has declined dramatically in the last 50 years.

At that time there were approximately 100 acres, but now, five decades later “we have less than half”, according to Simón Pérez García, longtime grower and former president of the La Mata Farmers and Winegrowers Association, a position now held by his son. "There is a danger that it might all eventually disappear, although I hope not, but there are fewer vines which we continue to slowly lose," says the winemaker. The causes: drought, the abundance of rabbits and birds, especially starlings, and in some areas the urban progress that we have seen during the last few decades.

However, as another harvest is nearing completion, the growers have harvested more than 50,000 kilos of the Merseguera variety of grape. In addition to that we have also been collecting the Muscat variety of grape since mid July, and all of that is destined for human consumption. “We have so far pulped about 25,000 liters grapes, a similar amount to that produced last year”, said Simon Perez.

Besides the Merseguera and Moscatel varieties, which produce the traditional sweet wine of La Mata, the vineyard also produces varieties of grape that were once cultivated in far greater quantities but have now largely disappeared such as Esclafacherre, Parrell, Valensí, Forcallat and Plantamula

The vineyard is managed by the Association of La Mata Farmers in collaboration with the Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research (IVIA) who's purpose is to test new clones of traditional varieties of vines in an effort to improve production quality. The institute also conserves and studies many minority varieties which are at risk of extinction; testing new techniques of soil management and pest control to improve production and reduce costs and the environmental impact in the Natural Park.

Two weeks ago, the General Director of the Natural Environment of the Generalitat Valenciana, Salome Pradas, visited the Natural Park, where she highlighted its uniqueness to stand out from other parks with both its production of salt and its agricultural activity with the vines where cultivation is performed without the use of pesticides or fertilizers affecting the environment.

Such is the popularity of La Mata wine that it is now also being marketed in the United States by local winemaker Rafael Navarro, to which he currently exports two varieties; one called “La Viña de Simón and the other “El Carro” or "The Chariot" which are now selling for upwards of 25 euro per bottle.

And if you want to learn more about the production of wine in La Mata and Torrevieja salt lakes, then now is the time to take a traditional walking tour along a route, just less than 1.5km long, which stresses the enormous impact that La Mata vineyards have had on the Spanish wine industry. The route passes through the park's vineyards with information boards telling the history, varieties, culture and cultivation of wine in this area of outstanding natural beauty.

It especially explains about the two main grape varieties that are grown – Moscatel and Meseguera, from which the well-known La Mata wine is largely made. The walks start at the La Mata Information Centre, a detached, stone built, white building, which you can see just off the N332 at the traffic island in La Mata.

Meanwhile, if it's the regional history that is more to your interest, there is an exhibition on the history of winemaking in the Alicante Region taking place at the Archeological Museum in Alicante through to 11 January 2015. The exhibition explores the history and evolution of Alicante wine through the ages, one of the products that best defines the Alicante territory. More information at www.marqalicante.com