Costa residents stock up on pies and processed meats
By Tom Cain
BRITISH residents on the Costas were this week stocking up on available meat products imported from the UK following a ban on exportation due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Surrey.
The European Commission has prohibited the exportation of live cattle, meat and other connected products from the UK following the announcement that a second outbreak of the disease had been discovered.
Costa residents recall how the widespread outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in the UK in 2001, which cost eight billion pounds, led to a complete ban on all meat importations for many months.
Many stores were unable to stock up on any product imported from the UK containing meat including pies, sausages and processed meats.
Thorough checks were carried out at airport customs, where passengers on flights arriving from the UK also had to ‘wipe their feet’ before entering the country.
With that experience in mind, Costa shoppers have this week been eager to purchase available UK meat products while at the same time hoping the ban is not extended.
BRUSSELS BAN
Brussels imposed the ban last Monday afternoon as part of emergency plans to prevent the disease from spreading into Europe from the UK.
This means that all beef, lamb and pork products as well as live animals cannot be sent to other EU states. The ban also prevents the importation of livestock.
The ban, which was asked for by the UK authorities, will effectively place Britain in quarantine until the Foot and Mouth outbreak has been contained and eliminated.
Meanwhile in the UK staff from the ministry of agriculture have already begun culling affected herds in a bid to contain the outbreak.
UNDER CONTROL
In Spain the agriculture ministry has said that it knows where every cow, pig and sheep imported from the UK during June and July is and that to date its controls have not detected anything.
A spokesman said that around 3,000 cows from the UK had come into the country during this period.
In the UK, the government is using every means at its disposal to localise the source of the outbreak and to prevent any further spread.
Farmers are now praying it can be contained because for many of them the loss of a herd could see them lose everything.
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Bathers ignore lifeguard warnings |
News Staff Reporter
DESPITE repeated warnings from Red Cross lifeguards, around 40 people using Jávea’s Arenal beach last week decided to ignore the dangers and take to the water.
A Red Cross spokesman said that even though the red flag was flying from early in the day, and despite the fact that lifeguards were indicating that it was not safe to go into the water, many people decided to completely ignore the warnings and put their lives and those of others in danger.
The situation got so bad at one point that the Red Cross had to deploy three, three-man patrols to try and prevent irresponsible bathers from going into the water.
Unfortunately for the Red Cross their lifeguards can only inform people of the dangers. They have no powers to enable them to issue fines or forcibly restrict people.
One lifeguard said, “Many people do not respect the work we do, we are not the authorities and we do not pretend to be, we only want to be able to operate properly and for people to respect the work we do.”
As the problems for the lifeguards increased throughout the day they were eventually forced to call in local police to order bathers out of the water.
The spokesman said that calling the police was necessary because of the attitude being shown by some of the people who had ignored warnings.
He added that it was the only way to show them that what they were doing was dangerous.
FATAL SWIMS
The imprudent action of swimmers came only two weeks after lifeguards and town halls called for fines for those who ignored beach safety warnings.
Following the death of several swimmers over a few days, several town halls announced the fines would be imposed; however not all councils have taken the same action.
By law, if swimmers choose to bathe when the red flag banning swimming is flying, lifeguards cannot be held responsible if they do not go to the rescue.
Green light for controversial gas pipe |
News Staff Reporter
SPAIN’S industry ministry has given the go-ahead for the controversial natural gas pipeline that will affect Oliva and Dénia.
The pipeline will pass through the south of Valencia Province on its way from Montessa to Dénia.
From the capital of the Marina Alta the pipeline will run 268 kilometres under the sea to take natural gas to Ibiza and Mallorca.
Company Enagás aims to begin drawing up the 250-million-euro project – paid for by the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands – after the summer holidays. The aim is for the Balearics to have piped gas in 2009.
Ecologists and especially fishermen are strongly against the scheme. Fishermen are demanding the pipeline is buried so they can continue sea-bed trawling but the company says the investment would be unviable.
The company must now submit a detailed project for approval, also taking into account the fishermen’s demands.
Costa link to missing girl |
By Roy Wickman
A Swiss resident who lived in an Alicante village has been linked with the disappearance of a five-year-old girl.
DNA traces of suspect Urs Hans von Aesch were found on the missing girl’s belongings in Switzerland.
The 56-year-old suspect, who lived in the Marina Baja inland village of Benimantell, has committed suicide.
He had recently travelled to Switzerland and his body, with a gunshot wound to the head, was found in a wood just 30 kilometres from the place where the girl disappeared last Tuesday.
He killed himself the day after victim Ylenia Lenhard disappeared while returning to the town’s swimming pool to collect shampoo she had forgotten.
The suspect’s Spanish-registered van was seen in the area previously and there is proof the girl was pushed into it.
Police revealed on Tuesday that traces of Ylenia’s DNA have been found in the van which was abandoned in Appenzell, Switzerland.
INVESTIGATION
Spanish police are helping in the investigation and Swiss police have visited Benimantell to interview the suspect’s widow.
On the same day Von Aesch died, another man was found in the same wood seriously injured with gunshot wounds. Police believe he was shot by Aesch because he was an eyewitness.
The Times newspaper claimed Portuguese police had found ‘striking similarities’ between the disappearance of Ylenia and Madeleine McCann and that Von Aesch may have been in Praia da Luz when the English girl went missing.
A Swiss police spokesman confirmed the information had been passed to Interpol.
Spanish police have confirmed that the Benimantell suspect had no police record in Spain.
