Costa Blanca
Valencia and Alicante work to attract film tourism
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The Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade, and Tourism, along with the City Council of Alicante and the Alicante Film Office, have agreed to work together to support the local film industry. They will support efforts to make film studios and the city of Alicante known as a place for shooting, while also sharing the cultural, scenic, and artistic qualities of the city and the surrounding area.
The agreement was signed this Thursday at the Fitur Screen 2025 Fair. The event was joined by Marián Cano, the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Trade, and Tourism, and Luis Barcala, the Mayor of Alicante. Both agreed to highlight the growing importance of travellers who are fans of the audiovisual world and who become viewers in search of the places they saw on screen.
They have noticed that this kind of tourism, focused on spots featured in movies and shows—especially those made by streaming platforms—attracts millions of people who want to visit the places they see on screen for their vacations.
“The minister said that tourists can visit Alicante and other areas in the Valencian Community because of the films made in its many interesting cultural and natural locations, especially with the new opportunities at the Ciutat de la Llum studios.”
Marián Cano explained that the Ciutat de la Llum studios, set up by the Generalitat, aim to build a strong film industry that stands out both in Spain and worldwide. This effort is meant to boost local businesses and services in the Valencian Community and improve its reputation internationally.
Alicante’s mayor, Luis Barcala, said that “film tourism is important and a key part of our tourism plan. Alicante has everything needed to attract major national and international film productions that greatly benefit the city. We also want to attract tourists who love films and TV shows and are interested in visiting filming locations.”
“The mayor said we are successfully attracting production companies to work with the City of Light and promote Alicante as an ideal place for filming stories that will reach millions of viewers.”
Because of this and shared interests, the new collaboration plan expects Ciutat de la Llum and the Alicante Film Office to work together in their areas to encourage filming and other audiovisual projects in the city of Alicante and in film studios.
They promise to help production companies by sharing information about places, services, and facilities in Alicante that are suitable for filming. They will also assist with visits to check out these sites in Alicante.
They also agree to set up a platform for sharing information and communication between the two groups. This will allow them to share world data each year about film productions and other information to evaluate the economic impact of filming in Alicante.
This protocol also provides that the Alicante City Council, through its unit specialised in meetings tourism (MICE), Alicante Convention Bureau, makes all its promotional tools available to the City of Light to publicise the spaces and facilities that allow this type of tourism to be attracted to the studies.
The two parties will create training programs for the audiovisual business to develop a group of skilled professionals. This will help production companies in the Valencian Community find qualified people for their projects.
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12 years for abusing two minors, recording women and distributing paedophile material
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Twelve years and one month in jail were given to a man by the Third Section of the Alicante Provincial Court for abusing two minors, recording several women in the bathrooms of their homes, and making and giving out paedophile material.
The High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) says the accused has been found guilty of six crimes related to finding and telling secrets, two crimes related to sexual abuse of a minor, and crimes related to making child pornography and having and giving away child pornography.
Besides that, the man has to pay the two women who were abused 15,000 and 20,000 euros each in legal liability. Five thousand euros will be given to each of the other victims, who were women and adults and were taped in the privacy of their own homes.
During the December 11th trial, the prosecution, the private prosecution, and the defence of the man who was later found guilty all agreed on the facts that were proven, how they should be interpreted legally, and the sentence that should be given.
The events started in 2009 when the suspect started dating a woman. They were together until 2017, and during that time he lived with her and her two young children in different homes in Dénia (Alicante).
The man put a hidden video camera in the bathroom of these homes so that children or people who sometimes visited could see what was going on.
The device took private pictures of the prisoner’s partner and her 12-year-old daughter, as well as another child who lived in the house and used it, and saved the pictures on a computer.
The accused started seeing another woman with two young girls at the end of 2017. In 2019, he moved in with them in a house in the city of Dianense.
As in the first case, the guy who was found guilty recorded his partner having sex without her permission and saved the video to his phone.
He also touched the woman’s two young daughters when they were between 5 and 6 years old and 7 and 8 years old. He recorded these sexual acts and saved the edited pictures on a computer with child abuse content.
In January 2021, a neighbour asked him if he could change a light bulb in the bathroom, to which the convict agreed and took advantage of this circumstance to also install a hidden camera under the sink in that bathroom.
The device also took private pictures of the renter’s daughter and herself, in which they both looked naked.
On March 9, 2021, the defendant’s home was broken into and searched. Several computers, hard drives, and cell phones were among the electronic devices found. These were used by the man to store a lot of paedophile audiovisual files for his own use and to share with other people.
The decision was made orally, and it was made official at the hearing itself when both sides said they would not be appealing it.
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Elche gets six homes to use in case of social emergencies
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The Local Government Board gave the go-ahead to buy six homes owned by SAREB so that they can be fixed up as part of a scheme to build more public housing that is paid for by the State Plan for Access to Housing 2022–2025, also known as the ADHA Plan.
Celia Lastra, Councillor for Social Action, said that in February 2024, the Local Government Board agreed to ask for a subsidy to buy these six homes owned by SAREB. This was because the council wanted to buy these properties to increase the number of public housing units and put them on a rental or transfer of use regime with a maximum rent or transfer price for use, especially for vulnerable groups.
With the help of the 342,500 euro grant, these 6 homes in various parts of the town were bought. “This purchase increases the number of public housing units in Elche and, most importantly, we will have more housing options under a social rental regime and/or transfer of use for emergency housing,” Lastra said. These homes are meant to help families who are housing insecure and can’t afford to rent at market rates because of their income.
The meeting also agreed to the free transfer of the “Hort de Malena” palm grove, which is in the middle of the city, next to the Tower on the road to the Mills, and surrounded by public gardens.
As stated by Inma Mora, the City Council’s goal is to restore and raise the value of the traditional homes and buildings in the “Hort de Malena” palm grove so that people can learn about and share the historical and cultural values that these buildings and homes represent, as well as the palm grove itself and its water systems. There will be no changes to the deal for 10 years.
It has also been cleared to build the Maestro José Toro social centre in Torrellano, which will be situated between the streets of Libertad, Alcudia, Astronautas, and Violeta. As part of this project, a new 1,900-square-meter space will be built to serve more than 7,000 people from the Torrellano, Santa Ana, Balsares, Saladas, and Jubalcoy areas.
The new cultural and social centre will have two floors. The first floor will have a big hall that can fit 466 people, 350 on the ground floor and 166 in the amphitheatre.
The Torrellano social centre project has been approved by the Local Government Board.
The reading room/library and the amphitheatre for the assembly hall will be on the first floor, along with the association offices and music school. The OMAC, cafeteria, and assembly hall will be on the ground floor.
The Civil Aviation report has now been given to the City Council. This is something that the municipal company Pimesa needs in order to be able to put out the bids for the building contract next week.
The Governing Board did agree to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility’s request for direct aid for passenger transport. This will lower the prices of transport passes and multi-trip tickets for urban public transport services for the first half of 2025, from January 1 to June 30. They also agreed to make a deal with the service concessionaire to carry out the aid. With these direct helps, the price is cut in half, and the City Council pays for an extra 20%.
As one of the things that wasn’t on the list, the contract for the adaptation works at the central interchange of Doctor Caro and Alfredo Llopis streets has been extended for two more months, until April 11.
InvoLUCRA SL, the winning bidder, said, “They have proposed this extension because, once the urban bus shelter had been moved and the second section of Calle Alfredo Llopis had been torn down, services were found to be in use that were not reflected in the plans that were available for the preparation of the project.” This meant that the foundations and slabs of the two pergolas in that section had to be moved around to fit the available space. This caused the project to be delayed, and the stormwater network had to be moved to a new well that had to be built in the middle of the street.
The project has an investment of about 900,000 euros and is partly paid for by European Next Generation funds.
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PLAY airline expands with flights to Alicante and Madrid
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Play, the low-cost airline of Iceland, wants to add more flights between Spain and Iceland in 2025 to meet high demand, especially around Easter and during the summer.
During Easter, the company will start flying every day from Alicante to Reykjavik, a time when a lot more people are likely to be travelling. From the end of May to the end of July, it will fly five times a week during the summer. Other times of the year, it will fly three to four times a week between Alicante and the city of Iceland. In Madrid, on the other hand, there will be more flights. From the beginning of August to the middle of September, there will be three times as many flights as there are now. During the rest of the year, there will only be two flights a week.
“This improved connection with Spain is part of PLAY’s plan to grow, which is to strengthen its presence in the places where it has seen the most growth over the last three years.” With these new frequencies, PLAY shows its dedication to the Spanish market and makes it even easier for tourists to get to Iceland, which is becoming more and more popular among nature and adventure visitors. Also, the Mediterranean way of life is very appealing to Icelanders who want to go on vacation somewhere sunny, so this rise in frequencies with Spain will help us get a bigger share of the local market, says Einar Örn Ólafsson, CEO of PLAY.
Reykjavik can now be reached by PLAY from Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Alicante, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca in Spain. In preparation for the summer, it will have a bigger presence in the country when the Valencia-Reykjavik route opens in May.
At the end of 2017, PLAY said it would be changing its business plan to focus on the most profitable markets, which are those in southern Europe. These markets have been very popular since the company began doing business there in 2021. To keep growing in the European airline industry, the company continues to focus on providing affordable and flexible travel choices, changing to meet the needs of the market, and making the most of its route network.
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