Costa Blanca

It will be illegal for ‘hippie market’ to relocate to the harbour promenade in Alicante without facing penalties

People who work at La Explanada’s traditional craft market, who are often called ‘hippies’, won’t be able to move their stands directly to the second queue of the port walkway, next to the Fish Market building. As of last week, the vendors’ group, the Association of Vendors of the Explanada (AVE), asked the Alicante City Council, led by the Popular Party (PP), to move the shops as soon as possible. They say that this can’t happen until the vendors are given permission to use the space.

In fact, this request was made again this Tuesday when a new document was registered stating that 15 of the merchants want to move to the new location. This is to make sure that any possible punishments don’t happen until the stalls can be moved directly, without having to be taken apart and put back together again.

The deputy mayor and spokesperson for the governing team, Manuel Villar, said that the eviction process will not change. This was said in the weekly public appearance where the agreements made in the Local Board are announced. So far, he has said that the administrative process for carrying out the October plenary agreement is still going as planned. This means that the deadlines set out in the notice sent to all the stall holders, telling them they needed to take down their stands from the tourist promenade by this Tuesday, will still apply. If that doesn’t happen, the notice also said that the City Council would take it apart in a secondary way, with the latest date being February 24. The sellers would then have to pay for these costs, which the city believes will be around 33,000 euros.

In addition, this notice would mean that penalties would be used for every day that the stalls were not taken down. According to Villar in the same public appearance, this is where proportionality criteria could be used, taking into account the fact that the amounts of these penalties could be changed depending on things like giving advance notice of the decision to leave the promenade and confirming the exact date on which this would be done.

Meanwhile, the vendors who have already said they want to move to the second queue of the Paseo del Puerto are still working on registering their request for permission with the Port Authority. They hope to have all the paperwork they need this Wednesday so they can officially make their request. In this way, the group hopes that the permission can be given before the 24th, so that the City Council doesn’t have to move them out against their will. At the same time, some shop owners who had already said they were going to stop selling things continued to do so on Tuesday by taking down their stands voluntarily.

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Costa Blanca

Consum announces the opening of new stores in Aldaia, Alaquàs, Sueca, Xàtiva, Massanassa and Torrevieja

Consum expands its operations in the Valencian Community and announces the opening of additional stores in six towns throughout Valencia. The Valencian cooperative’s comprehensive network of supermarkets in the region is further enhanced by these new openings.

New Consum stores are scheduled to open in Valencia in 2025

The following are the new stores that Consum will establish in the towns of Valencia:

Alaquàs

Aldaia

Massanassa

Sueca

Xàtiva

Torrevieja (Alicante)

Three of the stores that were acquired from Kuups last year have enabled the establishment of some of these new supermarkets. These have already been assigned an estimated opening date:

Massanassa (C/ Medi Ambient), which is scheduled to commence operations at the conclusion of May.
Alaquàs (Av. Blasco Ibáñez) and Aldaia (Av. Miguel Hernández) will launch under the Consum brand in the middle of the year.
Consum intends to maintain its pace of establishing 53 new supermarkets in 2025, including 18 of its own stores and 35 Charter stores, as well as to execute 31 renovations and expansions.

In 2024, Consum achieved revenues of €4,707.03 million, a 7.3% increase, and profits of €108.7 million, a 7.5% increase from the previous year. These figures substantiate the business model advocated by the Valencian cooperative, which is founded on price competitiveness, a diverse selection of leading brands without sacrificing the quality of its own brand, and a steadfast dedication to ensuring customer savings through discounts and gift vouchers. More than €62.2 million has been allocated to this initiative.

Antonio Rodríguez Lázaro, the CEO of Consum, stated that “these results are indicative of the dedication of our entire team, the confidence of our customers, and our capacity to adjust to change while maintaining our commitment to sustainability and innovation.”

It maintained its sixth position in the national classification of distribution companies by surface area throughout the year, increasing its market share by 0.1% to 4.7% of the national market. Nielsen reports that its market share by sales in its area of influence is 13.45%.

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The El Raso, Guardamar celebrates with a Tapas Route and concerts between May 15th and 17th

The programme for the third edition of the Guardamar del Segura City Council’s festivities has been unveiled in collaboration with the residents’ association of the El Raso Urbanisation, an area that is home to a significant number of international residents.

Between May 15th and 17th, the El Raso Urbanisation will commemorate its festivities with a Tapas Route and concerts. The festivities will take place on Thursday, May 15th and Friday, May 16th, and will feature an International Tapas Route featuring twelve establishments, which is two more than the previous year. María Venerdi, the Councillor for Festivals, has announced that participants will be able to experience tapas and a drink for 3.50 euros. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to participate in a drawing for a variety of rewards and vote for their preferred tapa on the “Tapaporte.” Last year’s edition saw the sale of over 7,000 tapas, as emphasised by the local organisers.

José Luis Sáez, the mayor of Guardamar, has emphasised the significance of “neighbourhoods becoming increasingly integrated into the dynamics of the municipality,” and he has noted that this event has “consolidated itself and become a great gastronomic celebration for the municipality.”

The city council will also offer a transport service that will travel to all participating venues in order to simplify the process of travelling.

Auditorio del Campo will host a grand celebration on Saturday, May 17th, commencing at 6 p.m. The event will feature a variety of musical groups, including the Costa Blanca Singers, who will serve as the opening act.

The charitable nature of these festivities has been emphasised by the Guardamar councillor for Festivals. The El Raso festival committee has sold T-shirts for the Tapas Route at a price of 10 euros. The proceeds of these sales, in addition to those from the bar service on the 17th, will be donated entirely to charitable causes, including the ‘El Milagro de Ver’ Foundation, which is dedicated to enhancing eye health in developing countries, and to those impacted by DANA in Valencia.

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Elche joins the national protests for Palestine on May 10th

Tomorrow, Saturday May 10th, the Elche Palestine Solidarity Committee has scheduled a demonstration in accordance with the national mobilisations under the slogan “Move for Palestine.” The march will commence at 7:00 p.m., and the rally will be held at the Chimeneas de L’Algeps in Elche at 6:30 p.m.

The initiative aims to denounce the situation in Gaza and Palestine as a whole, and to encourage citizens to demonstrate their solidarity and demand genuine action to halt the violence. The Elche Palestine Solidarity Committee extends an invitation to all individuals, irrespective of their gender or age, to participate in this collective demonstration.

As part of a coordinated campaign to increase awareness of the situation in Palestine and demand an end to the violence and occupation, this mobilisation is one of a series of demonstrations that have been organised in various cities throughout Spain.