Costa Blanca
Local Police in Benidorm commemorates its 181st anniversary

Officers and commemorative entities received badges and awards as part of the Benidorm Local Police’s 118th anniversary celebration, which included an institutional event in the Town Hall’s Assembly Hall and a display by the K9 Unit and Response and Prevention Group (GRP) in front of the Town Hall.
The public gathered in the Plaza de Sus Majestades los Reyes de España to witness the performance by the K9 Unit, also known as the “Canine Patrol” of Benidorm. The K9 Unit showed off the harmony between the GRP officers, trainers, and dogs in five fictitious exercises featuring Hanko and Kili, in which the dogs were the key that prevented crimes from being committed in public places.
Following the protest, Benidorm Mayor Toni Pérez and PLBND Chief Superintendent Luis Martín Arévalo inspected the officers who had been trained in front of the Town Hall’s main façade. The Assembly Hall then hosted the formal ceremony.
Along with the mayor, the regional deputies José Ramón González de Zárate and Mario Villar, the regional secretary for Housing of the Generalitat, Sebastián Fernández, the commissioner of the National Police in Benidorm, Luis Manuel Sánchez, the lieutenant of the Traffic Detachment of the Civil Guard, Manuel Sánchez, and numerous other members of the city’s civil society attended the force’s tribute, which was accompanied by Councillor for Citizen Security Jesús Carrobles and other municipal corporation members.
Toni Pérez described the Benidorm Local Police as the “flag and spearhead” of Benidorm in his formal speech. As seen by its performance during the summer high season, a community that does not yet have 75,000 residents is “capable of attending to more than 380,000” people.
The “first calling card” for anyone experiencing trouble when visiting Benidorm is the local police. In order to help the citizen or visitor and advise them “by referring them” to the municipal or administration services they require, Toni Pérez has urged them to “get out” of the automobile or “leave the motorbike aside.”
With examples like the professional career or the Job Evaluation in the City Council, “a desire of more than 15 years,” the mayor emphasised his dedication to the force, which was established in 1844.
In her remarks on the occasion of today’s March 8th celebration, Toni Pérez recalled that the first promotion of female police officers was initiated in Benidorm during the tenure of José Such Ortega, at the time of the Democratic Centre Union (UCD), and that “some of them are still active in other municipal services.”
According to Mayor Luis Arévalo, police officers “are people who work for people” and have an obligation to “guarantee a safe life” for their fellow citizens. He also asserted that more agents are needed in order to give the city the finest service possible.
Ceremony of Awards
The PLBND also expressed gratitude to the National Police, Civil Guard, Benidorm Firefighters, Local Assembly of the Red Cross, and the municipal concessionaire Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas. The Sociocultural Association of the Local Police also gave a metope of recognition to the Cultural and Recreational Association ‘La Barqueta’ during the event.
Similarly, the organisation has given its commemorative coin to those who have contributed significantly to the institution. José Fuster, the president of Civil Protection; Antonio Zamora, the beach concessionaire’s Rescue and First Aid coordinator; M§ Isabel Medina, the chief prosecutor of the Courts of Benidorm; and Joan Francesc Vives, the senior judge, have all received the gift.
Antonio Ortega, Jaime Ángel González, Manuel Risueño, Álvaro Fuertes, José Tomás Galaví, Francisco Javier Sánchez, Mireia Cruz, David Fontanet, Mario César Martínez, José Ramón Fuentes, David Torres, José Casto, Ramón Agüero, Alejandro Andrés, Marcos Perles, Cyntia Romero, Yolanda Bocos, Jorge Ferrer, and Jorge Martín were then given the Generalitat’s honours and decorations.
Officers David González and Jesús López, on the other hand, received the Cross of Police Merit with Blue Distinction for their outstanding performance of their duties and behaviour. Lastly, the PLBND gave a diploma and a commemorative coin to Francisco Javier Gallego, Emilio Espejo, Saúl Pablo Pastor, Juan Vicente Soler, and Juan Miguel Igualada, the officials who retired during the previous fiscal year.
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Costa Blanca
Santa Pola Local Police intensify road checks

The Santa Pola Local Police conducted a number of control and verification operations on Sunday at several sites throughout the municipality, paying special attention to the Gran Alacant region. The police claim that these measures are a part of an effort to improve public safety and deter crimes that can disturb local residents’ quality of life.
At vehicle checkpoints, officers conduct inspections, identifying drivers and passengers, checking documents, and looking for suspicious activity. In accordance with Law 4/2015 on Citizen Security, roughly 80 vehicles were searched during these operations, about 50 were identified, and several drug possession complaints were made.
The police deployment also involved the issuance of many administrative reports for violations of the General Regulations for Vehicles and Drivers and the examination of some hunters’ guns documents. Additionally, two instances of drug-impaired driving were found, and the related reports were submitted.
According to the Local Police Headquarters, the goals of these controls are to lessen illegal activity, guarantee legal compliance, and improve the rapport between the Santa Pola community and the police. The major goals are to deter crime, find possible criminals, and, most importantly, build community trust by encouraging cooperation between law enforcement and the public.
The organisation stresses how crucial it is for the public to be aware of police presence on the streets because officers’ visibility not only helps to identify infractions but also discourages criminal activity, fostering peace and public order.
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Costa Blanca
With 141 direct flights to 30 countries, Alicante Airport kicks off the summer

On Sunday, 30th March, El Altet Airport in Elche opened for the summer season with 141 direct services to about 30 countries, three more than the previous year, including connections to Greece, Moldova, and Serbia. This coincided with the time change.
Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport will host 29 aircraft during the 2025 summer travel season, which runs through to October 26th. Additionally, the airport serves up to 31 airlines.
With 25 direct itineraries, the UK has once again emerged as the nation with the most connections at El Altet Airport this summer. Second place goes to Germany, where there are about fifteen direct flights.
Yesterday, Monday 31st March, three new routes were introduced. Two are run by Ryanair, with connections to Poland and Austria, and one by EasyJet, which links Elche Airport with Athens.

Additionally, a new route to Linz, Austria, run by low-cost airline Ryanair, will be introduced today Tuesday, April 1st. Jet2 will start operating a new connection to London Luton on Thursday.
Next month, connections will be added to Bordeaux and Chisinau, the capital of Moldova; flights to Belgrade will be added beginning in June; and in July, a route to the Channel Island of Guernsey will be introduced.
Airlines have booked 14.7 million seats at Elche airport between arrivals and departures, which is 3.2% more than what was planned for last summer and 6% more than what was really used.
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Costa Blanca
Calpe invests 150,000 euros to provide street lighting for its 75 residential areas

The state of the solar lamps in different residential areas has been thoroughly examined by the Calpe City Council. In order to confirm their correct operation, this study was carried out in cooperation with the lighting manufacturer and the contracting firm, Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas, SA (SICE).
Visual checks and functional tests were conducted during the inspections, which were conducted on February 3rd, 5th, 11th, and 18th and March 3rd, 10th, and 11th, 2025. The lights were made to turn on using a remote control provided by the manufacturer.
Out of the 366 solar streetlights that were examined, 20 were found to be stolen, while 32 were found to be malfunctioning. The contracting business will need to examine 29 of these 32 in further detail in order to decide what repairs are required. In other words, the business needs to fix the streetlights that aren’t functioning right now. Twenty streetlights have already been reported stolen.
Public illumination in all 75 residential neighbourhoods is the aim
The Calp City Council will continue to keep an eye on the facilities’ state and will mandate that the contractor complete the tasks required to guarantee the municipality’s solar lighting system operates as intended. Similarly, the appropriate steps will be taken to stop more vandalism that could harm these infrastructures.
Municipal services are already working on a new contract to enhance the current service and continue putting illumination in additional locations. The tender price for the new contract will be €150,000.
In order to keep enhancing public lighting in these locations, this gives the Urban Development Lighting Plan continuity. The City Council wants to make sure that all urban developments have public lighting by putting new lighting plans into action. It should be mentioned in this context that Calpe has 75 urban developments inside its municipal limits, some of them are from the 1960s and 1970s, and as a result, their infrastructure has deteriorated.
“The report on the state of the solar streetlights that the City Council has been installing over the last three years is good news,” said Mayor Ana Sala. We’ll keep getting better. A report has been filed regarding the theft of a few streetlights. Since other streetlights are still covered under warranty, they must be fixed. We will request that the business chosen to do this installation fix them as quickly as possible. In addition, we want to spend €150,000 on new streetlights and the upkeep that goes along with them in residential areas where lighting is more problematic. In the upcoming months, we want to keep making investments in this field. We will remember these residential places.
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