The Fitur tourism fair has been taking place in Madrid and the Provincial President and the Regional President have been sounding very up-beat about the year ahead on the Costa Blanca , saying that the area is well placed to ride out the storm of the economic crisis .

Sadly there was a reality check at the end of last week when it was revealed that hotel bookings for the summer were down by 20% in relation to bookings at the same time last year .

The Valencia president thinks tha the staging of big events is one way of tackling the crisis and he quoted the upcoming Davis Cup match betweeb Spain and serbia which will take place in Benidorm .The  ticket sales will begin this month and the price of the tickets will begin at 90 euros .

Hotel owners feel that a more accurate prediction of the summer will happen after easter .They all feel that a good Easter season will be crucial to 2009 .

Another of the big events was announced this week and the World Medical and Health Games will be based in Alicante this year .The event attracts more than 4000 visitors and competitors take part in 24 different events .

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Cartagena has been chosen for the fifth and final Audi Med Cup , so says the town hall .The sailing event is a series of mini-regattas and is one of the best and most famous in the world .The town hall is delighted that the harbour city has been chosen to host the event and also to be the final leg of the championship .

The competition takes place in France , Italy , Portugal and Spain , with two of the five legs taking place in Spain .The event begins in May in Alicante and finishes in September in Cartagena .

On May 11 it will start in Alicante until May 16 , Marseille from June 8-13 , Sardinia from July 20 -25 , Portugal from August 17-22 and September 14-19 in Cartagena .Each of the venues has been chosed for a great geographic location , meteorological and sea conditions .The city facilities for the spectators and participants has also been taken into account .

The last time the event was in Cartagena it generated 9 million euros in revenue , of which 5 million went directly into the city and its businesses .Virtually everyone feels that this is a positive thing for the city and also for Murcia generally .

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A gang of 25 Romanians have been arrested by National Police in the Valencian Region , Madrid and the Balearic Islands .They carried out their crimes like a military operation and they specialised in robbing private homes and commercial establishments by splitting into teams and focusing on particular areas .

They also had a very sophisticated way of finding out about the security systems of houses and businesses .They used ultrasonic devices to neutralise guard dogs and had a huge array of tools to force doors and grills .They also had sophisticated frequency blocking devices which they used to disarm alarm systems .

All of the goods stolen were sent to a central storage area where they were either distributed for selling or transported to Romania .The operation which led to their arrests started in Valencia where the gang operated in three units and it acquired information from people who worked for their targets .Some of those arrested operated out of Denia and Oliva .

The police are now looking at a backlog of unsolved crimes which could be linked to this gang.They are also looking at cases where victims were forced to open safes by the use of violence and also to give their PIN numbers by the same violent means .All of those arrested have been remanded in custody .

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The ” integration initiative ” which has been promoted in Javea has got under way at last .More than 200 people took part in the inaugural session in the town’s IES Numero 1 secondary school .

The idea of the project is to link those who speak different languages in order for them to talk to ech other and learn from each other ..The project has started with English and Spanish .At a later date the town hall is thinking of adding French and German .These four languages are but a small sample of all of the languages spoken in Javea .The town hall thinks that there could be as many as eighty different nationalities .

The mayor attended the initial ceremony to open the project officially and two other councillors explained to the audience how it is all supposed to work .

The audience was then divided into groups with a coordinator and these groups can now meet up and do what they want to do as many times as they choose .

Those who wish to join ” Let’s Talk ” can still enrol at the Casa de Cultura .

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When the local police in Orihuela Costa stopped a car last week they discovered many items in the car which they suspected of being stolen .The driver was Algerian and the police now believe that he has been responsible for a number of thefts in the area recently .Inside the Honda car they found a laptop , MP3 player , compact disc player , satellite navigation system and two leather jackets .

Another incident involved a Citoen car with two drivers .They had been reported for driving around in a suspicious fashion in the early hours of the morning .When the police tried to apprehend them the car drove off at speed and a chase ensued .Eventually they were apprehended and they then tried to run away on foot .One was arrested after a brief chase but the other remains at large .The police found a number of objects on his person which had been stolen only hours before .A gold bracelet , two mobile phones , a small clock as well as the keys to the car which they believe was also stolen in San Miguel de Salinas in December. The people had numerous other offences which they had committed and consequently they are being remanded in custody .Police believe that they have broken up a prolific burglary ring and have warned the public to be careful and cautious .They expect burglaries to increase due to the current economic crisis .