Weekender Alicante North Issue 115

10 FRIDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2019
www.weekender.news
Catalan protests
Javea, badly
hit by floods
this spring
POLICE clashed with protesters
in Barcelona last
weekend in a flare-up of
violence over the imprisonment
of nine separatist
leaders for their role in an
illegal 2017 secession bid.
The clash came after
around 350,000 people rallied
peacefully during Saturday,
with many waving pro-independence
flags for Catalunya.
On Saturday night,
several hundred Catalan
by Alex Trelinski
pro-independence protesters,
the majority wearing
masks, surrounded the national
police headquarters
in downtown Barcelona.
Riot police charged at the
large crowd swinging batons
following a two-hour standoff,
during which demonstrators
threw bottles, rocks and
rubber bullets at officers.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands
of people marched on
Sunday in a counter-rally in
Barcelona calling for Spanish
unity.
Around 80,000 people, according
to police estimates,
marched down Barcelona's
central Gracia thoroughfare
waving Spanish and Catalan
flags and chanting "that's
enough" and "the streets belong
to everyone" to counter
the separatist claim that “the
streets will always be ours”.
47 years for killer husband
A COURT in Mexico has
confirmed a sentence of
47 years for a man who
killed his wife, a Valencian
woman, in what was
originally thought to be a
kidnapping.
Young mother Pilar Garrido
was in the Mexican region
of Tamaulipas with her
husband, Jorge Fernandez,
and their toddler. Fernandez
reported to the police that
Pilar had been kidnapped,
an account that was believed
at first as kidnapping
of foreigners is common in
the region.
However, nothing was
ever heard from the “kidnappers”
who would usually
demand a ransom. 15 days
after her disappearance human
remains were found
by Simon Russell
which were identified by
DNA as being that of Pilar.
Her husband’s story started
to fall apart after extensive
questioning, and he was
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tried for her murder last
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The guilty verdict was
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Flooding risks highlighted
Footie
fans
face
fi n e
by Alex Trelinski
FIVE British football fans,
who failed to attend a
Spanish court hearing 20
months ago, have been
formally charged and told
that they face fines and
a one-year jail sentence
if found guilty of causing
damage and assaulting a
police officer.
The Manchester United
fans skipped a court appearance
after causing trouble
outside a Sevilla hotel, after
their team had played the
local side in the Champions
League in February 2018.
The men arrived on a
flight from Manchester at Alicante-Elche
airport in July,
but their holiday plans went
up in smoke, as their names
were already flagged up for
them to be intercepted.
Photos published in the
UK press last summer
showed them being arrested
on a bench warrant issued
by a Sevilla court in June,
and enforced at the airport
by the National Police.
If found guilty the group
will have to pay hundreds
of euros in fines, as well as
shelling out compensation to
the injured policeman.
The good news for the five
men is that they will not face
prison, as the sentence that
prosecutors are calling for is
under two years and it is a
first offence.
Details of their current
bail status have not
been disclosed.
by Simon Russell
THE Marina Alta has been
identified as one of the 15
most vulnerable areas for
future flooding in Spain,
following a report by the
national Observatory of
Sustainability.
The region has been hit by
two “gota fria” type storms
in recent months, causing
severe flooding and structural
damage in major towns
such as Denia and Javea.
Geographically the Marina
Alta is already vulnerable to
the phenomenon, while poor
town planning and lack of information
are also mentioned
in the report.
The region is also one of
the most built-up of those
that are prone to flooding,
with some of the developments
even being built on
flood plains.
Initial recommendations
are to improve citizen communication
and, longer term,
the “gradual withdrawal of
the most vulnerable buildings
and developments”.
July’s
Alicante
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