Green Way Meeting

As many of you know the green way project (which when finished will run from Baza to Huercal Overa and incorporates walking and cycling routes and additional features) will run through our village. It will also feature our railway. The next meeting of the overseeing body is to be held at the Renfe Building in Alfoquia on Thursday 20th April at 0900. I have attached a copy of the agenda for the meeting which is in Spanish but gives you an idea of the points. This is a major project of huge significance to the area and if you are in the least interested in it will be well worth attending. 9:00 RECEPCIÓN DE ASISTENTES 9:15 APERTURA Francisco Martínez Ramos, alcalde de Zurgena 9:30 SESIÓN I: DINAMIZACIÓN TERRITORIAL A TRAVÉS DE CAMINOS NATURALES Y VÍAS VERDES Juan Manuel Alameda Villamayor, jefe de servicio, subdirección general de Regadíos, Caminos Naturales e Infraestructuras Rurales. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Programa Caminos Naturales Carmen Aycart Luengo, consultora COLOQUIO Discussion 10:00 SESIÓN II: PRESERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO FERROVIARIO EN LAS VÍAS VERDES Juan Soria Martínez, gerente del Consorcio de las Vías Verdes de la Región de Murcia Domingo Fernández Zurano, alcalde de Huércal-Overa Caridad López Martínez, teniente de alcalde de Serón Rafael García de la Mata Escudero, Presidente Asociación Cultural de Amigos del Ferrocarril de Zurgena José Luis Pinilla Trujillo, Mare Ingeniería Ferroviaria Alternativa COLOQUIO Discussion 11:00 PAUSA CAFÉ 11:30 VISITA TÉCNICA AL RECINTO FERROVIARIO DE LA ESTACION DE ZURGENA 12:00 SESIÓN III: EXPERIENCIAS EMPRESARIALES EN EL ENTORNO DEL CAMINO NATURAL VÍA VERDE GUADIX-ALMENDRICOS Juan Yeste Martínez, Alojamiento Cuevas Balcones de Piedad (Baza, Guadix) www.cuevasbalconesdepiedad.es Luis Aurelio Pérez Tapia, presidente de la Asociación de empresarios turísticos del Valle del Almanzora www.turismoalmanzora.com Maribel y José Antonio Águila Sánchez, CEO y gerentes de Embutidos de Zurgena, www.aguilacarnicas.com José María Pérez, gerente de Eventos deportivos y de turismo activo Azimut Sur (Guadix) www.azsur.com Felipe Bonillo García, gerente de Catering Bonillo-Esencias de Levante (Arboleas) www.cateringbonillo.com COLOQUIO 13:00 CLAUSURA

A Different Saturday

Fancy a different Saturday? This Saturday 1st April from 5.30pm in the Park Gines Parra we are having the Fiesta of Colours. There will be a DJ animator who will provide a new way to enjoy your time. Pop along and have a fun time. The event should be enjoyed by over 12 years and adults.

Good News for Railway Attraction & End of burning

Firstly excellent news this week regarding a grant we have been succesful in obtaining and which will allow us to recruit train and employ 10 people in tourism commerce to progress the creation of the Raiway Museum and attendant attractions for the future. This is another major step forwa4d in making our area attractive to visitors an£ tourists. Secondly the authorities have decreed the end of the agricultural burning season from 1st April no burning will be permitted. This decree is constantly under review and takes into account meteorological conditions to minimise the risk of fire.

Railway Museum and Girl Friday

The AGM for the Railway Museum is to be held this Saturday 25th March at 1200 noon in the old railway station. It should be interesting to hear how things are progressing given that Rafa has acquired 2 items of rolling stock. If you are interested please pop along and show your support for the guys who are doing all the work on this amazing project for our area and maybe learn more about the plans. It will make our area an even more attractive place to visit. We have a young girl, who is the niece of our local priest, who is looking for some part time work. She is particularly interested in working to care for, or assist, the elderly. She has good refences, I am assured. So if you have, or know of anyone who may have, a requirement for such help please let me or Jose know and we can arrange.

Driving Licences. UPDATE 14th March 1840hours

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior have just released this press statement on driving licences. The Government approves the reciprocal recognition and exchange of driving licenses between Spain and the United Kingdom The agreement, embodied in the form of an Exchange of Verbal Notes between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, also establishes the exchange of information on traffic offenses in terms of road safety In this way, holders of a valid driving license in one of the two States may request the exchange in the country where they have established their residence without the need to take an additional practical or theoretical test. The Council of Ministers has approved this Tuesday the agreement by which Spain and the United Kingdom will proceed to the reciprocal recognition and exchange of driving licenses as well as the exchange of information on traffic offenses in terms of road safety. This agreement puts an end to the successive extensions applied to the exchange of permits between the two countries that had been applied since the end of the transitional period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement of the United Kingdom from the European Union. From now on, holders of a valid and current driving license issued by either of the two States may request the exchange of their equivalent driving license where they have established their residence, without being subject to any additional requirement of practical test or theoretical and according to the equivalence tables between the categories of permits from both countries. The agreement establishes that all valid permits or licenses of current residents issued prior to its entry into force may be exchanged, while for permits issued after said entry into force it will be an essential requirement to access the exchange that the permits have been issued in the country where the applicant had his legal residence. With this pact, those British citizens residing in Spain who had not had their driving license recognized before Brexit, nor in the successive extensions granted, will be able to do so as of Thursday, March 16. To facilitate administrative processing at the provincial traffic headquarters, a period of six months has been granted during which British citizens can circulate in Spain with their original permit while they process the exchange. In addition, Spain and the United Kingdom undertake to provide each other with information on the data of the vehicles and their owners for the purpose of investigating traffic offenses related to road safety, especially in cases of speeding, not wearing a seat belt, failure to stop at a red light, driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of drugs, not wearing a crash helmet, driving in a prohibited lane, or illegal use of mobile phone.

Advice from Gov.uk website regarding driving licences. Posted due to a number of people questionming the current state of play. The UK and Spanish governmrnts are still discussing options for UK driving licence holders and when they reach agreement to modify the rules I will post further. But at the moment the below applies; You cannot renew or replace your UK, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man licence if you live in Spain. Read the guidance on: what you need to drive in the EU road travel in Spain From 1 May 2022, if you have been resident for more than 6 months and have not exchanged your UK licence for a Spanish one, you will no longer be able to drive using your UK licence. Sign up for email alerts to get notified when we update this page. If you have a valid UK driving licence From 1 May 2022: if you were living in Spain before 1 January 2021, your valid UK driving licence will no longer be valid for driving in Spain if you moved to Spain after 1 January 2021, your valid UK licence will be recognised for 6 months from the date you obtained residence The British and Spanish governments continue to negotiate on long-term arrangements for exchanging driving licences without needing to take a practical test. If it is imperative that you drive, you should not wait for the outcome of the negotiations to take action. You must follow the Spanish Traffic Authority (DGT) process for non-EU nationals to obtain a Spanish driving licence. This includes taking both a theory and practical driving test. Sent from my iPhone

Organised Walk

The Town Hall supported by the programme of Provincial Sports Plan 2023 has an organised walk on Sunday 26th March in the area of Pinar de la Alfahuara in Sierra de Maria, Los Velez Natural Park. Registration for this walk includes the technical service for the activity, qualified monitors, permission of use of the areas, civil liability insurance, and transportation to the route. All free! If you are interested in joining this walk please contact the Town Hall prior to 16th March.

Rubbish Disposal AGAIN

Once more the Town Hall has conducted a programme to try and tidy up areas where the basuras are situated. New signs are being installed at all these locations showing what cannot be disposed of. But remember large items can be placed by the basuras for collection by the Consorcio on the 11th and 26th of each month. Large items should therefore be left in the day or two prior to these dates. We have not yet installed cameras and neighbours are asked to ensure no one deposits forbidden items ot items at the wrong times. If anyone is seen doing so the Police will attend if informed. Their number is 664 395 513. Lets hope this time people comply with thevriles and keep our villages tidy.

Railway Project & Medical Help.

Two important updates today. No 1 Due to recent events the Town Hall has agreeed to allow Jose Manuel to assist non spanish speakers with medical appointments and issues. Jose trained and qualified as a meducal doctor in the USA and therefore has a medical bachground. He also has many contacts within the Spanish medical fraternity. He has asked me to publicise that he will provide this support at a cost of €15 per enquiry or advice. I& you want to use his services call him on 687 531 499. No 2. Amazing progress by my friend and collaborator of the Railway restoration project for Alfoquia Rafael. After 12 months of negotiations with ADF he has at last procured the first two items of rolling stock which will be part of the museum and eventually part of the tourist train we hope to run. i have attached photographs of these 2 carriages. One is a 75 seater railway carriage from 1996 and the other is a Buffet/restaurant carriage from 1954. It is anticipated that they will be delivered to Alfoquia in the second week of April and prior to the next meeting of the committee for the Almanzora Green Way on the 20th.

Anyone with a room to rent?

We have a young lady due to start work in the Town Hall shortly. She will be employed to assist young people in their training for jobs. She is not from Zurgena and needs to find a place to stay. She is learning English and would like to live with an english speaking family to help her. It would obviously help whoever she stays with their learning Spanish! She is, of course, willing to pay rent. So if you have a room to spare you might consider this idea an option. If you do please email me at jimszurgena@gmail.com or message me on UK +44 7368 990809 which is also on whatsapp.

Spanish Legion

We are delighted to welcome back to Zurgena the brigade of the logistics corp of the Spanish Legion for a full exercise. I always think of it as one of my best contributions to the community in establishing such a good relationship with the officers and men of this branch of the Spanish Armed forces. They will be in our municipality until Friday and, if you are interested,they have an open day on Thursday. At the last exercise quite a lot of us went along and were given an informative tour around the temporary base which they have set up in the same place behind the municipal swimming pool. So if you have an interest pop along and see how the soldiers set up camp

Thanks for Sticking your heads up

i am really pleased to say that we have a total of 5 non Spanish residents who have answered the call and agreed to support our team in the upcoming May Local Elections. It is even better when they all come from different parts of the municipality. We have one from Zurgena, one from La Alfoquia, one from Cucador, one from Los Carasoles and one from Palaces. So almost every area will have an ex pat on our list (P.S.O.E.) i thank them all for putting themselves forward and hope to meet 5hem all prior to the election. They have all met with, and had a chat with, Francisco, our current mayor who will probably our leader going into the election. I will post their names once i have theirs'and Fran's permissions.