Public participation in Town Hall budgets - how best can this be done?
Feb 8th
Jávea's Department of Citizen Participation is organising a public meeting to initiate a system whereby the citizens of Jávea can have a say in determining aspects of the Town Hall's annual budget.

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The renewal of the Paseo del Arenal in Javea, part of the Plan Confianza, will be postponed until after the summer, as the project was suffering too many delays and there was no guarantee that it would be finished before the summer season.

This week has seen the start of the first phase of the road renewal plan in Javea, funded by the Regional Government's Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment.

The Javea Town Hall Department of Economic Development has launched a new Local Jobs Creation Board, a forum that will bring together business people, experts and professionals involved in vocational training, who are willing to develop ideas and proposals for jobs creation.

The municipal water company of Javea, AMJASA held its general meeting on Thursday evening. The session, which was held in the plenary hall, was open to the public, with the attendance of the members of the Board.

The government in Javea is continuing in its efforts to reorganize the administration and make it a friendlier place for the user.

The Department of Environment of Javea has finished the cleaning, maintenance and alteration works of the Cala Blanca viewpoint located in the footpath that runs along the length of the coastline in the direction of les Caletes.

The municipal Department of Environment of Javea has detected the first case of Red Palm Weevil in a date palm tree.

The Business Association of Xàbia Histórica has joined forces with the town Hall's Department of Economic Development to launch an innovative campaign to attract prospective investors who might want to open their business in the empty shop units in the Old Town.

The assembly hall of the Javea Town Council of Javea hosted official ceremony on Sunday to constitute the Consell dels Xiquets (or Children's Council), a new citizen participation body composed of representatives from all primary and secondary schools in Javea, which will be responsible for channelling the demands, ideas and criticism from the children to the Town Council.

For the first time, residents of Javea have been able to decide in which projects to invest part of their taxes. On Thursday evening, members of the Agenda 21 forum were able to choose from 15 proposals made by the council that could be included in the participatory budgets. The most voted investment was the construction of a bus station in the car park in Avenida Palmela.

Amjasa, the public water company in Javea, took stock of the two-week testing period in which water desalination plant operated only at night, allowing the concession holder, Acciona, to save on the energy bill with the night time rates. In exchange for authorizing the new operating schedules, the operating company has compensated Amjasa by lowering the amount of water required for purchase.

At Thursday's plenary session, the Municipal Council of Javea intends to adopt a modification in the tax rate, which will lower the Council Tax (IBI) and ease the burden to the taxpayer.

Old Town gears up for Valentine's Day
Special offers in shopping, eating and beauty treatments
Jan 30th
The Xàbia Histórica business association has given details of its new Valentines' Day campaign. Juan Luis Cardona, Councillor for Economic Development, announced that this year will be the first time that the campaign will offer other opportunities alongside the usual culinary ones, including discounts in shopping and beauty treatments.

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Hide for bird and animal watching on the Montgó
Jan 22nd
The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment has set up a hide for people to photograph the fauna of the Montgó Natural Park.

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Chinese investors take a look at the Comunidad Valenciana
12 Jan
According to the print edition of Las Provincias, Chinese investors are looking at property and tourism investment in the Comunidad Valenciana, including Benidorm.

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Jávea IBI not affected by National rates hike
Jan 4th
The Spanish national Government has announced a 10% increase in IBI for the next two years as part of the programme to deal with the current financial crisis. However, this increase will not affect IBI in Jávea because the town is exempted since its rateable values were calculated at the peak of the property boom and are already considered too high.

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The "Xàbia Historica" business association has organized a "tapas and drinks" tour, enlivened by the music of the colla Xirimitab's, this Friday December 30th.

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The Javea Town Board has awarded a new contract that will considerably reduce the mobile telephone bills. The annual subscription has gone from 44 thousand to 21 thousand euros. Javea has also been awarded for its recycling.

Recent surveys show that only around 5% of the workers in Xàbia are engaged in agriculture. Yet cultivated fields and orchards are central to the landscape of our municipality, which in turn is a key feature in attracting tourists.

In the beginning there were no laws controlling coastal development in Spain. People could build houses, hotels, and restaurants on the edge of the sea, block public access to the beaches and generally privatise the coastline

This was one of the messages conveyed by George Thomas, member of the PSOE Executive in Xàbia in a talk entitled "The Challenges of Integration" given at the Casa de Cultura on Monday January 17th. Born in Scotland, George has worked in many countries learning Arabic, Russian and Spanish (and a little Valenciano) in the process. This time, he was talking in English to an audience of around 60, mostly expatriates, in the 5th lecture in the series "Forum for Change", organised by Xàbia PSOE.

Renowned Spiritual Master Umesh Nandwani will give a two day Personal Transformation Seminar in Moraira's Medifit Centre, on Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18^th of March.

The ISVH (Intersociedad de Vecinos Hispanofilos) in Javea, an umbrella group for residents of Balcon al Mar, Costa Nova, La Guardia Park and La Cala, has made a 1,000€ donation to Caritas this holiday season to help the needy.

The Department of Social Services in Javea has recently received several donations from associations and groups that have helped guarantee that these holidays are celebrated a little bit better in the homes of disadvantaged people.

David Ferrer has loaned a replica of his Davis Cup to the Javea Town Hall for two weeks. The cup can be viewed in the main all of the Ayuntamiento, where visitors are welcome to have their photographs taken alongside it.

The Regional Government's Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment has begun a road renewal plan for Javea that has been included in the Plan Confianza.

Javea's sporting world celebrated its annual gala event on Sunday evening, bringing together hundreds of athletes and friends at the Palau d'Esports Miguel Buigues Andrés.

The Casa de Cultura, Xàbia was full to overflowing last Friday night to hear tributes to the men and women of the International Brigades who came to Spain 75 years ago, at the start of the Civil War, to fight for the Spanish Republic.

The Department of Environment in Javea has called upon all horticulturists, gardening professionals and neighbours in general to meeting to tackle the plague of the red palm weevil, an insect that is affecting hundreds of Canary Island palms that are very common in the municipality.

The Javea office of the Consortium for Economic Recovery and Activity of the Marina Alta (Creama) presented 75 diplomas today to students who attended the pilot course offered by English volunteers, a group of 11 native British residents of the municipality.

Many actual and aspiring business women and small business owners gathered Saturday at the Parador for the Women's Entrepreneurship Conference organized by the Javea Town Hall and the Department of Equal Rights.

Javea Mayor, Jose Chulvi, attended the general meeting of the association of businessmen from the Arenal beach on Thursday morning. The mayor, along with the Councillors for Finance, Oscar Anton, and Public Safety, Juan Ortolá, explained the project and actions the Town Hall has planned for this important tourist area.

The Town Hall paid tribute to the three charity associations that manage charity shops in Javea. The Cancer Charity Centre, the Roundabout Charity Shop and the Original Charity & English Lending Library, composed mainly of British residents, all raise money through the sale of second-hand items such as clothing, books and furniture.

The cliffs of Jávea are one of its great natural beauties, yet few us ever get the opportunity to see them up close from the sea and to explore their hidden coves and caves.

Javea's Town Hall has signed a deal with that of Benitatchell to allow those on the Javea Padron to enjoy the same terms and conditions that already apply to those from Benitatchell for use of their covered swimming pool.

Volunteers from the Charity Shop in Javea have made ​​a new donation to the Tapis, the occupational workshop for the mentally disabled that is run by the Department of Social Services.

Many residents on the Costa Blanca have followed the progress of Javea boy Gerard McGrath, who was seriously injured in a motor cycle accident 6 years ago.

When Gerard McGrath and his "buddy" Simon Forster boarded the Tall Ship Lord Nelson at the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canarias last February it was just the beginning of what would become an unforgettable experience

Until recently, modern travellers on the road from Gandía to Albaida would pass by a magnificent building set back a little north of the road and wonder what it could be, and what secrets it held.

In 2005, the Gatoli-King family from the UK, recently resident in Javea found itself thrown into unfamilar territory when their son was suddenly admitted to Santa Fe hospital for immediate treatment for leukemia. Their subsequent challenges and ups and downs took place against a backdrop of being forced to tackle the language barrier and unfamiliar culture head on.

Jávea resident, George J. Thomas, has written a thriller, inspired in the burst of the Spanish construction bubble, and his experience with international business in many different countries and cultures.

The body has the innate ability to heal itself, to adapt, to recover its balance between the structural (body tissues: muscles, ligaments, bones, organs, etc.), metabolic (chemical processes: digestion, nutrition, hormones, minerals, vitamins) andemotional factors (emotions, mental processes,...).

Natural therapies are getting more and more popular, and the array of treatments is increasingly more varied, yet most people are not really familiarized with what these treatments have to offer. More than an alternative to allopathic medicine they can be seen as a way of preventing more severe, acute or serious illnesses.

Now that the New Year has started -and considering the complete ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants- why not make true your resolution to quit smoking once and for all?

Bach Flowers Therapy was developed over 50 years ago by the medical doctor and investigator, Dr. Edward Bach, and it's one of the most interesting phenomena of alternative medicine. It is based on a concept absent from classical medicine: the relation between the human soul, emotions and the manifestation of illnesses, that is, the psychological component of disease.

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder and can be defined as a difficulty in getting to sleep or in staying asleep, or sleep that is disturbed, restless or otherwise of poor quality.

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to go beyond the "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation. It originated from Vedic Hinduism, which is the oldest religion that professes meditation as a spiritual and religious practice, and it has been practiced for thousands of years.

Nearly every day of our life we have to deal with difficult people. It is very important to understand the reality behind difficult behaviour so that it doesn't have a too big effect on our mental balance.

MABS Cancer Support Group is registered charity (nº 7261) that offers support and kindness to cancer patients in many geographical areas from Valencia to Gibraltar, and now has an urgent need for volunteers.

Answers to the questionnaire put together by members of the local Agenda 21 forum have finally been received from some of the political groups. The aim of the questions was to clarify policies on a number of aspects related to social, economic and environmental sustainability. The responses reveal a lot about the perception which each party has on citizen participation.

When people from all nationalities, speaking many different languages, work together for a common cause there is no limit to their possibilities for successful action.

Is an English will valid in Spain? What should I do if my husband dies and he didn't leave a will? Do heirs living abroad need a NIE to claim their assets? These and many other questions were answered in the conference given by the Town Hall and sponsored by Caja Murcia last Wednesday, where the local Notario, Antonio Jiménez Clar, answered many questions to the varied European audience that attended.

In view of the forthcoming review of the General Town Plan not much is known of the terms and phrases of which we hear much in the coming months. Here are some definitions:

A socioeconomic study by Imedes reveals the urgent necessity to change

The Mediterranean Institute for Sustainable Development (IMEDES) presented the conclusions of its socioeconomic analysis of Xàbia in an intensive day seminar which took place in the Parador. This study, which identifies trends of local economic development, was instigated by the Town Hall at the request of Agenda21Local and the Sectoral Round Table responsible for the writing of the PGOU.

Is urban mobility in Xàbia sustainable? Circle the option you judge appropriate.

1. “The pedestrian has the right to live in a healthy environment and freely to enjoy public space in adequate safety conditions for his/her physical and psychological well-being.” Is it safe, both for adults and for children, to cycle or walk along the streets?
YES NO

An urban legend has it that Xàbia does not recycle, but that the garbage is mixed up in a non-ecological way. Xàbia's Agenda21 has responded to this concern and has decided to find out what the truth actually is.

It is usually cakes that are used to describe great sales but in the case of the "Xabia ecologica" jute bag campaign the number of bags already sold speak for themselves. Since the bags arrived in the town at the end of June 1500 have been distributed and a second order is already on its way.

La Albarda Garden in Pedreguer, is a surprising patch of green on the edge of La Sella. It belongs to Fundem, a foundation dedicated to the conservation of the Mediterranean flora and fauna and its 50,000m² lies between two emblems of Mediterranean coastal development: an urbanisation and a golf course; but once you are inside its gates you enter a different world.

Xàbia faces a very serious challenge for the coming years. That is, to define a model for the future of the town, and it is the people themselves, the real protagonists, who are responsible for this future evolution. A project of a town that can only be understood with citizen participation, pluralistic debate and which takes sustainability into account.

Agenda 21 convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss the proposal by the Ministry to expand Xàbia Port. The Forum as a whole rejected this and any other project which would affect the landscape of Xàbia; its biggest tourist asset.

The Environment Group of Agenda 21 has created an awareness campaign which aims to reduce the consumption of plastic bags through the introduction of attractive jute bags which will be provided to local businesses.

In the October 6th meeting of the A21 Forum the Consultant Idom presented the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Xàbia.