Hacienda Riquelme Changes

So we now Ronny Barker, a lame duck that has always refused to stand, has resigned twice already as a Phase President and clearly stated there was never Committee infighting!

This together with, as the PW forum stated, as we are informed  the other bloke with a nasty attitude and overall self righteousness. (click here)


Should be fun times ahead!!!!!!!!!!!! 



For the record:

September 2013:
Ron Locke Resigns

"As owners I am letting you know that this is yet another untruth....... I am one of the people referred to above. I have announced my resignation to the owners I represent and, as far as I know, at the moment I am the only one who has resigned.  It is completely untrue that it had anything to do with the manifesto referred to. My reason is simple. we are being inundated with unreasonable demands and very unfair criticism,."

  
October 2010:
Ron Locke Resigns
"This is not the place for me to give the detailed reasons for my resignation. I have written to all the owners I represent, as well as the committee, with the detail. Basically there is a fundamental disagreement between me and the Resort President and her group of friends on the committee...... I have found it impossible to get discussions going.... communication is awful. Some committee members never contribute any ideas for improvement, never give an opinion in any meeting I have been involved in, or respond to requests for comments on ideas. One member has refused to speak to me for over 12 months and won't answer any emails I send him...."

Presidents statement (click here)

Ron Locke has resigned as the president of phase 5a.  We did not always agree but his input was valuable.  It has been difficult and not an easy task these last three years establishing this community. We must, however, respect Ron's decision and wish him well.  We thank him for his contribution to the committee and wish him a more peaceful life!

All committees have disagreements.  But that's not a bad thing; it is healthy to have disagreements based on different perspectives and opinions.  Our committee is no different - we are all experienced people with opinions.  But we try to work together for the good of the cause - Hacienda Riquelme Community of Owners.

We will always seek the best possible terms for our owners and for Hacienda Riquelme.  This is why we are here and we are all mindful of this.

Paramount Murcia receives approval for next phase of construction

The Paramount Pictures theme park project has moved forwards following the approval of the second phase of the 'special management plan' by the Ayuntamiento of Alhama de Murcia last week.

The granting of this license permits Premusa - the promoters and developers of the facility - to move forward with the next phase of construction, expected to take place later this month.

Premursa have been given 20 days to release full details of the construction work to be undertaken, and for members of the public to raise any objections to this phase of the project, which concerns 223,918 sq mts of the park, to be used for the Hotels and car parking, and is expected to cost 3,014,984 Euros.

Last week saw news that Premursa had succeeded in obtaining funding from the Regional Incentives board of the EU to the sum of 17Mln Euros, which is expected to keep the facility on schedule for the planned opening in early 2015.

Source: click here

San Javier Jazz Festival underway

 The stars will certainly be out and shining brightly in San Javier over the next couple of weeks as the Jazz Festival opens its doors. 

 

The extensive program for the 17th edition of the Festival, which will be held from July 5th to August 5th, 2014 offers a total of 22 concerts on 13 nights, starting with the fantastic guitarist George Benson, who will present his new album A Tribute to Nat King Cole. Nat King Cole's brother, Freddy Cole will also perform in Jazz San Javier, where he will receive the Festival Award in acknowledgement of his career.

 

Guitar legend Lee Ritenour will perform with long time collaborator, Academy Award winner Dave Grusin on the closing night. The program includes other great musicians like the guitarist Chuck Loeb who will pay tribute to Paco de Lucía, to whom the festival is dedicated, plus the first and only concert in Spain of The Family Stone, which along with Earth, Wind and Fire, was one of the most important soul-funk bands of the 70s. With three of its original members and two new vocalists, the band from San Francisco, maintains the complete repertoire of the famous band Sly & The Family Stone.

Tickets can be bought on Ticketmaster, or in the Festival Offices (+34 968 191568 - +34 968 191588) located in Plaza España, San Javier. The price of tickets vary from 15 to 18 euros, except for Bobby McFerrin and George Benson which will cost 35 euros each. These two concerts are the only ones not included in the season pass, which include the remaining eleven nights, and has a cost of 120 euros. 

More information on the entire program is available at: www.jazz.sanjavier.es.

Oh what a week.............

Oh what a week:

• The Resort President stands down!.... click here

• Mr Bamford is banned from the PW forum at last!...... click here

• And we find that Sooty is selling up at half the cost! .....  click here

Times are a changing!

Murcia is the cheapest city in Spain to fill your shopping trolley

When it comes to value for money, Murcia has at least one advantage over the rest of Spain, as going to the supermarket is cheaper there than anywhere else. New figures just released show that the typical spend per year is 6,520€, 3.69% lower than the national average and the lowest spending rate in all of Spain.

The survey considered five categories of products and services: property (purchase and rental), tax (property tax, road tax and municipal) taxes, public transport and private (single fare of 10 bonus articles, gasoline and taxis), Shopping (shopping trolley, cost of a loaf of bread and a kilo of apples) and leisure (price of a movie ticket and dinner for two).

These are the main conclusions for Murcia:

• Murcia is the twenty-fifth most expensive provincial capital in Spain

• When it comes to housing, Murcia is the eighth cheapest capital to rent a home. (405.6€ is typical, which is 26.52% less than the Spanish average)

• Murcia is the best place in all of Spain to fill your supermarket trolley, (cheaper than the average 3.69%) with an annual cost of 6,520€

• Regarding leisure, Murcia comes in eleventh, as it’s more expensive to go to dinner for two people, with a cost of 55€, 14.34% more than the average.

The findings would seem to suggest, that to save money, hit the supermarket with a vengeance, go back to your rented property, turn on the telly and enjoy a night in, rather than going out on the town.

Corvera costs Murcia EU22,000 per day

The region of Murcia's Corvera Airport is about to enter it's third summer season of being stood idle, after completion of the construction phase of the facility in spring 2012, and at a cost of more than EU250 Mln.

Despite having an operational airport already, tourism chiefs and regional politicians claimed that San Javier airport would be unable to cope with ambitions for growing the number of visitors to the area in coming years.

Corvera airport was designed to accommodate some 3 Million passengers and 23,00 flights per year - more than double the busiest years seen at San Javier airport - with plans in place to increase the capacity to 14 Million passengers and 109,000 operations across 2 new phases in subsequent years. 

The inference here being that San Javier airport was restricting the number of tourists hoping to travel to the region, and not that Murcia had simply reached saturation point as a tourist destination.

Also : With Spain as a whole welcoming an all-time record 21.7 Million tourists in the first 5 months of 2014, what make Murcia so sure it can provide the infrastructure, accommodation and attractions for around 25% of all tourists coming to Spain each year ?

Recent estimations are that Corvera Airport is costing Murcia some €22,00 per day / €8 million per year, due to the Regional Government assuming responsibility for the €182 Million loan guarantee.

Having to pay for the luxury of an unwanted, and unrequired second airport is one thing - the fact that it is still not operational, and unlikely to reach projected visitor numbers is another.

Source: click here

Two arrested for stealing copper wiring from Corvera Airport

Murcia police, under operation  'PATROL'. have arrested two people for their alleged involvement in the theft of wiring from Corvera International Airport.

Those detained included a Spanish national, who was suspected of stealing wiring from earlier this year. The theft included copper from cable beacons and lighting of the access roads to the airport.

The proceedings were initiated by a complaint from the concessionaire who said they has suffered a theft of 16,000 meters of wiring  from the airport complex, a material whose estimated value was 100,000 euros.

Agents focused their investigation the inspection of local waste management facilities in the Campo de Cartagena, in order to locate the material. These investigations resulted in the detection of materials similar to those reported in one of the junkyards inspected, so after identifying the two people who made delivery of the material on site, two people of Spanish nationality and residents of Fuente Alamo, were arrested.

The operation carried out by the Guardia Civil determined that detainees allegedly accessed the airport complex, stole the cable and moved stored it in a ruined building.

The detainees have been brought before the Magistrate's Court in Murcia.

Murcia achieves 31 blue beach flags

Spain is setting the standard when it comes to European beach quality. This year, Spain holds the record and is number one with 681 quality marks, and beaches flying ‘blue flags’.



Regarding the total number of outstanding beaches throughout Spain, Murcia achieved with 31 (+7 year on year). Thus Murcia shows the second highest improvement rate with seven new flags more than last year, with only the Baleares showing better results.

In essence, the flag means that accessibility to beaches, the quality of water and sand, safety and cleanliness, are the attributes that determine the satisfaction of the tourists visiting the coastal areas. In terms of thematic distinctions, Blue Flags were awarded to Spanish municipalities who highlight the excellence in marine rescue and relief issues; environmental education and information and removal of architectural barriers and also the care for people with disabilities and especially urban waste management.

The best urban waste management program in Spain was awarded to Los Alcazares in Murcia and hats off to Cartagena, Spain’s second town for Blue Flags and still the first in the Mediterranean, with ten awards, two more than last year.

Liam Neeson in "Taken 3" films in Murcia airport.

If you happen to see a car chase on a road in Murcia this week… you could be in a Liam Neeson movie.

The Northern Irish actor has been in the city and local hills to shoot for his upcoming film ‘Taken 3’, in which he plays the part of Bryan Mills.

At the request of director Olivier Megaton police closed roads, including part of Murcia-San Javier airport, as chase scenes were shot.

The Cartagena fire brigade was put on standby.

Neeson  has been spotted in Murcia and at nearby La Manga Club with cast members, including Stephanie Kleine.

Hacienda Riquelme Golf Course Condition Update

Greens

The growth of new grass on the greens continues at a pace with the arrival of the hotter daytime temperatures and the improved growing conditions for this type of paspalum grass. Treatment by the ground staff has continued constantly over the last month. 

The average percentage coverage of grass has risen from about 50% a month ago to nearer 80% now on many greens. 

The greens are looking significantly better and we are confident, looking at the recent growth and coverage improvements, that the greens will totally recover. However there is a down-side to this recovery process. Unfortunately the rolling of the ball over the greens surface is actually worse now than a month ago as this new grass has grown and the areas of less-strong grass still growing gives larger inconsistencies in levels of height. 

This rolling deviation should reduce significantly as the growing grass finally fills the gaps and a more even and consistent coverage of strong grass across the greens as a whole is achieved. We still feel that it will be several weeks minimum, at this rate of progress, before we have good playable conditions on the greens. The following picture shows the condition of the practice green, which is quite typical of the average condition of the other greens on the course.

 

IRM have confirmed that they have taken a positive step towards improvements in the condition of all their courses by employing a new Course Maintenance and Management company, to replace the previous company, Selprats

Reviews

 Source: click here

Caribbean Day, Carols Bar, Sucina

Murcia to operate both San Javier AND Corvera until 2016

The Region of Murcia will see two airports in operation between 2014 and 2016.

Minister of Development Manuel Campos told the regional assembly how Corvera Airport will be opened before the end of 2014, however San Javier airport can not be closed before the end of 2016.

According to Campos, the smaller and older airport will not be closed sooner as the Spanish Airports Authority - AENA - will be required to operate the facility until such a time in order to justify the EU funding they received for development of the airport - specifically the EU25 Mln runway extension - in 2011.

Meanwhile, the decision by the European Commission to permit the opening of Corvera airport is due to be made later in July, with the legalities of the EU177 Mln loan guarantee by the regional government being under scrutiny.

EC approval of the loan guarantee would essentially allow the concession holder of Corvera airport, Aeromur, to guarantee their repayments between 2014 and 2023, and with a commitment to make repayments up to 2050 with an interest rate of 4.87%.

None of the major airlines currently flying into San Javier Airport have made any reference to when - or if - they will transfer operations to Corvera Airport.

Paramount Murcia gains 16M euros in EU subsidy

Premursa also announced that they had been successful in obtaining funding from the Regional Incentives Board of the Ministry of Works & Finance, in obtaining an EU subsidy to the value of almost EU17 Mln.
Latest estimations are that the park will open to the public sometime between December 2015 and January 2016.

Time for the Committee to stand down!

After months and months of committee infighting and formal confirmation that the Resort President can no longer stand being in the same room as other committee members, then a number of questions need to be raised:

• Why didn't Committee minutes reflect what was actually going on?
• Shouldn't Resortalia have prepared formal minutes accurately?
• Can Resortalia now be trusted to accurately inform all owners and protect their interests?

• Should other Committee members now consider their positions especially for not telling the complete truth? The following response is one clear example:

"

"

• Why are we not being correctly informed:

The honourable thing to do is for the complete committee to consider their positions and stand aside as they are now all tainted by the cover up and mess that has resulted.

12 months on, no change for the better!

The Association reported the following in July 2013:

The current Resort Committee and Resortalia are not clear communicators or choose to ignore owner issues completely. In addition:

- Some Phase Presidents do not communicate to their owners at all.
- The Resort Committee is split
- Responses on owner issues raised to Phase Presidents, the Committee or President are very poor
- Compliance with our Statutes is hit and miss.

This is why with the ever increasing number of concerns we will focus on:
1) Transparency of service levels agreements v costs
2) Debtors, ownership and communication
3) Street Lights, roads and rubbish collection ownership, transfer and costs
4) Repaint resort implications
5) Retender Resortalia contract
6) Relocation of workers compound 7) Statutes Compliance
8) Health & Safety Compliance

We aim to drive positive change for the resort with Cost Effective Transparency and Communications whereby collectively owners issues can be explored and progressed.
HRGR Association

 The writting was clearly on the wall!

HRGR Owners that really do care 

Commentary

HRGR Association of Owners is proud to stand up and report the true facts and state of affairs of the resort.

Resort President resigns due to Committee in-fighting..

Time for action and change!

The writing was really on the wall....................

•  13.5M euros professional assessment for building repairs and only 1.35M euros awarded

• Now we have another 2M euros +++++ for ongoing maintenance! - more like 4M in reality. Only 250K euros budgeted!

• And increased substantial BAD DEBTS yet to be budgeted.

The writing was really on the wall....................

Worst drought for 150 years in Spain

The worst drought in 150 years has hit parts of eastern and southern Spain, threatening agriculture industries in the regions.

Over the last few months inland areas of the country have been brutally dry, damaging harvests and putting farming communities out of business.

Valencia and Alicante are two of the worst-hit areas. Rainfall has been just 25% of its average levels, according to meteorological agency Aemet.

Aemet spokesperson Ana Casals, has confirmed that rainfall has not been so low since records began some 150 years ago.

Meteorologist Jose Antonio Maldonado said: “We have never seen such a long and intense drought. “Even during the second worst period of drought on record, there was twice as much rain as there is now.”

In Andalucia, the average capacity levels for reservoirs is between 70% and 90%. However, current levels are significantly lower than that. Malaga’s Juzcar reservoir was down to just 54%. Other reservoirs that are currently low include Murcia, Cuenca, Almeria, Cadiz and Jaen.

Experts are predicting that, in the future, droughts in Spain could get even worse – and more frequent. 

Source: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/spanish-news/item/120795-spain-suffering-from-worst-drought-in-150-years

News Updates

Whats on at La Torre:

Mayor Sucina dance to 'La Bamba'

The 'I Love Sucina' project, promoted by the Government of the Region and the new village headman José Mercader, aims to publicize the hamlet of Murcia golf as a social meeting place. The festival takes place from 28 June to 30 August.

Also, this weekend the video 'La Bamba Sucinera' starring Mercader was projected. It is the mayor singing the famous song hinting on several occasions, a hamlet Murcia: 'I'm sucinero yes, I do and I'm sucinero captain. " A version that said "has also drawn the attention of various media such as the BBC. The success was such that a follower tourist festival in social networks said he loved both Sucina buy a house. "
 
The mayor also recalled some of the strengths of the location, its proximity to the coast or the importance of the new Corvera International Airport, just 20 minutes.
 
The 'I Love Sucina' campaign will be promoted in six languages ​​(Castilian, English, French, Italian, German and Russian).

Committee Changes

Resort President announces his resignation

Committee and Resort changes to be announced

As we understand changes are underway and announcements are soon to be formally made.

Maybe it is time for harmony across all of the owners with the committee clearly representing all owners interests.

Time will tell.......................

Dane found dead at La Torre

On June 24, 2014 the body of a young Danish man was found floating in the lake of at La Torre Golf resort. The Guardia Civil said the accident happened, after the man had been seen drunk the night before.

The high level of alcohol and imprudence are believed by the Guardia Civil to have caused the death of the 24 year Danish man found at the La Torre Golf resort, next to a five star hotel.

The reason for the death will be confirmed in the autopsy at the Legal Medicine Institute in Cartagena, but witness reports say he was walking alone and visibly drunk the night before, and there are no signs of injury on the body.

La Torre Golf urbanisation - Photo Antonio Gil - laverdad.es

The family of the man had reported his disappearance at noon saying they had not seen him since Sunday night. A 3.45 pm yesterday a neighbour of the urbanisation spotted the body.

The family has already started the formalities for the repatriation of the body.

Spanish airport traffic update

Spanish airport traffic growing again; passenger numbers up 4% in May 2014 as Jet2.com, Norwegian and Vueling drive growth

 

YTD Passengers still fall by 3.5%!

Flights into Murcia have fallen by 13.4% in the first 5 months of the year

July What's On.................

Following feedback from Owners we are relaunching our What's On summary for the Resort which will be updated daily

News

Murcia President Makes First Visit to Paramount Project

The newly-appointed President for the region of Murcia, Alberto Garre, made his first official visit to the Paramount theme park project at Alhama de Murcia earlier this week.

Although unplanned and not connected anyway, the timing of the visit coincided with the 2 year anniversary of the official ceremony of the laying of the first stone at the theme park.

Garre told the gathering of various representatives of both Proyectos Emblemáticos Murcianos SA (Premursa) – the promoter and developer of the park - and local and regional government officials of his support for the project : "I love the Paramount project, and know that it will be a success for both Alhama and Alhameños."
​​At the same time, the President emphasised the point that the region would not financially support or invest in the project, but spoke of his confidence that the park represented a significant opportunity for private investors and entrepreneurs.

see http://www.jazz.sanjavier.es/en/index.html

Corvera Airport - "Presidential Whim"

 The IU- Verdes political members for the European Parliament, José María Ortega and María Marín, attended a rally outside Corvera airport recently in protest against the regional government of Murcia's continued support of the facility which "is against the interests of the public".

A further 50 supporters attended the rally, including the coordinator of the IU-Verdes for Murcia, José Antonio Pujante, together with a number of Councillors from neighbouring municipalities.

Ortega went on to denounce the project as "nonsense" and questioned the legality of the "undemocratic planning works", and that Corvera Airport was not in the interests of the public, but only in the interests of companies closely allied to the Partido Popular.

Moreover, he criticised the €180 Mln debt generated by the airport on "the whim of a [former] President who has refused all requests for explanations or debate and fled to Brussels."

Ortgega called upon the people of Murcia to hold the PP to account for the failures of Corvera Airport.

 

The Azura stops in Cartagena with 3,100 passengers

The business of cruising continues to grow in Cartagena with the latest ship bringing a full ship of 3,100 passengers and 1,200 crew to town. P & O Cruises second largest ship stayed in port until 5.00pm on 26th June with passengers filling up terraces, shops and visitor centres as they explored the ancient city..

This is the fifth cruise ship that stopped in Cartagena during the month of June, which, if the ships arrive filled to capacity, accounts for around 12,700 tourists .

On Friday, June 27th the former Homeric and Westerdam, the new Thomson Dream from Thomson Island Cruises, will arrive with more than 1,100 people, and on Sunday 29th, one of the World’s largest sailing ships, the Wind Surf from Windstar Cruises will visit with more than 300 passengers.

Cartagena’s cruise season continues to grow in July with the arrival of eight ships bringing with them about 15,200 tourists as Cartagena looks to enjoy one of its best cruise seasons on record.

July 2014 updates

The recent Hacienda Riquelme committee announcement that they are upset by some remarks really does question their standing. They are upset when queried on the number of retired committee members yet their profiles clearly state that they are retired!

Did they comment on the lack of open and honest communications across the Resort? 

Did they comment on the Committee always glossing over the key problems within the Resort?

Are they upset that other owners know really too much of the true state of affairs and that they are headless pigeons to fix it?

Balanced viewpoints and open and honest communications really do need to be considered and we are always available to help the Committee understand the hole they have dug and what is required to turnaround the Resort.