Castellón resort “rejected” as EuroVegas site after last-ditch casino bid

A day after Castellón announced that it wanted to be considered as a bidder for Sheldon Adelson’s EuroVegas, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation said Tuesday that it would not consider the Valencia province’s offer to host the multi-million-euro mega casino project at the Marina d’Or resort complex.

Company sources said that “only Barcelona and Madrid are being considered” by Aldeson to build his mammoth casino, hotel and convention center project, but “thanked” Castellón for its interest, Europa Press reported.

“At this moment, negotiations are nearly at their final stage,” the sources said, adding that both Barcelona and Madrid still have a “50-50 chance” of hosting EuroVegas.

Castellón made a splurge on Monday when it announced that it was throwing its hat into the ring at this stage of the game.

Lluís Recoder, the Catalan commissioner for territory and sustainability, said that he thought Castellón was “a latecomer.”

Officials at Marina d’Or had said they only made a formal proposal to bid for the project, and were waiting to hear from the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation so they can set up a meeting.

Marina d’Or and Castellón airport are two of the biggest construction flops of the past decade

Valencia government officials said they were being “prudent” about the proposal, but regional premier Alberto Fabra on Tuesday was less than discreet. “We are going to give them all the help they want, where it is needed, so that this dream becomes reality,” the Popular Party (PP) premier told reporters. But others, such as Lola Johnson, the Valencia tourism commissioner, and Javier Moliner, the speaker of the regional parliament, played down the announcement by acknowledging that the plans were still in their “infancy.”

Landing EuroVegas would be a huge stroke of luck for Castellón, which has been grappling with two of the biggest regional construction flops of the past decade. Thousands of homes built during the real estate boom sit empty at the seaside Marina d’Or resort, in Oropesa del Mar, while Castellón is also dealing with a white elephant regional airport, which has still not seen a single plane given that it is unable to obtain the necessary flight permits. What’s more, the State Agency for Air Security has found that its main runway is too narrow for airplanes to turn around, and will have to be widened to meet regulations. The subject of intense criticism by the Valencian Audit Office, the airport cost 200 million euros to build with an additional 30 million euros spent on advertising. It was the pet project of Castellón’s former provincial administrator, Carlos Fabra (no relation to Albert Fabra), also of the PP.

Marina d’Or president Jesús Ger has offered EuroVegas some 18 million square meters of land between Oropesa del Mar and Castellón, where he had planned to build the massive Marina d’Or Golf resort. Currently there are three golf courses, a string of hotels and hundreds of apartments built on the land, but the project, which was approved by the Valencia regional government in 2010, never got off the ground.

In 2009, Marina d’Or was 700 million euros in debt. Its workforce was reduced from 1,540 employees to 865.

Carlos Fabra, who remains the PP party leader in Castellón as well as secretary general of the local chamber of commerce, also came out on Tuesday in favor of bringing EuroVegas to Marina d’Or.

“It would be the end of an old chapter and the beginning of a new era for Castellón,” he said in a press release. Fabra went on to say that “its proximity to the airport, its 320 days of sun a year, and the efforts made by Marina d’Or provide the necessary framework to make this a success.”

LORENA ORTEGA Castellón 5 JUN 2012 – 19:29 CET

via http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/05/inenglish/1338917024_575153.html

Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Castelló

If you are in the Peñiscola area this festive period take the opportunity to see Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Castelló in concert at the Palau de Congressos de Peñiscola.

The concert starts at 20:00 hours on Wednesday 4 January 2012 and the programme will be Mahler’s 9th Symphony. This will  also be performed on Friday 6 January at 19:00 hours at the  Palau de Congressos de Castellón.

There is very little opportunity in this area to see live music so support it when you can.  More information at:http://www.culturalcas.com/

Hottest December day in history in the Comunidad Valenciana

THIS Thursday has been the warmest December day in years in the Comunidad Valenciana, despite being just after the shortest day of the year.

Hottest day

The record was held by Llíria, in inland Valencia, which reached 24.2ºC, followed by Manises at 23.5ºC.

Alicante city and surrounding areas saw highs of 22ºC, and the rest of the provinces of Valencia and Alicante were all over 20ºC in the shade.

But these temperatures contrast sharply with those seen in the early hours of Thursday morning in various inland towns and villages.

In Villena (Alicante), the morning temperature was 1.4ºC and in Jalance (Valencia) the mercury plummeted to 2.1ºC, whilst residents in La Pobla de Benifassà (Castellón) woke up to see the thermometers having plunged to 4.5ºC.

via Hottest December day in history in the Comunidad Valenciana.

By: thinkSPAIN , Friday, December 23, 2011

EC allows Spain to curb Romanians’ access to jobs

The European Commission on Thursday decided to make an exception to its full free movement rules among member states and allow Spain to temporarily restrict Romanian workers from seeking jobs in the country.

“This decision has been taken because of the very specific employment situation in Spain,” EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor said in a statement. “The Commission understands why, at this particular juncture – because of the dramatic employment situation and the very complex financial environment – the Spanish authorities wish to step back from full free movement.”

Under the agreement, Spain can keep Romanians from entering the country until December 31, 2012 and must inform the EC about the progress in imposing such restrictions. The new rules would only affect Romanians coming to Spain to look for jobs without having prior contracts. It will not affect those living in Spain who are registered with and paying into the social security system. The Labor Ministry explained it would also not affect Romanians who just want to visit Spain – only those who come to seek employment.

Diana Diru, a Romanian business community leader in Spain, lamented the decision by Brussels because it only singles out people from her country.

“They are blaming us for high unemployment,” she said.

Since Romania joined the EU in 2007, Romanians have become the largest minority group in Spain, surpassing Moroccans and Ecuadorians. According to the National Institute of Statistics, there are 864,278 Romanians living in Spain, making up 15 percent of all migrants in the country.

via EC allows Spain to curb Romanians’ access to jobs · ELPAÍS.com in English.

Farewell to the Costa Azahar brand

The new logo

The Costa Azahar brand has gone, at least, the image that, from now on, will give the The Provincial Tourist Board of Castellon. The re-branding  has also dispensed with the tourism slogan “Interior” which until now accompanied the image, like the name of this piece of coast. After ten years, the board decided to change this image in order to update and conform to new trends in marketing and the market.

The deputy of Tourism, Susan Marquis stated “It’s not that it hasn’t borne fruits, it’s that we needed to adapt”. So, it was decided to emphasize the name of the territory, Castellón, as the product and to use two different slogans according to the recipients of the campaigns. For the domestic market “Castellon” will be accompanied by the slogan “Mediterranean” whilst for the international, the legend will be “Spain.” The choice of these, explained the manager of the board, Virginia Ochoa, is that “they are concepts that already have assigned values.” Furthermore, depending on the campaigns, together with “Castellon”  will be the themes golf, culture, cuisine and events.

The update has also affected the logo, that until now, consists of a spiral coil with  blurred colors, from yellow to blue. The image that has been updated and simplified, will just be blue and is integrated as the letter “C” of  Castellon.

New high-speed rail links inaugurated

The new AVE high speed train

High-speed rail infrastructure took a significant leap the past weekend, with the inauguration of two new lines joining Madrid with Valencia, and Barcelona with Paris.

The country’s entire political leadership was on hand to celebrate the new AVE link between Madrid and Valencia on Saturday, a journey that now covers 391 kilometers in a little under 95 minutes. The S-112 train carried 250 passengers, including King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, leader of the opposition Popular Party Mariano Rajoy, and the regional and local leaders of Valencia and Madrid.

Spain now claims to be a world leader with the most kilometres of high speed train routes with the addition of the new  High Speed rail link between Valencia  and Madrid that opened on 18th December. The new journey time between Valencia and  Madrid cuts over three hours from the previous timings. The price for the new journey is 79,80 euros for turista class booked via the Internet.  The Alaris service that it replaces previously cost 47,50 euros.

What has not been so widely publicised is that it is now possible to go from Castellon to Madrid via the high speed route at a journey time of around three hours.  This is possible thanks to the Alvia high-speed and variable gauge train, which can run on both types of track in Spain and that changes from standard gauge to the Iberian gauge at Valencia. The Alvia, offering 299 seats can run at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour over the new high speed line between Madrid and Valencia will depart daily from Castellón station at 7:30 am and 17:30 pm, and arrive at the Puerta de Atocha Station in Madrid at 10:25 hours and 20:32 hours respectively. Conversely, these trains depart from Madrid at 9:10 am and 17:10 pm and arrive at Castellón at 12:07 hours and 20:02 hours.

The new Barcelona-Paris journey, which takes seven hours and 25 minutes, is a joint Spanish-French project that takes passengers from the Catalan capital to Figueres, where they board a TGV train.