2022: The Year in Review – August

Saturday 31st December 2022 · Mike Smith
Source: Original

The World in August

China conducted its largest ever military exercise around Taiwan after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island. Real Madrid lifted the UEFA Super Cup after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in Helsinki. Salmon Rushdie was stabbed multiple times in New York as he was about to give a lecture. Turkey and Israel restored full diplomatic relations. Devastating floods hit Pakistan, killing more than 1,000 people; in response the UN and several nations pledged millions in aid.

In Spain, the Congress of Deputies voted in favour of toughening rape laws by 205-141, introducing a new legislative text that reforms Spanish criminal law to define rape as sex without clear consent.

In the UK, the prolonged dry spell prompted water companies to impose hosepipe bands in several regions as drought conditions are declared across the country whilst some stores stopped selling disposable barbecues to reduce the risk of fires. The Bank of England increased its base interest rate to 1.75% and warned that inflation could reach 13% later in the year – it had risen to 10.1% – and that the UK could enter a recession; the ONS later reported that the UK economy shrank by 0.1% during the second quarter of the year. More strikes affected Felixstowe Docks, one of the UK’s largest ports, as well as a number of train and postal services across the country. OFGEM announced an 80% rise in the price cap on household energy bills, from £1,971 to £3,549, leading chancellor Hadhim Zahawi to declare that “help is coming”. The Notting Hill Carnival returned for the first time since 2019. By the end of the month, the pound had suffered its biggest monthly fall against the US dollar since 2016, sliding to $1.16.

Xàbia in August

01: The Living Chess event, the town’s only Fiesta of National Tourist Interest, was played out in front of 1,000 people in Avenida Lepanto in the port, marking its return after the enforced break due to the pandemic.

01: An interactive map has been developed which highlights the birthplaces of the most notable people from around the world – and lists tennis player David Ferrer as the most notable person to come from Xàbia.

02: The new ten-year contract for rubbish collection and street cleaning in Xàbia was barely six months old but already there was great discomfort over the new rubbish collection containers and their lack of pedals which force residents to use their hands to open them.

04: The latest idealista ranking of the 100 most expensive municipalities to buy or rent a property placed Xàbia as the fifth most expensive place in Spain to make a house purchase, based on average price.

05: The municipal water company AMJASA provided consumption data for the month of July which showed an increase of 11% in demand compared to the same period last year and maintained a trend since the beginning of the year.

05: Mayor José Chulvi was joined by the Security councillor, Juan Ortolá, to congratulate local police officer Toni Soler, who returned from the 2022 edition of the World Police and Fire Games in Rotterham in the Netherlands with five medals in different athletics events.

08: Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) announced that they were to launch the public tender process for the drafting of the project for a future station on the L9 TRAM route that would serve the municipality of Jesús Pobre.

08: It was reported that EPSAR, the Public Wastewater Sanitation Company of the Comunidad Valenciana which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, had forked out more than 553,000 euros to repair the Xàbia outfall that broke for the umpteenth time on April 24.

08: The summer of 2022 was halfway through, the first one without any restrictions since 2019, and all the usual problems that it brings returned. One of them was the botellón – street drinking – that brings together hundreds of young people in the car-park next to a well-known Xàbia nightclub in Avenida del Pla.

08: Xàbia Council announced that it created a service area for motorhomes at the junction of Camí de les Cansalades and Calle del Lago Como, a special enclosure with two connections to empty the wastewater from the vehicle directly into the sewage network and a water tap for cleaning as well as containers into which to deposit domestic waste.

09: Xàbia Jazz 2022 lowered the curtain on its 21st edition, three nights of fantastic music generating a great atmosphere in the town, a resounding success with the public who came out in their thousands to enjoy it.

10: It was reported that Xàbia closed July 2022 with 1,107 xabieros unemployed, according to data from the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), a figure slightly lower than that of June and one that totally contrasts with unemployment figures of last summer.

12: The advisory warning issued by AEMET, the state meteorological agency, for extreme temperatures and the increased extreme risk of forest fire due to associated westerly winds, forced the Generalitat Valenciana to announce the closure of 17 of the 22 natural parks in the Comunidad Valenciana, included the Parque Natural del Montgó.

18: Several preventive drug detection controls were carried out in the Arenal in which different types of narcotics such as cocaine, hashish, marijuana or pills were found. As a result, a 25-year-old man was arrested carrying 10 doses of cocaine.

18: It was reported that the latest plenary session of Xàbia Council unanimously approved a request for a grant from the Generalitat Valenciana to carry out a renovation project of Castell de la Granadella.

24: Although the festivities in honor of the Virgen de Loreto weren’t to begin, officially, until the 27th, the Comissió de Festes was carrying out several events throughout the week prior, one of which includes the screening of a special documentary.

29: It was reported by the councilor for Projects and Subsidies, Montse Villaverde that the company responsible for the renovation of Parque Reina Sofia (UTE Parque Jávea) had requested a modification of the project as well as a price revision, but both requests had been rejected.