¡INOCENTE¡ Did you fall for our motorway connection story?

Wednesday 28th December 2022 · Mike Smith
Source: My crazy mind.

¡INOCENTE! ¡INOCENTE! Did you fall for it? Or did you see through our little joke? The regional government is, of course, not proposing to drive a motorway connection through the beautiful valley of San Bartolomé. The subtle clue was the mention of the British Regional Office for the Marina Alta; BROMA is the Spanish word for “joke”.

If you did fall for it, don’t worry; you weren’t the only one. If you didn’t, well done. But be prepared for next year! (If you missed it, see the “news report” below.

Today – December 28th – is ‘El Día de los Santos Inocentes’, which is the equivalent of April Fool’s Day in other countries when pranks are played on unsuspecting victims, the ‘inocentes’ or ‘innocents’.

However, it is an important day in the calendar of the Catholic Church for it commemorates the story of the massacre of all the male babies in Bethlehem on the order of Herod, King of Judea, after being told that the future King of the Jews would be born there. They are considered to be the first Christian martyrs, the ‘Holy Innocents’, although the story has long been thought to have been an invention of the Gospel of Matthew, rather than based on any real event, and these days the religious aspect of the feast day has been largely forgotten and replaced by the pranks, the supposed justification being that Jesus escaped the hands of Herod.

The traditional joke is to put a puppet or a ragdoll – known as “monigotes” – on people’s backs whilst celebrities from TV and screen are often made the butt of jokes on a TV special to raise money for a good cause. In some areas it’s rather like the American phenomenon of ‘trick or treat’ which children going from door to door, making plenty of noise and demanding a ‘payment’ to stop, normally something sweet like the traditional ‘polvorones’ that are sold at this time of year. And if you’re dipping into the sugar bowl to sweeten your tea or coffee, check first as it’s a popular trick to substitute salt for the sugar.

At javeamigos.com, we have produced several classic ‘inocente’ tales over the past few years, including:

• 2012: The rumour that a new four-lane tunnel was to be dug underneath the Montgó mountain to provide quick access to Dénia.
• 2013: The proposal to build a three-stage cable car from the Plaza de la Constitución to the summit of Montgó.
• 2014: The intention to turn the mountain road between Xàbia and Dénia into a toll road.
• 2015: The plan to charge foreign-plated cars to pay for parking by the Arenal beach.
• 2016: The rumour that the Arenal zone was going to declare itself independent from Xàbia.
• 2017: The Province of Alicante planning to adopt GMT along the Costa Blanca region.
• 2018: The proposal to introduce ANPR technology in Xàbia to monitor traffic in the town and check for proper registration.
• 2020: EU-subsidized infrastructure could soon be off-limits to British citizens.
• 2021: Fish and chips awarded regional dish for Costa Blanca region in 2022.

Direct connection with A-7 motorway given go-ahead by regional authorities

The Arenal zone of Xàbia could soon be connected directly with the A-7 motorway after the regional authorities gave the go-ahead for proposals to drive a four-lane highway from a new junction on this important regional infrastructure and through the valley of San Bartolomé to link with the wide boulevard of Avenida del Arenal at its junction with Calle Bruselas.

The motorway spur will provide easier and faster access to the holiday zone of the municipality whilst also linking with access routes to the urbanizations to the south, such as Tosalet and Balcón al Mar. It will also provide easier access to Poble Nou del Benitatxell and the coastal stretch beyond, such as Moraira and Benissa Costa.

There will be three intersections along the eleven kilometre stretch of motorway: the first will link to the CV-783 providing access to Jesús Pobre and Gata de Gorgos; a second will be developed into the existing roundabout on the CV-734 Carretera de Gata to provide access to Xàbia town and port as well as the proposed industrial estate at Catarroges whilst a third junction will link with Carrer Benitatxell and provide access to the urbanizations El Rafalet and Lluca as well as the village of Poble Nou del Benitatxall and the coastal stretch beyond.

At the Arenal end, the highway will be pushed between the Camping El Naranjal and Isla Bonita to connect with a new roundabout to be constructed at the junction of Avenida del Arenal and Calle Bruselas; the latter will finally be connected to Cami Cannes to provide a route to bypass the central Arenal zone.

The British Regional Office for the Marina Alta, which promotes tourism to the region from the UK, explained that it is hoped that the first diggers will move in by the end of next year to clear the route which runs mainly through open countryside, although there will be some delicate negotiations still to come. BROMA added that the aim is for the A-7 Marina Alta spur to be open to the public by the summer of 2025 and provide fast and easy access to Xàbia and its surroundings for air passengers arriving in both Alicante and Valencia.