Can CLARO supporters be cured by Therapy?

Both in the United Kingdom and in Spain recently there have been reports of Catholic religious clerics, and devout followers of the church's teaching, who believe, the nonsense theory, that homosexuals can be cured of their sexual orientations by therapy!

In Spain, although it is denied by the government in the pretence of being a secularist society, there is a very strong link between the Roman Catholic church's utterances and government policy.

A source, thought to be close to the Orihuela government, has let it be known, although I have not been able to verify the validity, that the Town Council is to take the principle of therapy as a cure for orientations that deviate from, what is considered as, the norm a step further.

At the next Pleno the governing tripartite team intend to present a motion to invest some money into the Orihuela Costa area. A sum of 250,000 Euros is to included in the budget for 2012 for the setting up of a new psychiatric clinic.

It is to be modelled on similar principles of rehabilitation clinics, such as The Priory and the Betty Ford Clinic, which deal with drug and alcohol dependency, and depression. However it's aims will be to re-educate United Kingdom Ex-pats who have shown, and continue to show, an unhealthy dependence on the political teachings of the CLARO party and its leading guru.

The government believes that such a dependency is both unhealthy for the individuals affected by it, but also for the remaining 'normal' majority of the residents of the town. With the exclusion of the party's guru from the governing team it is felt that its dependent supporters will develop an even stronger feeling of isolation, rejection, invisibility to the rest of the local society, and depression. This view is supported by research into the behaviour of members of other extreme sects throughout the western world.

The proposal is that in the first instance the therapy sessions will offered 'free of charge' to volunteers from the CLARO UK Ex-pat supporters group. In order to get the sessions running without any unnecessary delay initially they will be held at the Pizzeria Asturias Restaurant, Punta Prima, in Orihuela Costa. It is felt that those needing the therapy will find this less stressful as they will feel they are on home turf. At a later date a bespoke building will be rented until the epidemic has been defeated and the 'Norm' has been re-established.

Should insufficient numbers take up this offer of their own accord; the Town Council are also looking at proposals that attendance on a course of treatment will be made compulsory as a criteria for being included on the town's 'Padron' (Register of Residents). Only those UK Ex-pats holding the certificate issued on successful completion of the course of therapy will be included on the register, and subsequently on the electoral role. Those wishing to claim an exemption from the psychiatric re-education will have to provide proof of membership of a legitimate Spanish political party.

Various titles for the clinic will be discussed when the motion is presented to the Town Council but it is thought that the most obvious name for consideration will be the 'Pedro Mancebo Clinic', although the 'Bob Houliston Clinic' and the 'Together We Can Clinic' are in the running.

Don't blame the Partido Popular for Bob Houliston crossing the Council Chamber!

Councillor Bob Houliston

There has been a tremendous amount written in the last few months and weeks, including some by myself, about the relationship of CLARO Councillor, Bob Houliston with his former tripartite (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Los Verdes and Centro Liberal Renovador) government colleagues and the Partido Popular opposition of the Orihuela Town Council.

Since his election as the first CLARO Councillor in May 2011 we have read of; his greedily accepted appointment as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents, independent of his CLR/CLARO election list coalition agreement; expulsion from the CLR/CLARO group on the Town Council; reduction of his duties as Councillor for the coastal area of the Orihuela municipal by the Mayor; his resignation as Councillor for the Coast; his threats to vote with the PP opposition in the Pleno (Town Council Meeting); his crossing, metaphorically, of the Council Chamber floor when during the Pleno on the 29^th March 2012 he voted with the opposition in a vote of no confidence against the Alcalde's (Mayor) decision to cease with the position of Councillor for the Coast.

His actions have put the future of the tripartite government in jeopardy. The electorate that voted for the parties of the coalition are, naturally, looking for someone or some group to lay the blame upon for the current situation and the uncertainty for the future of Orihuela.

Ultimately almost all the blame falls fairly and squarely upon the head of Bob Houliston. But there are others who must bear some of the resentment.

The next possible candidates could be the members, the electorate who voted for them, and the elected Councillors of the PP. However I don't blame them for Bob Houliston crossing the chamber. I accept the opportunistic strategy they have adopted in capitalising on the opening given to them on plate by him and others.

Those who created Councillor Bob Houliston must all share their portion of blame!

Having said this I don't think one should include his parents and family as they couldn't have known how their offspring would develop seventy plus years later.

The spotlight should shine on the following conspirators. All of them in varying degrees of complicity acted in a Frankensteinian manner and created the monster, a CLARO Councillor, that by natural selection would not have been brought to life. Having created him, like Dr Frankenstein with his version, the creators have lost control of their prodigy! It didn't surprise me.

Firstly the members and executive committee of the CLARO party who for the last six years, since the 2006 conception of the party, have allowed themselves to be fooled by the public relations deluge, a lot of it being economical with the truth, from Bob Houliston and his closest allies as to the future power and influence of the party lead by him. The levels of his egocentrism were amazing. Were the party members being naïve in their belief that Bob Houliston as a CLARO Councillor would be the panacea to all problems in Orihuela Costa?  Yes!

Secondly Clr. Pedro Mancebo, the leader, and his executive committee of the CLR party. Without them the possibility of life would not have existed for a CLARO Councillor, the monster would have remained lifeless. It would not have been born as there would not have been enough life force (votes) from CLARO supporters power base alone. Because of the CLR's own desire for extra political power (councillors) it entered into a bipartite coalition election group with CLARO in the hope of gaining a transfusion of their votes. By placing CLARO nominees low in the election list I believe they hoped for the votes but didn't really want a CLARO Councillor. They miscalculated and some of the power surge went the wrong way. It went from CLR to CLARO. The monster's heart received its life blood, it started to beat and it drew its first breath. They helped to create a creature that they later found they could not control.

Thirdly Councillor Monserrate Guillén, leader of the LV party, who is currently holding the position of Alcalde (Mayor). Having been appointed; or is it more accurate to say assumed by default as the lesser of three options ('evils' is too strong a word); as Mayor he gave an additional surge of power to Bob Houliston by appointing him Councillor for Orihuela Costa. This was done without consultation with, the life giving, CLR/CLARO group leader. This added fuel to what I believe are NPD (Narcissistic personality disorder) tendencies of BH. Having realised what he had done, the Alcalde has shown his green party credentials by recycling ('changing' to non-environmentalists) time and time again his decisions on the responsibilities of the Councillor for the Coast, in order to alter and reduce the power of this position, depending who was shouting loudest.

A megalomaniac has the desire for power and more power. Bertrand Russell in his interpretation of megalomania is reported as saying: "The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved” Little did those responsible, in particular Pedro Mancebo and Monserrate Guillén, for the current political situation in the Orihuela Town Council realise at the time (hindsight is an excellent quality) that they were creating the ideal scenario for Councillor Bob Houliston's desire.

With there being 25 Councillors in the Pleno, 12 for the tripartite government (PSOE 6, CLR 3, LV 3) and 12 for the PP opposition, he (BH) as the only independent (CLARO) Councillor would have all the power he desired with his deciding vote. He needed to isolate himself from the tripartite group so he resigned as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents. He expounded spurious reasons for this decision but none of them can hide what I believe was his real reason. I tend to favour Bertrand Russell's interpretation.

I don't blame the Partido Popular for Bob Houliston crossing the council chamber to support them when he wants to, to suit his needs. I think they are being used. He is cleverly seeking  to use the PP's own group narcissistic tendencies to his advantage to attain a personal ambition of political utopia for himself.

Bob Houliston resigns postion as Councillor for the Coast

Councillor Bob Houliston

When I wrote my articles 'Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?' followed by 'Together we can! - Oh Really!' , and 'CRAPPOL party inauguration' I never thought I would be reporting on the resignation of Bob Houliston so soon.

Today Bob Houliston leader of the CLARO party resigned as Councillor for Orihuela Costa and as a member of the tripartite government team of the Orihuela Town Council.

His letter of resignation to the Mayor of Orihuela issued as a press release reads as follows:

“Dear Alcalde,
I regret to inform you of my decision to resign, as of today, from the municipal government of Orihuela and from my post as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents
My decision has been caused by the present near paralysis of an important sector of the administration of the coast resulting from the sudden and abrupt transfer to Orihuela on 23 January, 2012 of the Resident Engineer. With this transfer, I have lost the services of a competent and very experienced officer. I have also lost the only technical officer working on the coast, dedicated to the supervision of works and contracts and authorised to co-sign with me, work completion certificates and bills essential for the payment of invoices. For this reason, in the course of the past month since her transfer a number of invoices have not been authorised for payment. The legal, administrative and financial problems which this creates are already considerable. I am not prepared to take political responsibility for resolving problems which others have caused..
As you know, this situation is the latest in a series of incidents resulting from the systematic refusal of an element in the government to cooperate and coordinate their activities which concern the coast with me, the councillor geographically competent From the first day I have been aware of their opposition to me and to my having the means necessary to carry out my work for the coast. In the meeting of the councillors forming the majority on the council, the government group, held on on 16 July, 2011 of which I was not informed and to which I was not invited, the conclusions of the negotiations for the inclusion in the government of the Centro Liberal Renovador (CLR) party were presented. Needless to say, I was not informed either of these negotiations or consulted on aspects relating to my responsibilities.
Arriving at this meeting by chance, I was obliged to block a proposal to divide the responsibilites which you granted to me as councillor for the coast on my entry into the government and to share these responsibilities with another councillor. I also had to block a proposal to remove the post of personal advisor to help me with my work on the coast, a post which you had previously agreed to, on a full-time basis and which was subsequently reduced to a part-time basis at the insistence of Pedro Mancebo and the CLR party. Finally, at the same meeting I was obliged to object to the title of the responsibilities to be given to Pedro Mancebo as Councillor for the Coordination OF the Services of the Coast, considering that as councillor for the coast, I should be responsible for the coordination of my services. The title of Pedro Mancebo's responsiblities was changed to Councillor for the Coordination of Services WITH the Coast..
While the preposition in the title of Pedro Mancebo's competences was changed from “of” to “with” I am convinced that the intention behind his original proposal remained unchanged. To illustrate this belief, you will remember that I objected to the definition of his competences included in Decree 513 signed by you on 16 September, 2011 which gave him responsibility for approving (visto bueno) all proposed agreements, decisions (resoluciones), decrees and other documents relating to the work of the councillor for the coast. At the same time the Decree gave him responsibility for “optimising” all resources be they personnel, material, economic or budgetary of the municipal office of the Town Hall in Orihuela Costa.
These responsibilities created in effect the post of a “Controller” (Concejal Controlador) of the councillor for the coast. Regretably, despite my proposals aimed at seeking a consensus on the text, these responsibilities remained essentially unchaged in the modified Decree which you signed on 16 December, 2011 and which I was notified of on 6 February, 2012,
An example of the “optimisation” of the human resources of the coast can be seen in the decision taken by two CLR councillors and, I suppose, the Councillor for Coordinating Services with the coast, to transfer with 6 minutes notice for “organisational necessity” the Resident Engineer who had worked for 12 years on the coast. The officer in question was of such importance, given her responsibility for supervising contracts for basic services, the quality of the beaches and the budgetary procedures, the coast is suffering from her removal. The contract engineer who was appointed in December as a reinforcement, cannot be expected to fulfil all these functions. He does not have power of signature. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any serious effort to solve this problem or the more general problem of insufficient staff, by providing the coast with the appropriate number of qualified, permanent officials needed to look after the needs of 35% of the population of Orihuela, almost the same number as those living in Orihuela city.
I do not wish to go into the detail of all the incidents of non-cooperation and the placing of obstacles to the carrying out of my work which have been caused by the CLR element in the government over the past 7 months and which continue to this day, The consequences have been to divide and weaken the management of the coast against the interest of the people living on the coast and their democratically expressed wishes as to who should represent them.
This long and painful experience convinces me of the impossibility of carrying out my work in the interest of Orihuela Costa. I am therefore obliged to resign from my post as Councillor for the Coast and as a member of your government. I will, of course, continue as an elected member of the Corporation. to work for the interests of Orihuela Costa.
I should like to state that during the past 8 months, I have formed and will retain the highest appreciation of your personal and professional qualities and those of the majority of members of your government”.

This will mean that the town council is now split into two distinct armies; the tripartite governing team of the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR will now only have 12 Councillors, whilst the PP oposition party will have an equal number of Councillors; with Bob Houliston holding the balancing council seat bringing the total to 25. Monserrate Guillén Sáez as Mayor of Orihuela, and leader of the tripartite alliance will have a difficult time with getting legislation approved through the Town Council with Bob Houliston having the floating, deciding vote.

The alternative, feared by many who have experienced the previous government periods of the Partido Popular party in Orihuela, is that Bob Houliston will give his permanent allegiance to the PP in return for being giving total Councillor responsibility for the Orihuela Costa area. This would be the achievement, pinnacle, of his personal ambition for totalitarian control of the coastal region. What cost for power!

Together we can! - Oh Really!

Photographed 07.02.2012

I suppose I shouldn't but each time I drive past the sign located next to the closed CLR/CLARO election campaign offices in Cabo Roig, Orihuela Costa, I find myself laughing.

It is the irony of the message, given to the electorate in the run up to the May 2011 elections and the current situation.

At the time of the birth of the CLR/CLARO coalition I expressed my opinion to Pedro Mancebo that I did not believe in it and that it would not be a long lasting partnership.

It was one of convenience, it was a contrived civil marriage, with the only common factor being that both party leaders would do anything to get elected. Certainly as individual parties their chances of obtaining a substantial increase in elected councillors was dubious. In the case of CLARO, they failed to get any Councillors in the 2007 elections and on their own 2011 would have seen the same result. Bob Houliston would not have got elected.

The first indications of a divorce began to show very shortly after the May 2011 elections when the fighting began in June, in the acrimonious war, sorry negotiations, for the allocation of responsibilities of Councillors amongst the three political groups who finally formed the current, insecure, tripartite government.

We have read the press release issued at the beginning of December 2011 by Pedro Mancebo, entitled “ The Municipal Group CLR-CLARO Expel Robert Houliston and Protect The Local Government” in which he confirmed: “the expulsion of Councillor Robert Houliston from the group in order to ensure the stability of the municipal government” along with the reasons behind the expulsion. Pedro went on to say “sadly Councillor Houliston has had a “go it alone policy“ from the beginning which would have been sufficient to agree his expulsion. He did not support his own municipal group, CLR-CLARO, in the negotiations with PSOE and LV to obtain the necessary competences and council departments within the government. He turned his back on them once he had secured his own position on the coast”.

As mentioned in my recent article the January issue of the CLARO Newsletter refers to the recent divorce between the CLR and CLARO: “the continuing differences within the government between the CLR party, our partner in the May election, and C.L.A.R.O. These differences which, for reasons of their perceived political advantage, have led our CLR partners over the past 5 months to seek to divide the management of the coast and to reduce the responsibilities or competences of the C.L.A.R.O Councillor for the Coast. The differences culminated in November in CLR attempts to divide the C.L.A.R.O party prior to our Annual General Meeting and their unilateral exclusion or expulsion of C.L.A.R.O from the joint government group in the council CLR-CLARO”.

It is obvious that current acrimony between the two parties is not a trial separation but a divorce and the decree nisi has been issued.

It's really not funny any more so let's hope the sign and its lie is removed without delay!

What if they cannot agree who is responsible for having it taken down. Will they leave it up and try a reconciliation in time for the 2015 elections or will Monica Lorente succeed as the temptress to Bob Houliston and get in between them for ever?

Ex PP Mayor says CLARO leader is an honourable man! - How time changes opinions when it suits!

Is it coincidence, or perhaps good forethought on my part, or just luck, that two days after I posted my article 'Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?' that the RTN newspaper publishes an article entitled 'Coastal Isolation' which begins “Former Mayor of Orihuela Monica Lorente, talking exclusively to RTN this week, said: “The coast is being politically isolated.” and written by Louise Clarke who was the personal press officer for Monica Lorente when she was Mayor.

In the article the Ex-Mayor said: “CLARO Councillor Bob Houliston is being ‘humoured’ by the Mayor. Bob is a good person and has the interests of the coast at heart but is being taken for a ride by the Mayor and his colleagues.” and added “Bob is an honourable man: he doesn’t deserve this.”

There seems to be a lot of back tracking from Ms Lorente in relation to her previous adverse comments about Bob Houliston and the CLARO party when she was Mayor.

I wonder if there isn't a degree of vengeance on the part of both the interviewee and the interviewer in the writing of this article as they both lost their positions of power when the Partido Popular party lead by Monica Lorente was removed from government by the current tripartite government.

By this attack on the government and feigned support of Bob Houliston, Monica Lorente, with the aid of her past press officer, I believe is looking to tempt Bob into a new bipartite agreement to bring down the current governing team and reinstate the PP to power in Orihuela and her as Mayor.

Edit: 31^st January 2012.

The CoastRider newspaper has today published an article written by Mireille Toddington entitled 'Bob and Mon in talks' in which I am paid the compliment of my weblog being mentioned.

Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?

When the political parties in the Orihuela Town Council were trying to sort out a governing council following the May 2011 local elections, I made the following comment on Facebook and Twitter:

“A PP led bipartite government with CLR/CLARO in Orihuela isn't what the CLARO party supporters wanted, but will get if the CLR agree it”

followed by this comment a few days later:

“CLARO sold out to the CLR for power! Will their coalition sell out to the PP for more power? Is what I'm asking a joke, - think about it!”.

At the time there were those residents of Orihuela Costa who thought that my comments were ludicrous, as is their right.

The result of the long drawn out discussions and bargaining was that a tripartite government of the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR/CLARO political groups was agreed, not too amicably.

I read with great interest the following comments in the January 2012 C.L.A.R.O. Newsletter, especially the final paragraph in the extract:

“the continuing differences within the government between the CLR party, our partner in the May election, and C.L.A.R.O. These differences which, for reasons of their perceived political advantage, have led our CLR partners over the past 5 months to seek to divide the management of the coast and to reduce the responsibilities or competences of the C.L.A.R.O Councillor for the Coast. The differences culminated in November in CLR attempts to divide the C.L.A.R.O party prior to our Annual General Meeting and their unilateral exclusion or expulsion of C.L.A.R.O from the joint government group in the council CLR-CLARO. In the November AGM, C.L.A.R.O confirmed that despite its difficulties with CLR, we would continue to support the present government provided we got all means necessary, including finance and competences, to carry out our work on behalf of Orihuela Costa.

It was not surprising that in these circumstances, Monica Lorente, the leader of the Popular Party, the largest single party in the Orihuela Council, with 12 seats, one short of a majority, should have requested a meeting with the Councillor for the Coast, Bob Houliston. A meeting did take place in the Playa Flamenco office of the Town Hall on 28 December. The two leaders had a general conversation on questions of political interest in Orihuela and Orihuela Costa”.

Perhaps my comments in 2011 were not that far off of the possible future for the Orihuela Town Council. Is Bob Houliston, Leader of the CLARO party looking for more personal power by making a bipartite power partnership with the PP party in the Council? Will the current tripartite government survive? Will we see a new dynamic duo; Mon & Bob?

Edited  27th January 2012.
See follow-up article 'Ex PP Mayor says CLARO leader is an honourable man! - How time changes opinions when it suits!

Is Cala de la Mosca Safe Now?

During the last 4 years, since 2007, of the Partido Popular government of the Orihuela Town Council, the official opposition parties, namely the Los Verdes, PSOE and CLR, and the then unelected CLARO party have campaigned to save the area of land known as Cala de la Mosca from development for housing. It is the last section of the coastal strip within the Orihuela Costa area that remains undeveloped at this time, although planning permission had originally been given by the PP government in 1992 for a housing development.

Whilst all the opposition parties have voiced their objection to the development, the two parties that would seem to have been most vociferous in the campaign to 'Save Cala de la Mosca' are Los Verdes (Green Party) and CLARO, with many articles on their websites on this matter. The later organising a petition containing a quoted 7000 signatures that was presented to the then PP Alcaldesa of Orihuela, Monica Lorente.

Now that the Orihuela municipality has a tripartite government of PSOE, Los Verdes and CLARO; is Cala de la Mosca safe now from total destruction by the housing developer? Will the current government retract the planning permission given by the previous PP government.

As Orihuela has a Los Verdes party Alcalde (Mayor), Monserrate Guillén, and he appointed Robert Houliston of CLARO, as his right-hand man in the coastal area, as Councillor for Orihuela Costa; how long will we have to wait for the official announcement the Cala de la Mosca development has been stopped? Surely there cannot be any doubt about it as both parties included the question of the future of Cala de la Mosca in their election manifestos promising to save it.

I, and other residents of Orihuela Costa I'm sure, will wait with great anticipation to hear whether or not Cala de la Mosca is to be saved by the new tripartite Orihuela Town Council.

Edit: 18th July.
The Leader newspaper has paid me the compliment of publishing this article on the front page of this week's edition.

New political party for foreigners in Spain

The Round Town News this week publishes an article by Louise Clarke entitled  New political party for foreigners about the emergence of the political party Partido de Extranjeros (PDEX). The President of the new party Giulio Adinolfi is reported as saying the party's aims are to represent the rights of foreigners here in Spain.

With the next local elections due on the 22nd May 2011 this seems to be a 'déjà vu' situation of a similar time in 2006, prior to the May 2007 elections. Wasn't that when in Orihuela Costa we saw the emergence of the CLARO political party, which was perceived, rightly or wrongly, by many as a party of foreigners.

The point is made in the article that; 'On past experience, political parties like PDEX have found poor results and the low participation of foreigners at the time of municipal elections means that they very rarely get a seat on any of the councils that they stand for'. The results of the May 2007 local election in Orihuela would validate the point made, with CLARO failing to gain enough votes to obtain a seat on the Council.

The five municipalities that the PDEX are going to field candidates in does not include Orihuela, which in turn includes Orihuela Costa, although next door Torrevieja municipality is mentioned.

Perhaps a conclusion that could be reached is that CLARO has arranged an agreement with PDEX that the two parties don't challenge each other in the Orihuela elections. Or perhaps CLARO is to be amalgamated with PDEX. Or perhaps we could see a coalition election list.

CLARO keeps quiet now about the Neighbourhood Watch !

The 'Summer Edition 2010' of the CLARO party's newsletter dated the 24th June is on its website and presumably has hit the streets by now.

It's not really a newsletter because there isn't any news in it. It is merely a republication, or regurgitation, of the subjects raised in its press releases since 1st March 2010 - with the exception of one!

Of course there is the continual mention of the saga of the 'Save Cala Mosca' petition, which I have already expressed my opinion on.

What is interesting about the non-newsletter is the fact that no mention, or republication, is made of the CLARO press release dated the 9th June 2010 entitled 'Orihuela Costa needs a Politically Independent Neighbourhood Watch'. Surely there was plenty of time to include such an important press release as this.

Or has it been deliberate left out as a direct result of the strong rebuttal by Chris Poole, coordinator for the NW in Orihuela Costa, of the views expressed by Bob Houliston on behalf of CLARO, and public criticism of Mr Houliston's views, in the local media over this matter.

I wonder if there has been dissension amongst the ranks of CLARO over the press release issued by the Chairman of the CLARO party. Especially as the Vice Chairman, Manfred Schwarting,  is a leading light in the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch. In fact Manfred is responsible for collection and distribution of the crime statistics from the NW area coordinators!

I wonder if there was there any discussion between the Chairman and Vice Chairman, or Executive Committee members, prior to the issuing of the press release. It will be interesting to see if this affects Manfred Schwarting's position in either of the two organisations.

Perhaps CLARO members may be questioning the continuing role of Bob Houliston as Chairman of the party following the press release. Not really the publicity that the party wants.

Having said the above, in fairness to Bob Houliston, I had previously expressed my concerns about the 'political independence' of the Neighbourhood Watch to Chris Poole in April 2007 when I emailed him with the following question.

"Can you please explain to me, following our discussion about Vecinos Colaborando being non-political, why an announcement about a meeting by an organisation which has obvious links with a specific political party, is being sent out under the guise of a Vecinos Colaborando matter?
The email address of the "Presidents of Orihuela Costa" leads to the following website www.orihuela-costa.eu/ and who do we see Monica Lorente, with a further link to this website www.orihuelacostapresidents.com
Who are these "Presidents of Orihuela Costa" who Vecinos Colaborando is helping to publicise a meeting?
Is the Vecinos Colaborando organisation non-political or not? If not are you going to circulate details of all political party meetings?"

Los Verdes Orihuela blame CLARO for Cala Mosca Destruction.

Los Verdes have said on their new blog they believe that the CLARO political party is also to blame for the destruction of Cala Mosca!

That should please Bob Houliston, President of CLARO.

Read the blog article here:
Los Verdes Orihuela Costa: Cala Mosca

"No guarantee, but worth a try" says the chairman of CLARO

In my article What are CLARO´s aims and what are they expecting to achieve? I referred to the letter by Mary la Zenia that appeared in the CoastRider newspaper and my expectation that it would appear in the other local papers in the Orihuela Costa area. Well it has appeared, all be it in a much edited version, which doesn't do justice to the letter, in the Round Town News 16th April issue. I have not seen it published in the other local papers, but this may be due to an oversight on my part.

I have still not read any direct response from CLARO to Mary la Zenia's letter in the local papers, a bit disappointing. 

However in it's previous weeks edition the RTN published an article entitled No guarantee, but worth a try in which Bob Houliston's, chairman of CLARO, response to criticisms made about the 'Save Cala Mosca' petition was reported. It was no more than another opportunity for CLARO to promote itself.

The article reports that acusations have been made about the petition but, wrongly, gives no details of them. How is the reader supposed to know what they are? Wouldn't it have been a more impartial article to have spelt out the case being made, and questions being asked, against the continuation of the campaign by CLARO.

In the final paragraph it states 'Bob Houliston confirmed to RTN that he will personally hand over the petition to the EU Petitions Committee next week in Brussels'. Any reader of the article would be lead to believe, make the assumption, that he (BH) is making a special journey to Brussels to carry out this commendable dead. Now this may be true, but is it a coincidence that he has family, who he visits, living in the Brussels area. Perhaps it is a convenient hand over of the petition!

Is the public being continually mislead on this matter?

What are CLARO´s aims and what are they expecting to achieve?

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that despite sending notification to the editors of the local papers covering Orihuela Costa, of my two recent blog articles referring to the CLARO party and it's 'Save Cala Mosca'campaign: What value does CLARO's 'Save Cala Mosca' petition have Now? & Only 120 out of 28,000 Residents attend 'Save Cala Mosca' Protest, none of them (the editors) were prepared to publish an item criticising the CLARO campaign.

However I now must assume that my writtings were just not good enough (I can live with that) for today in the CoastRider newspaper the following letter has been published, and if the usual happens it will appear in the letters page of the other local papers.

Dear Editor,
Has CLARO really got it “claro”? What are CLARO´s aims and what are they expecting to achieve?
After picking up their flyer last week in La Zenia and reading all the newspaper coverage regarding “Save Cala Mosca” I am quite confused.
Have the 7,000 people who signed the petition been misinformed?
The mentioned piece of land at Cala Mosca is owned by a private person and was purchased years ago – most probably before all of us (ex pats!) arrived.
You and I agree that (not only) this piece of land should remain in its natural state but how would we react if we actually owned the land? I am sure if we are honest the Dollar sign would play a big roll! The whole of Orihuela Costa was a green area before we decided to purchase our “Spanish dream” and live here – did we worry about the environment and concrete jungle when we signed on the bottom line at the notary?
Perhaps instead of signing petitions we should fill in a donation form for the CLARO party to enable them to purchase the land from its owner and rescue it from its fate. Being honest with ourselves we could all do a lot more to save and protect the environment starting on our own doorstep.
Back to CLARO, I am sure their intentions are honourable, but do they really have the know-how and clout to carry out their intentions.
For the last couple of months I have been listening to the political broadcasts on a local radio station each Monday morning, and I always have the feeling that the radio broadcaster has more information than CLARO´s spokesman, Bob Houliston. All the same problems are churned over and over again but no solutions to these problems are offered.
We should all decide for ourselves what is important and we know what we would like to change or improve. Perhaps we should remember this when it comes to voting and vote for a party that actually has the capability to address the problems - our problems - and find a solution to them. I for one will be listening a little more closely to the PSOE party and a councillor called Pedro Mancebo from the CLR party who are very structured and in positions to move things forward instead of going around in circles.
CLARO should take a leaf out of their books and start behaving more like a political party instead of a group of neighbours who are experiencing problems with their community. This might then generate ideas and suggestions which would improve their, and our lives, here in Orihuela Costa.
Kind regards,
Mary La Zenia 

I am looking forward to read the response from CLARO to this letter.

Congratulations to Mary La Zenia, as she achieved what I didn't, but hopefully this will make the leaders of CLARO reappraise their current and future policies and actions if they want to survive as an independent local issue political party in Orihuela Costa.

Mary asked the question 'Have the 7,000 people who signed the petition been misinformed?' to which I would answer - yes - CLARO have mislead the signatories, by generating and perpetuating false hope of a successful outcome for Cala Mosca. Wasting residents time with further pointless demonstrations for unrealistic, un-achievable, goals.

To reiterate points made in my previous articles:
"Beware and tread carefully CLARO - the electorate is no fool";
"It is time I believe for CLARO to close the book on this matter and move on. There is plenty of work for the party to direct their efforts to in other areas that affect the environment and the lives of the residents of Orihuela Costa".

Only 120 out of 28,000 Residents attend 'Save Cala Mosca' Protest

Friday 26th March 2010 saw the presentation of the 'Save Cala Mosca' petition by the CLARO party to the Orihuela Town Hall.

Having posed the question What value does CLARO's 'Save Cala Mosca' petition have Now? I went to Orihuela to see for myself what support there would be by those that signed the petition, and/or residents of Orihuela Costa where the Cala Mosca area of land is situated.

In their press release announcing the presentation of the petition the leaders of CLARO said:

The presentation of the Petition will provide an occasion to underline opposition to this project and to show determination to Save Cala Mosca. CLARO are inviting all those who share their objetives to join with the party in an authorised and peaceful protest on Friday 26th March.

Having asked the question, 'What value does CLARO's 'Save Cala Mosca' petition have Now?'  in my article  and suggesting the answer 'To the residents and to CLARO the answer has to be NONE !' I found no justification for changing my point of view as a result of the presentation and protest in Orihuela.

Let me say that I commend those residents of Orihuela Costa and supporters of CLARO for their loyalty to the party by attending on the day. I suspect that a great many, as was pointed out to me in conversations on the day, did not believe that Cala Mosca will be saved by the petition but were there to support the party.

Whilst I believe that the attendance figure given by CLARO, on their Facebook page,

The presentation of the Petition to Save Cala Mosca was attended by approximately 120 people today.

 is a little optimistic,  it would not seem to support the party's claims of,

We are convinced that this campaign will be widely supported. We believe this is a cause which will attract massive support.

It would seem that of those 7000 persons reported as signing the petition only 17 people out of each 1000 (1.71%) believed it was worth attending on the day. Based on the generally quoted figure of 28,000 residents in Orihuela Costa only 4 people in each 1000 (0.43%) thought it was worth attending to give their support.

Surely this must give the executive committee of the CLARO party some cause for a rethink on their policy of the continuation of the 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign.

The great majority of the residents have spoken by their lack of support at this late date for the campaign. I would suggest that they (residents) realize the battle has been lost and have moved on.

It is time I believe for CLARO to close the book on this matter and move on. There is plenty of work for the party to direct their efforts to in other areas that affect the environment and the lives of the residents of Orihuela Costa.

edited 27.03.2010

What value does CLARO's 'Save Cala Mosca' petition have Now?

Having reported the recent announcement by the CLARO party that its 'Save Cala Mosca' petition is to finally be presented to the Town Hall on the 26th March 2010 it raises some questions.

What value, if any, does the petition have now?

In a Press Release dated 1st December 2008 CLARO announced with great gusto the launch on the 3rd December 2008 of its campaign

"to collect thousands of signatures to Save Cala Mosca.
We are convinced that this campaign will be widely supported by all those interested in protecting the environment and preventing the destruction of the last remaining green area on Orihuela Costa by the planned building of 1,500 new homes. We believe that now is the time to halt this project.
The open, unspoilt, view of Cala Mosca, is our last green area.
It must be saved and become a natural park which would provide a fantastic attraction to those living and visiting Orihuela Costa and those who might decide to buy property and live here in the future.
We believe this is a cause which will attract massive support".

In a further Press Release dated 3^rd June 2009  CLARO said:-

"Approval of the plan to build 1,700 new houses and flats on the last remaining green area of Orihuela Costa is one of the biggest and most unforgivable acts of ECO- DESTRUCTION committed by the Popular Party. It is universally opposed by the residents of Orihuela Costa who have demonstrated against the plan in Orihuela and in Orihuela Costa before the 2007 local elections and who are supporting a massive protest petition organised by C.L.A.R.O which has collected more than 5,000 signatures.
C.L.A.R.O’s PROTEST PETITION WILL CONTINUE. The residents of Orihuela Costa want to preserve this major feature of the local environment which should become a natural park.
Saving Cala Mosca could save Orihuela Costa".

The petition was started at the beginning of December 2008 with great bravado and a sense of urgency. However it will be the end of March 2010 before the petition is presented to the Town Council.  

Presentation of the petition has been delayed for 16 months!

If the leaders of CLARO believed so strongly in December 2008 and June 2009 that it was imperative to 'Save Cala Mosca' and that their petition is so important in obtaining that objective it leads to the question:-

Why have they waited until now to act with it?

What is the petition supposed to achieve at this late date?

In respect of a direct influence on the Orihuela local, Alicante provincial and Valencia regional governments to return Cala Mosca to an environmental 'gem'

"last remaining green area on Orihuela Costa"

it will achieve nothing.

The leaders of CLARO logically, and with hands on hearts, must also realize this. That I believe is the reality of the situation or am I wrong?.

This leads me to the next question.

Why is the petition only now being presented?

An answer to this could be as simple as because the current political scene in Orihuela Costa (CLARO's only area of existence) is very quiet at the moment. There aren't any 'hot chestnut' issues from the PP controlled council that CLARO can comment on, to gain kudos to its advantage. Perhaps they (CLARO) think  now is the time to try to create a situation by raising the phoenix.

Two alternative answers could be;
why not, its better late than never;
we've collected the signatures and better be seen to be doing something with them as promised.

Is there an alternative objective behind the CLARO 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign? Or to ask it another way; Why is CLARO continuing with a strategy that has no, or at best a minuscule possibility to be charitable, of success?


A cynical conclusion that could be reached is that taking into consideration the long history of the Cala Mosca saga since 1990 it is purely a political campaign for the benefit and survival of CLARO. It's intention was and is to tap into the general concern of the residents about the destruction of the environment to gain details of possible supporters and ultimately votes. CLARO said in the press release to launch the campaign

"We are convinced that this campaign will be widely supported by all those interested in protecting the environment and preventing the destruction of the last remaining green area on Orihuela Costa".

The real intention of capitalising on this mood could be for one reason only, for the advantage of CLARO in the 2011 local elections. Perhaps they should change their quote to 'Saving Cala Mosca could save CLARO'.

By the presentation of the petition at this late date, hope (false I believe) is being given that Cala Mosca could still be saved, in order to promote the impression of CLARO as the possible saviour. When reality shows that the petition as a weapon against the PP government is an illusion and has failed, that the aspirations of the signatories have been shattered, and that the development continues, the leaders of CLARO will look to promote themselves as the victims and PP as the villains. The environment is the only real victim.

The leaders of CLARO should be wary as their petition may be a double edged saviour's sword which they could regret ever drawing.

There can be no doubt in any residents mind that the PP have failed the people of Orihuela Costa over this plot of land but so could CLARO be seen to have done, by generating and perpetuating false hope of a successful outcome for Cala Mosca. Wasting residents time with further pointless demonstrations for unrealistic, un-achievable, goals.

Failure of the petition to 'Save Cala Mosca' could signal the potential failure of CLARO in the 2011 local elections, it could be the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

Beware and tread carefully CLARO - the electorate is no fool. Be honest with the residents, admit that the time for the 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign has passed a long time ago.

There may well be a need for a local independant party in Orihuela Costa to challenge the establishment , so to the leaders of CLARO I would say - Forget 'Save Cala Mosca' it's a battle and a war you cannot win, you're too late. Move on to new areas of concern for the residents of Orihuela Costa so you still have the potential for a valid presence and the success you seek in the May 2011 local elections.

What value does CLARO's 'Save Cala Mosca' petition have Now? To the residents and to CLARO the answer has to be NONE !

CLARO to present 'Save Cala Mosca' petition to Town Hall

(Photo CLARO)

The CLARO party of Orihuela Costa has announced that the Petition to Save Cala Mosca, signed by over 7,000 people, will be formally presented in the Orihuela Town Hall on Friday, 26 March.

The party believes that by putting their signatures to this Petition, over 7,000 people expressed their opposition to the building of 1,700 new flats and houses on this last piece of green land on Orihuela Costa. This they believe demonstrates a massive rejection of this environmentally destructive project. Instead of another big concrete urbanisation, Orihuela Costa needs a major natural park where people can walk and relax and children can play safely.

They gone on to say that the present economic crisis and the collapse of sales of property, show how vital it is to change the development model of Orihuela Costa. that current residents and future buyers of property do not want a concrete jungle to spread relentlessly to cover the whole of the coast. What is needed is  areas of natural beauty not only for residents and those living nearby to enjoy but also to persuade purchasers of the desirability of buying property here, thereby stopping the collapse of property values and helping the revival of the local economy.

The presentation of the Petition will provide an occasion to underline opposition to this project and to show determination to Save Cala Mosca. CLARO are inviting all those who share their objetives to join with the party in an authorised and peaceful protest on Friday 26th March.

Free transport will be available to Orihuela and back from Playa Flamenca. Buses will leave the (temporarily closed) Asturias Restaurant on the N332 next to the local Carrefour at 8.30 a.m. and should be back by 12.30 p.m. If anyone wishes to attend the protest and presentation of the petition, and would like to reserve seats on the buses, they should confirm by e-mail (info@claro-orihuela.eu) or telephone the C.L.A.R.O. Office on 966 284 912 or 661 333 593, open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They would like to have a final list of those who wish to travel by coach by Wednesday 24 March.

For those attending who are making their own transport arrangements the meeting will be in front of the Orihuela Town Hall, Plaza Arneva at 10 a.m.

CLARO point out that the presentation of the petition and demonstrating to the local government the strength of opposition to this project will not be the only means deployed to Save Cala Mosca. The Petition will also be sent to the European Parliament, to the regional government in Valencia and to the Spanish Ministry of the Environment in Madrid. All possible legal means of stopping this project will also be pursued.

Who do CLARO voters vote for in the European Elections?

The following is a copy of a letter, received by email on the 10th May, written by a James Longman. He said that this "is a copy of a letter I have sent to the Editors of the local English written papers. It will be interesting to see if it gets printed and if so what response there is to it".

The email shows that in addition to sending it to me as English spokesman of the Orihuela Costa Working Group of Los Verdes, he also sent it to the PSOE party in Orihuela Costa and Stefan Pokroppa of the PP at the Ayuntamiento.

I wasn't going to put it on this blog as I was expecting to read it in the papers, but as at today it hasn't been published by any of them, for what ever reason, so here it is.

There is only one answer of course to his question, 'Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo'.

"Dear Editor,

In its latest newsletter (8th Edition Spring 2009) the CLARO party makes reference to the European Parliament elections and the voting rights of residents of Orihuela Costa for the forthcoming election on the 7th June 2009.

We are aware of the conceited claims by CLARO that they are the only party that has been working to resolve the problems of “Non-Spanish European Union residents” in the Orihuela Municipality registering to vote, although they do say “with the help of the European Parliament”.

In its publication CLARO says “we would urge all those who are eligible ... to vote. The European Parliament can be very helpful in ensuring respect of citizens’ rights.” I agree with this sentiment entirely.

However it goes on further to say “since C.L.A.R.O is a local independent party we will remain neutral in regard to the European elections”.

That really is not good enough! Especially as the party chose to base its logo on the European Union emblem!

What advice does CLARO have for the 916 voters (just 2.9% of the total votes cast) in the Orihuela Municipality who supported them (CLARO) with their votes in the local elections in May 2007 (when it failed to obtain a Council seat)? What advice does the party give to the new supporters they continually claim to have and seek to obtain by the next local election in 2011?

Having said that the European Elections are important, the leaders of the party cannot in all conscience now say that they remain neutral! What party do they advise their supporters to vote for?

Through the media, and its own newsletters, CLARO has continuously criticised the PP (Right Wing), PSOE (Socialist) and Los Verdes (Green) parties for failing to look after the rights of the residents so they cannot in all conscience suggest voting for any of them - Can They?

So what are the options for the CLARO voters? Perhaps Bob Houliston, as President, or one of the Executive Committee members, such as Jimmy Badal, would care to claro-fy the situation. Who do CLARO voters vote for in the European Elections?

Surely the party is not suggesting that its supporters waste their votes by not voting at all? No surely it wouldn't! Come on CLARO show some leadership. Where should the votes go.

It would be hypocritical for the voters to vote for a party in the European Elections that they oppose in the Local Elections – wouldn't it?

Surely if a voter is told by CLARO, and believes it, that a party is not suitable to run local government then it cannot suitable be for higher government – Can It?

This is symptomatic of the problem of voting for a local, blinkered, one goal, independent party such as CLARO in Municipal elections! When it comes to the bigger National and European picture CLARO, as locally, are of no value at all! No presence in the government means no effective voice for the voters."

It gives food for thought doesn't it!

Were CLARO rattled by J Longman's Cala Mosca Letter ?

In March I posted an article entitled What's the true reason behind the CLARO 'Save Cala Mosca' camapaign following the receipt of a letter from a James Longman of Orihuela Costa, and followed this up with The Le@der publishes 'Save Cala Mosca' letter .

Today I along with representatives of the PSOE and PP as fellow addresses, received an email from James Longman informing us that the Leader newspaper had published the following letter from him under the title of Cala Mosca Row .

"WOOOOOOW - I seemed to have rattled CLARO over my views about the value of and the real reason for their 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign to such an extent that I get a mention in their latest newsletter.

"We will not be deterred by the criticism and scepticism expressed recently in letters to the Editors of local newspapers from those from other parties, apparently the Greens and the Socialist party, who would have us give up the fight to save Cala Mosca. Here is an extract from a letter by our Executive Committee colleague Jimmy Badal defending C.L.A.R.O’s standpoint.

EXTRACT OF LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE LEADER

“After reviewing the difficulties in saving Cala Mosca, Mr. Longman comes to the conclusion that it cannot be done and states that C.L.A.R.O. must agree. WE DO NOT AGREE and are not going to be content with doing nothing. I am happy to say that over 3,000 (NOW 4,000) people who have so far signed C.L.A.R.O’s petition obviously do not agree either. There are possibilities of saving this last green area on Orihuela Costa and we will, and are, exploring them all. It is late but it is not too late to do something."

Unfortunately I haven't been able to read the full text of his letter and reply to it.

If I am so far off the mark - why did Jimmy Badal bother to reply, via the Le@der newspaper, to counteract my views? Why not ignore them as the ramblings of an individual.

Surely the general public wouldn't consider the views of one individual above that of such an illustrious and auspicious party as CLARO!

Perhaps there is an element of truth in what I said that worries the leaders of CLARO.

Let me 'claro-fy' that the views expressed were personal and not on behalf of any political party, either PP, PSOE, the Greens, or others that are not known to me.

Come on CLARO tell us what these "possibilities of saving" Cala Mosca are, don't keep them a secret, or haven't you thought of them yet!

It is too late to still be thinking about them and exploring them. You have already started the campaign and leading people to believe you have the solution. Your are in my opinion still misleading the people again.

(Why didn't J Badal make reference to the PP "from other parties, apparently the Greens and the Socialist party, who would have us give up the fight to save Cala Mosca." in this quote."

He said in the email " It will be interesting to see what response, if any at all, there is from either Bob Houliston, Jimmy Badal, Norah Bond (coordinator of the campaign) or any other member of CLARO's executive committee.

Perhaps the public might get some truth as to what the "possibilities of saving this last green area on Orihuela Costa and we will, and are, exploring them all." are!"

He further added, "You might also be interested in looking at the Weblog http://notclaro.blogspot.com ."

“Orihuela Costa remains unrepresented in the new Town Hall”

I've noticed that the following article has been posted by James Longman onto the Chat forums on the Torrevieja.co.uk and Torrevieja.com and it was also published in the letters page of the Costa Blanca News .

I don't need to add any comment about the article other than that it speaks for itself and needed to be said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Orihuela Costa remains unrepresented in the new Town Hall” is a statement that the CLARO party has made in at least its last three newsletters, and seems to repeat it in press releases where possible!

This statement is factually incorrect!

CLARO once more take the opportunity to mislead the electorate in Orihuela Costa.

In its February 2009 newsletter the party states “With some 30% of the registered population, Orihuela Costa still has not a single councillor elected to the Town Hall.”

In a recent letter by Mr Jimmy Badal (a member of the Executive Committee of CLARO) published in the CoastRider on the 24th February, he wrote, reiterating the same theme, “voters in Orihuela Costa, with 30% of the registered population of the municipality, were unable to elect a single representative to the Council”.

Both these statements are factually incorrect!

The correct fact is that the Orihuela Town Council has 25 elected Councillors and is currently made up of four political parties, the PP with 14 Councillors, the PSOE with 7, Los Verdes with 3, and CLR with 1.

In the three polling sites in Orihuela Costa, which CLARO choose to base their claims on, a total of 1024 votes (out of a total of 2113), being 48.46% of those cast, were for one of either of the four elected parties (these figures are currently available for verification on CLARO's own website). This is a higher percentage of votes than CLARO received.

Therefore, contrary to the misinformation that CLARO keeps peddling, those 1024 voters (more than voted for CLARO) who reside in Orihuela Costa were able to, and did, elect members of their chosen party to the Council. Their views as residents of Orihuela Costa are represented in the new Town Hall.

When will CLARO stop misrepresenting the truth and misleading the public?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update 31st March 2009: The CoastRider has published the letter today .

I hope people take note of the point of the letter.

The Le@der publishes 'Save Cala Mosca' letter

On the 6th March I posted a letter received from James Longman in relation to the CLARO 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign. with the comment that I wondered, and even doubted, if any of the local papers would publish it.

My congratulations go to the editor of the Le@der newspaper who has decided to publish J Longman's letter and added the comment "Strong words James and a few points well made....let's see if CLARO respond with something to make you feel better....ED".

What's the true reason behind the CLARO 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign?

I received the following letter from Mr James Longman presumably because of my involvement in local politics. I can see, from the addressees on the original email that J Longman forwarded to me, that a copy was sent to the Editors of all the local English newspapers. I am not aware of any of them publishing it. The writer puts forward a view that is worth some consideration. Perhaps only time will tell (hindsight) if his opinion is valid.

Whilst I appreciate that the Editors have a limited amount of space available in their papers I wonder if it will be published by any of them. Taking into consideration the strong criticsm expressed towards the motives of the C.L.A.R.O. party (seen by some of the papers as the only champion of the residents of Orihuela Costa) for the campaign I can understand that they might consider it best to ignore the letter. It might not be considered the 'done thing' to question the motives behind a campaign with aims of protecting the environment?

If nothing else it has made me wonder!

Hello Mr Sampford,

I sent the following letter to the local English press in the hope of it being included in their letters page. Unfortunately none of the papers has published it.

I have forwarded to you in case you may find my views of interest and perhaps wish to make use of the contents.

Yours sincerely,

James Longman

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Editor,

On 3 December, 2008 the CLARO party launched a campaign "to collect thousands of signatures to Save Cala Mosca.". In it's press release dated the 1st December 2008 (available on it's website), it made the point that the party leaders are "convinced that this campaign will be widely supported by all those interested in protecting the environment and preventing the destruction of the last remaining green area on Orihuela Costa"

The statement went on further to state that, "We believe that now is the time to halt this project. It must be saved and become a natural park which would provide a fantastic attraction to those living and visiting Orihuela Costa and those who might decide to buy property and live here in the future."

I thought, yes I agree with any action that is aimed at saving the environment, especially where I live, I must sign the petition.

Then I thought, wait a minute, how are CLARO going to save Cala Mosca? How are they going to get the "Orihuela Town Hall to renounce this project and in its place create a major, natural park"?

I read every bit of information available about the campaign on the CLARO website, the press release, the December 2008 and the February 2009 newsletters in my search for knowledge.

The only plan of action that has been mentioned is the collection of signatures on a petition. There is plenty of information as to where I can sign the petition, but what happens next? In the February newsletter an update of the campaign is given with the news that "we have collected over 2,000 signatures. We have a long way to go to collect the number of signatures we aim to get." How many signatures are they aiming to get on the petition and by when? What are they going to do with it? Who is it going to be presented to and when?

What is this petition supposed to achieve? Will it frighten the Council into rescinding the planning permission for the development and 1700 homes? Will it frighten the Council into buying back the land from the Developer including compensation for the money spent on work up-to-date? Will it frighten the Developer into ceasing work and giving up a lucrative long term investment, even though the market is in recession at the moment? Will the Council use the much despised Valencia region's Land Grab Rules to grab back Cala Mosca for the general public benefit? Will the Alicante provincial government or the Valencia regional government provide the vast funds needed to buy back the land and redevelop it into a natural park and recreation area?

Regrettably I sincerely believe the answer to all these questions is a resounding NO! I sincerely believe that the leaders of CLARO must realise the answer is NO!

The battle of 'Cala Mosca' has been fought by the PSOE, the Green Party and CLARO in the past, I joined in with the demonstrations held at Cala Mosca before the development started, but as expected the PP and the Developer won. The only hope is that the name of Cala Mosca will come back to haunt them (PP) in 2011 and will appear on their headstone.

This leads me to the next question. What's the true reason behind the CLARO 'Save Cala Mosca' campaign?

The conclusion that I come to is that it is a political campaign for the benefit and survival of CLARO. It may seem cynical on my part, but it's a cleverly thought out campaign that taps into the general concern of the electorate about the destruction of the environment by the continual expansion of the urbanisation syndrome. Remembering that CLARO said in the press release to launch the campaign "We are convinced that this campaign will be widely supported by all those interested in protecting the environment and preventing the destruction of the last remaining green area on Orihuela Costa", it would seem the real intention is to capitalise on this mood for one reason only, for the advantage of CLARO.

Once more CLARO, as it has done in many of it's past communications on other matters, is misleading the residents and electorate of Orihuela Costa to try to justify it's continuation and inclusion within the political scene, all be it on the fringe, as a spectator, of the real and effective action.

False hope is being peddled that Cala Mosca can be saved in order to promote the impression of CLARO as the possible saviour. When reality raises it's head that the petition as a weapon against the PP government is an illusion and has failed, that the dreams of the signatories have been shattered, and that the development continues, the leaders of CLARO will promote themselves as the victims and PP as the villains. Yes undoubtedly the PP failed the people of Orihuela Costa over this plot of land but so will have CLARO by generating and perpetuating false hope. Of course they will bring out the old fable that only they have the interest of the residents of the coast and it's the failure of all the elected opposition parties as well as the PP. They (CLARO) are never at fault, it is always everybody else, just like it is with the recent dispute about the Orihuela Budget for 2009.

I cannot allow myself to have false hope that Cala Mosca will be saved, but I will continue to hope that people will see through the attitudes and tactics of CLARO on this issue before its too late.

James Longman,

Orihuela Costa