Murcia Corvera Airport (RMU) is Open!
Construction of the new, Murcia International Airport at Corvera was completed in 2011, however, due to a long list of setbacks, its proposed opening in 2014, and the numerous subsequent rumoured opening dates did not happen. Finally, on 15th January 2019 King Felipe VI arrived and formally opened the the airport and it is now fully operational. Airlines operating to Corvera include easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Norwegian, Smartwings and Volotea.
At 36km by road from Los Alcazares, Corvera Airport is somewhat further than the old San Javier airport but Corvera is essentially a replacement for San Javier, which is now almost entirely focused on military flights and effectively closed to civil aviation.
Information on travel between Los Alcazares and Corvera airport can be found at https://www.corveraairporttravel.com/transportation/getting-to/los-alcazares
Paramount Park, A Place of Dreams
Licences have been issued to build, in the Murcia Province, a large theme park and leisure complex based on the Paramount Pictures brand. A company called Premursa, or more officially Proyectos Emblematicos Murcianos SA is at the helm of the project. Premursa's initial capital of 1 million euros was provided by Santa Monica Financial Services SA led by Jesús Samper, president of F.C. Real Murcia, together with the Murcian Institute of Development (INFO) and the Murcian council for Culture and Tourism Región de Murcia Turística, the two councils providing 20% of the initial investment. The project, in essence a private venture with minimal support from the Murcian government is in its early stages. The development site covering an area of just over 1.5Km2 is on the south side of the town of Alhama de Murcia, about 40 minutes drive from Los Alcazares and the Mar Menor. 550,000m2 of the land is designated for the the park itself and the remainder, a "Lifestyle Center", which will cover just over a square kilometre. Although the proposed scale of the project is now somewhat smaller than earlier indications, and considerably smaller than the 19Km2 covered by Disneyland Paris, it will be the biggest single private development project ever undertaken in the Murcia region, and according to Premursa, who are looking to attract investment well in excess a billion euros, will be Europe's most advanced theme park. The theme park zone is planned to include four or five themed areas and two themed hotels whilst the adjoining lifestyle centre will comprise hotels, restaurants and music bars. Paramount Pictures a subsidiary of Viacom inc. has created and been involved with dozens of blockbuster films including King Kong, Rosemary's Baby, Grease, Titanic, Patriot Games, Ghost, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Star Trek, The Godfather and Indiana Jones series plus many others. It is hoped that the park will create around 20,000 jobs and re-ignite the development of the region which has been suffering from the effects of the economic downturn. The park was originally scheduled to open way back in April 2015 but it appears that little if any construction has even commenced. It seems that finding sufficient capital investment is proving to be a real obstacle!
New Tram Line
| Los Alcazares may soon be connected to nearby towns by a tram service. Angel Villalba, president of FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha) is converting the metre-gauge railway from Los Nietos to Cartagena to an electric tram line. FEVE has issued a €16m tender for four trams to operate the service and a further €4m to convert the existing and line and stations. Viability studies are underway to then extend the service through and around the city of Cartagena, followed by a third phase which will extend the service along the shores of the Mar Menor to Los Alcazares, San Javier (including the airport) and San Pedro de Pinatar as well as to the beginning of the La Manga Strip and Cabo de Palos via La Union. The entire project involving about 55 Km of line is likely to cost in excess of €100M and would carry a projected 300,000 passengers a year. |
S.A.E. (Servicios de Atencion a Extranjeros - Services for Foreigners)
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If you are resident in Los Alcazares you have access to information, guidance and advice - renewal of (work permits and - Non EU) residence,
family matters and social issues. This service is available on Mondays at the Social Centre in Los Narejos (tel. 968 583 280) and Wednesdays at the
Centre for the Elderly in Los Alcazares on Calle Adolfo Lopez (tel. 968 583 281). A number of Winter Activities are offered via the Sports Centre, these include; Basket ball, Volley ball, Tennis, Football, Sailing, Golf, Tae Kwondo, Judo, Cycling, Tai chi, Yoga and Swimming including Aqua aerobics. Fees vary depending on activity and duration of course, fees for children are reduced. Leaflets and further information can be found at the Sports Centre on Avenida. Joaquin Blume (tel. 968 582 436 or 968 171 545). |
Hollywood, LA (Los Alcazares)
In recent years, Los Alcazares has proved a popular location for moviemakers. Parts of the town provide a backdrop for the recently released "The Garden of Eden". During the shooting back in 2009, the historic Hotel Encarnacion in Los Alcazares was cosmetically transformed into a 1920s French riviera hotel Des Voyageurs. The Garden of Eden, based on on Ernest Hemingway's unfinished novel of the same name is directed by John Irvin, stars Mena Suvari, Jack Huston and Caterina Murino.
The town's old military base was also used for the filming of Green Zone, an Iraq war thriller starring Amy Ryan as a New York Times foreign correspondent alongside Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear who respectively play officers of the US Army and the CIA. The film, directed by British director Paul Greengrass was inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone about events in the fortified zone used as a US troop base in Iraq. Whilst essentially a fictional work, the plot involves the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons in Iraq, drawing from the real life experiences members of the US armed forces, the native Iraqis and the sometimes controversial writings of American journalist Judith Miller.
Conference Centre On Ice
It seems that construction work on the town's new Conference Centre (Palacio de Congresos) has been suspended with no clear indication of why. Things were looking good when the original budget of 17 million euros for the high-tech complex was increased to 24 million euros including an 1.8 million euro grant from the regional government of Murcia. The centre's design includes a 1000 seat auditorium featuring a large stage with orchestra pit, this connects to a complex of rooms providing capacity for 1800 people and featuring high-tech media installations, an exhibition centre, offices, press room, board rooms, a restaurant and a cafeteria. Warehousing and a basement car park for 700 vehicles with spaces for at least 30 buses, as well as large surface carpark are also in the plans. It was hoped that the centre would function closely with the town's hotels and that with its proximity to the airport, new motorways, the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean, it would attract large scale international conferences and exhibitions. It seems though that, for the time being, the plans have been shelved.
On a brighter note, though it has been a long time coming, finishing touches are being added to the newly built Cultural Centre with its 500 seat theatre. It is expected to be opened very soon.
Golf Course
The Los Alcazares golf course (AKA La Serena Golf) is now well established. Along with new infrastructure installed at the adjoining Lomas del Rame residential zone the 18 hole municipal course, club house, practice range and putting greens were the first items to be completed in the grand scheme to develop this previously agricultural area. The entire project covering around 2 million square metres includes the creation of various housing developments, a municipal golf school and a social club. Development of the area has slowed since the economic downturn and the newly built four star Serena Golf Hotel which opened in summer 2008 closed soon afterwards for many months but it was reopened and has enjoyed growing popularity during the past few years..
Also included in the project will be new commercial areas with shops, restaurants and cafeterias plus extensive green and pedestrian areas with wide palm-lined boulevards connecting the Lomas del Rame and Torre del Rame areas with the town centre and the motorway via the newly upgraded Avda. 13 Octubre as well as Avda. de la Libertad and the new municipal bus station, future community centre and proposed beach-side theme park.
Despite the excellent progress made with some new developments, the situation is not so rosy for some projects. A major investigation into allegations of large scale fraud and high-level corruption focusing largely on numerous ex-employees of the town council of Marbella, including its ex-mayor, has resulted in the imprisonment, and seizure of assets from, the backers of various development projects including the Nueva Ribera developments at Los Narejos and Torre del Rame as well as another hotel that has been constructed close to the Los Alcazares town hall. These projects have been frozen pending legal proceedings.
The opening of the new Los Alcazares golf course development followed closely on the heels of the opening of other recently opened golf courses at the neighbouring towns of Roda and Torrepacheco, location of the Polaris World resort Golf Mar Menor where the course has been expanded from 9 to 18 holes. Los Alcazares Town Council has also been studying the feasibility of building additional golf courses including another 18 hole course at Lomas del Rame and a possible 9 hole course at Los Narejos, however, due to the global economic crisis it appears likely that these projects will be suspended for some time to come.
Air Base to Become Theme Park?
Los Alcazares is home to the oldest military air base in Spain. Covering an area of nearly 800,000 square metres adjacent to the Mar Menor, the disused and dilapidated base is the subject of a proposal initiated by the town council to create a theme park which will include a new aviation museum, an ecology museum, an aquarium, a music conservatory and function rooms for cultural events.
The Ministry of Defence has given permission to the town council to restore and use buildings in north part of the old base close to the town centre for cultural use. Now the council has succeeded in acquiring an area of just over 84,000 square metres at the south end of the base. It is this area which is proposed to become the theme park. The area is the site of the now derelict beachside house which was lived in by the legendary aviators el Infante de Orleans and Ramón Franco, the Republican brother of General Franco.
There are also plans to rebuild the beachside house as part of the aviation museum and other features including an old mill will be rebuilt using photographs taken over 100 years ago. The proposals also include the construction of 500 metres of new promenade, a new water sports centre and pathways to facilitate observation of the many birds that can be found in natural park areas adjacent to the base.
It is possible that in the future the town will adopt the entire area of the base.
New Nautical School and Tourist Office
The council-run School of Nautical Activities will be located together with a new tourist information centre in a new three storey building on the beach front at Paseo Manzanares on the site of the Cruz Roja del Mar building. Courses will focus mainly on canoeing, windsurfing and kiteboarding and space will be available for on site storage of the equipment. The centre will be available for use by the local schools, thus increasing the range of sports facilities available to them. The tourist office in the building will be additional to the tourist offices in the town centre and the recently opened main Tourism Development Centre. The new centre is expected to cost around nine million euros to build.