In Brief

The Guardia Civil last week arrested a 39-year old Colombian man, J.C.J.M., who was trying to smuggle three kilos of cocaine into the island. A sniffer dog was responsible for detecting the drug in the vehicle when it arrived on the ferry from Barcelona and police had to dismantle the car in order to find the cocaine which was divided into eight packets.

Shoe scanning device now installed at Menorca Airport

Since last Thursday a shoe scanning device has been operating at Menorca Airport which can detect metallic elements hidden in footwear without the need for x-rays. As a result, only passengers wearing high heels, long boots or thick soles will have to remove their footwear.

House fire believed to have been deliberately started by tenant

Police suspect that the fire in one of the apartments in the Acuarius block in Sol del Este on Monday last week may have been deliberately started by the tenant, R.L.S., a 46-year old man from Barcelona. The fire completely destroyed furniture and doors and caused some of the beams to collapse. A neighbouring apartment suffered smoke damage and damage to a door and window.

The tenant had been given notice to leave the apartment by the owner but was apparently unwilling to do so.

JetAir to connect Brussels and Menorca

Between May and September the airline JetAir will fly twice weekly from Menorca to Brussels. As a result of the initiative promoted by the Fundació Destí, sales of package holidays in Belgium are 24.2% higher than last year.

At the Brussels tourist fair Menorca attracted the interest of a growing number of Belgians, who were especially interested in sporting activities, nature and quality accommodation.

In the last few weeks the Fundació Destí has also attended tourist fairs in Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich and Prague in an effort to attract holidaymakers from Germany and Eastern European countries.

Menorca Britannia's Grand Spring Concert

The Asociación Menorca Britannia has organised a Grand Spring Concert that will be held in the Teatre Principal, Maó on Sunday 20th March, starting at 1900 hrs.

Presented by Juan Cubas and Bryce Lyons, the concert will feature popular songs from the 70's from Maria Camps, Menorcan songs and dances from "Es Rebost" folk group and classical melodies from the "Amigos de la Guitarra Menorca".

Tickets, priced at 15 euros are on sale at the Teatre Principal box office and from Servicaixa. Proceeds from the concert will go to Alba (the association of women affected by breast cancer), the Illa del Rei Foundation and the Asociación Menorca Britannia.

Carrefour applies for licence to in Menorca

The Grup Supeco Maxor, SLU, belonging to the Carrefour group, is applying for permission to open a supermarket in Sa Tanca Commercial Centre in Sant Lluís and asked the Council for clarification of town planning regulations at the end of January so that a regional licence could be obtained.

The food supermarket in the new commercial centre would occupy an area of 2,000 sq.m., thus making it a large commercial establishment according to regional legislation.

New water supply on tap in Sant Climent

Six years after the village well was closed owing to excessive nitrate levels, Sant Climent is now being fed with water from the Turó reservoir following the completion of a 232,000 euro Plan E project to pipe the water more than 2 kilometres to the 500 inhabitants.

Partido Popular in Alaior invites ideas from British residents

The Partido Popular candidate for Mayor of Alaior in the forthcoming May local elections, Coia Sugrañes, and her team are in the process of finalising their electoral programme for the municipality and would very much like to ensure that the wishes of Alaior's British community are represented.

Following a series of meetings held in recent months, several proposals have already been received, including pressurising the central government to reinstate residents' cards; providing Town Hall information in English; improvements to public areas in both town and resorts; more support for local businesses, especially in the tourist sector; and reduced bureacracy.

Any questions, comments or additional suggestions from Alaior's British community can be forwarded to Coia Sugrañes at coia@pp.es.

Informal Partido Popular get together

On behalf of British residents of Es Castell for the PP Party, Marina Lermontov-Midgley is issuing an invitation to an informal get together on Friday 25th at Calle Rosario 2, Es Castell. This is an opportunity for the PP party to get to know more of the British community and vice versa.

This is apart from the usual British surgeries held on Mondays 1800-1900 hrs. and Wednesdays 1100-1200 hrs.

Correction of phone number for Lifeline

The telephone contact number given for Liz Martin in last Tuesday's article on her appointment as director of Age Concern's Lifeline was incorrect and should read 676 904 487. In her absence an answering service is available on this number or messages can be left with Roger Goddard on 971 377 612.