News in Brief for Alicante's Costa Blanca North area

No danger THERE are currently 33 pairs of marsh harriers in the Valencia region and the birds have been removed from the Valencian Community’s list of endangered species. Their numbers have gradually increased since 2000 and they are now nesting in inland areas including Camporrobles in Valencia province and Villena.  
Fewer people SPAIN’S National Statistics Institute (INE) recently updated Benidorm’s population and announced that on January 1, 2021, a total of 69,118 persons were registered on the municipal Padron.  This was 1,342 fewer residents than January 2020, a population reduction that experts have attributed both to Brexit and the pandemic.  
Keeping watch ONDARA is installing CCTV at key sites inside the town that include municipal buildings and installations as well as the shopping centre.   Camaras are already in place in the Plaza del Convento, where both the town hall and the 19th century Font de la Carxofa fountain are located. 

Raked in THE Diputacion provincial council’s Suma, responsible for local tax collections, and Spain’s tax authority Hacienda had a record year in 2021. Suma brought in €478.2 million, €5.2 million more than in 2020 and Hacienda received €3.569 billion from Alicante province taxpayers, 10.9 per cent more than in 2020. 

Social homes DENIA town hall has received two Generalitat grants of €33,000 and €33,760 for carrying out improvements to two municipal properties that will be used for social housing and let to registered families at affordable rents.  First they will be restored to conform to habitability standards and energy-efficient irequirements.