Tracy Ann

This weekend is going to a busy one on the main beach of La Vilajoyosa, as it will be the setting for the 15th annual Eurochallenge kayaking event. More than 250 competitors from 15 countries including France, UK, Germany, south Africa, China, Canada and Argentina among others will be attending in various trials over the Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a mass paddle out on Saturday, but its not certain yet whether they will be heading west towards El Campello, or east to pass Benidorm...That will depend on the direction of the prevailing winds on the day.

TRAVEL - Another high speed train line is in the offing! This time its a route between Madrid and Lisbon (Portugal). There used to be a "conventional" night train between the two capitals, but that was suspended with the event of the covid pandemic, never to be restarted. This "proper" high speed service involves only 15 million euros cost to Spain, mainly to sort out differences in signalling and power supplies.

The whole project including upgrades on certain stretches of line in Extremadura means that the trip with a travel time of 5 hours or even less will be possible by 2030. Get on at Alicante, up to Madrid then onwards to Lisbon...What a fab trip!

The municipal football grounds of Calpe yesterday. The areas had to be cleared of players so that not one but two rescue helicopters could land. What had happened is that a 46 year old Belgian hiker had fallen while going up the Peñón de Ifach (Calpe rock), suffering severe head and chest injuries. A first rescue helicopter reached him on the rock, but on seeing the injuries they called for the "air ambulance" second chopper to go to the football pitch. The first rescue helicopter then landed on the football pitch, and the man was then transferred then to the medical one, for treatment and a subsequent flight to Alicante General hospital. We wish him well.