NEWS SNIPPETS FROM VALENCIA - POPULATION = 4.8 MILLION

The Valencia County Council has a 60,000 square metres stand from the 21st to the 24th February, at the BIT Tourism Show in Milan, Italy. Exhibitors from 122 countries have stands at the Show, and the Valencia County Council, represented by Isidro Prieto, Tourism Deputy, will distribute pamphlets and brochures to the 150,000 plus, visitors. As part of the activities organised by the Valencia County Council, a seminar on the Italian tourist market, programmed by the Spanish Tourism Office in Milan - OET, is to be given by Carlos Hernandez, Director of the OET in Milan, and by Elena Valdes, directress of the OET in Rome.

Emilio del Toro, Town Hall Counsellor of Education, received a group of teachers and students from the Argos College in Valencia and the Alexandre Dumas College in Maurepas, Paris, France, that participated in the exchange programme, "Valencia, Reception City for Student Exchange" organised by the Valencia Town Hall.

Rita Barbera, Mayoress of Valencia, accompanied by Miguel Dominguez, Town Hall Counsellor of Citizen Safety, presided a meeting Civil Protection in the Valencia town Hall.

Alfonso Novo, Town Hall Counsellor of Heritage, and Vicente Aleixandre, Town Hall Counsellor of the Devesa and the Albufera, reported on the projects to be undertaken by the Coastal Department of the Spanish Central Government, in the area between the Rambla Boulevard and the Pujol Gola.

Elena Bastida, chairperson of the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces - FVMP, visited the Delegation the Valencian Region runs in Brussels.

We advise our readers that a fault in the electronic system of the gear shift of Fiat automatic drive cars, causes sudden stoppages that can produce whiplash to the driver. This has been the experience of our editor while driving an automatic Fiat Stilo Abarth. The stoppages are also highly dangerous if they take place when passing out another vehicle, or in heavy traffic.