NEWS SNIPPETS FROM VALENCIA - POPULATION = 4.8 MILLION

Rita Barbera, Mayoress of Valencia, started the Popular Party election campaign with a round of activities that included a visit with the many Mayoresses of towns around Valencia (top photo), while in the photo on the left she is seen with the President of the Valencian Government, Francisco Camps, when he presented Esteban Gonzalez, the Valencian candidate to represent Valencia in the Madrid government at the upcoming General Elections on the 9th March.

Alfonso Grau, Deputy Mayor of Valencia (third from the right in the photo), accompanied by Juan Santon, Town Hall Counsellor of International Relations (extreme right in the photo), received a delegation from Finland in the Valencia Town Hall.

The Finnish delegation were mainly interested in the traffic in the Port of Valencia, and included Henry Lindelöf, Mayor of the City of Kotka and chairman of its Port Authority; Matti Aura, manager of the Finnish Port Association; Tapani Lankilen, Vice chairman of Finpro Europe; and Marcelino Alamar, Honorary Consul of Finland in Valencia.

Kotka, a city located in south Finland, has a population of over 50,000. Its industrial port has experienced a 10% growth over the past year, and Mr. Grau said he hoped that trade routes could be established between Valencia and Kotka, that would act as a gateway to northern Europe and even Russia.

Rita Barbera, Mayoress of Valencia, accompanied by Jorge Bellver, Town Hall Counsellor of Urban Planning, visited the famous Round Square (Plaza Redonda) open air market in Valencia, to inspect the drawings for the renovations being carried out there.

The Municipal project for this Square is the work of Salvador Escrig and dates from 1837 - although it was not completed till 1848, and it was created to upgrade the trade centre of Valencia located in the area, after the De-amortization of Mendizabal in 1835.

Marie J. Alcon, Town Hall Counsellor of Culture, presented an exposition "Five Seasons", a year of design, by Valencian artist Juan Verdu, that may be visited in the Exposition Hall of the Town Hall of Valencia till next April. The exposition comprises 40 works and the commissioner is Jose Garneria.

The female basketball team Ros Casares City, visited the Town Hall of Valencia to present Mayoress Rita Barbera with the Supercup Spain 2007-2008 - their fifth Supercup win in recent years.

During the reception, team captain Elisa Aguilar presented the Mayoress with a team shirt bearing her name.

Felix Crespo, Town Hall Counsellor of Fiestas and Folklore, accompanied by Mariano Pascual, Vice-chairman of the Holy Week Maritime Guild, presented the different publications edited by the Guild for the Holy Week Pageant. 133,500 copies will be distributed to promote the Holy Week Pageant, and these include 3,500 posters "Sea and Passion" (Mar y Pasion by Martin Fores), 100,000 quadriptychs explaining the biblical characters that take part in the Pageant, 25,000 Guides to Processions that take place from the 13th to the 23rd March, and 5,000 copies of the "Official Book of the Maritime Holy Week 2008" with details of the various activities by the Guild members.

	The Valencia County Council has presented a programme developed by the collective municipalities of the Valley of Albaida with the slogan "Open the Doors of the Valley" that includes weekly guided visits to different areas of the Valley. The first visit is to Onteniente on the first of March and the tours will continue every weekend to a different location till the first of June when the programme ends with a visit to Olleria. All tours start at eleven o'clock in the morning from the Town Hall of each location as set out below.
SATURDAY 01st March - Onteniente 08th March - Salem 15th March - Albaida 05th April - Beniganim 12th April - Bocairent 19th April - Aielo de Malferit 26th April - Agullent 10th May - Palomar 17th May - Guadassequies 24th May - Montaverner 31st May - Sempere-Benissuera	SUNDAY 02nd March - Otos 09th March - Llutxent 16th March - Fontanars del Alforins 06th April - Beniatjar 13th April - Atzeneta de Albaida 20th April - Castello de Rugat 27th April - Montitxelvo 11th May - Pinet 18th May - La Pobla del Duc 25th May - Quatretonda 01st June - Olleria

Valencian Government Railways (FGV), to celebrate the second year of the Lametro Art Gallery sponsored by the Vossloh Company in Valencia, carried out an art auction to collect funds for several charities, that was enlivened with music from the Jesus de Medinaceli and Our Lady of the Redemption Band of Bugles and Drums.

The auction was presented by Marisa Gracia., managing directress of FGV, and artists Muz Martinez, Helma Vanrens, Patricia Azcarate, Marusela Granell, Horacio Silva, Carles Albert, Roberto Diaz, Curro Canavesse and Monica Bastians, all donated samples of their work, that fetched a total of 18,700 euro.

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.