Goodbye 2016

During the last three days, a jazz-marching-band (New Orleans style) has been touring the streets of Murcia. With the title of "Goodbye Year 2016", we have been able to enjoy fantastic music.
Now, enjoy New Year's Eve, and I wish you a Happy New Year and a healthy 2017.

Click on image to enlarge it and see more details.

Xmas Lights 2017

One of the things I like most during Xmas season is the Xmas lights decoration.
Those lights in the image are located at Traperia Street. Beautiful.

Live Music on Xmas Time

During those days there are lots of activities at Murcia City, as theatre for children, or urban street dancing shows, or live music as image. (Located at St. Domingo Square, Luces y Acción! Festival)

As a Present in the Xmas Tree

Inside the big Christmas Tree.

The Big Christmas Tree

80 meters high. At Plaza Circular in Murcia (Circular Square).

Royal Mailbox

Although Santa Claus has a lot of acceptance, the Three Kings are still the favorite of Spanish children.
In the image, Royal Mailbox, so that the children deposit their letters addressed to the The Magi. Each slot in the mailbox is addressed to one of the Three Kings: Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar.
They will come on January 5th to 6th at night.

Xmas Day 2016

Many of Murcia homes have been visited by Santa Claus.
Until not many years ago, there were few homes that received Father Christmas. But, because of children have more time to play (in Spain, until January 9, school do not start again), Santa visits us more.
Image: Big artificial Xmas Tree at Murcia city.

Xmas Eve Parade 2016

Today, Santa Claus has been around for Murcia, spreading joy and gifts to children.
A parade with the children's characters of today and forever. Delighted children.

From MurciaDailyPhoto I want to wish you a Beautiful Xmas Eve and Merry Christmas.

Crosssing the Bridge with Caution.

Another perspective of the Segura River water level. Scared!
Shocking video from a firemen team.
Another shocking video from an helicopter.

Skimming the Bridge

A day after from the previous picture, the Segura River water level offered this image. But the biggest problem was downstream, especially in Orihuela. You can see it on that shocking video.

River Segura and Region of Murcia Floods.

Last weekend, in the southeast of Spain, in the Region of Murcia, has been raining for three consecutive days. It has rained in these three days what rained all last year.
In the image, the river Segura a few meters from touching the Iron Bridge.
Here, a shocking video of floods.
Here, the usually river level.

Working on It.

Images of the beginning of work in Portman Bay. The sterile ones are taken to another place, where they are allowed to dry, and then, they are taken to an abandoned quarry. When mixed with remains of mineral quartz and other minerals, they will become inert.

Portman Bay. Starts a new future?

I took this picture of Portman Bay a the Portman village from Cenizas Mountain a few days ago.
Since last week, the town of Portman has been news again. At last, it seems that the work of regeneration of its bay has begun.
Let's do some history. These mountains were, since Romans times (Century I), mining zone, and already then, they extracted silver from here.
So this village, and La Union town (a few kilometers from here) have always been a mining area.
Since 1957, the French company Peñarroya, took charge of the extraction of minerals (Cadmium, Lead and Silver) from this area. The wastes generated by the washing of the minerals (using copper sulfate, sodium cyanide, zinc sulfate, sulfuric acid, among others) were initially deposited on the sides of the mountain slopes but, in order to reduce costs, they decided to throw them to the Sea.  As the years went by, the discharge into the Mediterranean Sea was increasing, reaching 8000 tonnes of waste a day.
The government of dictator Franco time, and the early years of democracy, allowed this environmental atrocity, relying on maintaining jobs.
In 1986 a spectacular action of the international ecological association Greenpeace takes place, chaining some of its members to the pipes of discharge.
In 1987, Peñarroya transferred the company to Portman Golf, and in March 1990, the dumping to the sea was definitively closed.
It is considered the biggest environmental disaster of heavy metals in the Mediterranean.
In the image below, you can see the immense amount of debris that filled the bay of Portman, a bay about 8 meters deep, in which large boats were docked.
I have pointed out the place in which was the old port of the nautical club of Portman. (click on the image to see details).
Here you can see Spanish videos about this disaster: 1 and 2.

Art up on the Ceiling

In the Museum of the City of Murcia, on the second floor of this 19th century palace, you can see this beautiful painting on the ceiling.

The Origin of Murcia

In the Museum of the City of Murcia, you can see a series of objects from the beginning of this city to our days.
In the image, 3D city map in its beginnings, more than 800 years ago. At that time the city had been built at north of the Segura River. You can see the wall that surrounded and protected the city.

El Fuero Juzgo

Among the celebrations of the 750th anniversary of the creation of the council of Murcia, in the Museum of the City of Murcia, you can visit the exhibition "El Fuero Juzgo, Vigencia y permanencia" (The Jurisdiction, Validity and Permanence). Among other things, it shows the vicissitudes that had to suffer this document since in 1751, King Ferdinand VI asked the council Murcia to allow the transfer of the codex to the Cathedral of Toledo to make a compendium of Hispanic legislation, until it was returned in 1916.
El Fuero Juzgo, the Jurisdiction, is a set of laws that were used to govern a region, whose origin dates back to the Middle Ages, during the time of the Visigoth kings, a series of kings those came from the Germanic zones.
"After the agreement of Tudmir, in 713, by which the Visigothic king Teodomiro yields to the Muslim conquerors the territories of the Valley of the Segura, Abderraman II in 825 founds the city of Murcia like administrative capital of the former Cora of Tudmir. The Muslims would govern the city during the next four centuries until by a new pact, agreement of Alcaraz, in 1243, the Muslim kingdom of Murcia was incorporated to Kingdom of Castile. The year 1266 would still have to come to the Castilian government, after Jaime I of Aragon, to quell the Mudejar revolt. The 14 of May of 1266, Alfonso X sends to Murcia the privilege by which it grants the Law of Seville, like legal document founding to create the council and to organize the government of the city and its municipality."
"The great interest of this book for the study of history, law, philology, the birth and evolution of the Castilian language (Spanish language), the paleography ... can be verified in the abundant and excellent studies carried out by researchers, especially of the University of Murcia, whose review is easy to find for those interested."
"This codex, compendium of Visigothic laws, will be the basis for organizing, governing and administering this Council and its vast territory, and today it is preserved virtually intact, except for the covers and some pages, in the Municipal Archive of Murcia."
(Source: http://750aniversario.murcia.es/pdfs/FueroJuzgo.pdf)
You can find any general information about Fuero Juzgo at wikipedia.

Café de Alba

A place to listen to live music at night, while having a drink or a coffee.
A place with an atmosphere that invites you to enter.
During the day, a place to take the appetizer.
Picture: views from Café de Alba.

Behind the Musician

A privileged place to see the musician (a cellist in te image). Behind the stage.
I took this photo at the inauguration of the lightning of the Xmas lights.

The Lighting of Xmas.

Today was the official lighting of the Christmas lights of the city of Murcia.
I have to repeat this photo a little further and with the lights on. 80 meters high of a sustainable "Christmas tree".

Framed Bridge

I know, I take too pictures of this bridge (Manterola's bridge), but I had never taken a photo from this perspective. In a sunny day, at Segura river. Murcia city.
Here, a night view.

December'16 Theme Day. Transitions.

The Theme Day  for this time is "Transitions and this time makes me a few of nostalgia.
This is (or was) the facade of a well-known music store in Murcia: Ritmo (Rithm). I say "was" because, today, it has been closed, forever, after more than 74 years. Here my parents bought me my first music books for study the music career (that I have never finished). Here I bought the first music books to my eldest son. It has been a place to know many of music and to buy instruments on a recommended way.
It was oppened in February 7th, 1942 . At this time, they offered to people, pianos, stringed instruments, button accordions, music scores, suitcase phonographs (gramophone), photo lab, portraits cameras ...
It is really a pity to see that a past of Murcian people has been closed, due to the death of the present owner Ignacio Massotti Manzanares (50 years old), son of the founding father of this place who is 95 years old.

Anyway, click here to view thumbnails of all participants.