Javea Grapevine 342 | Page 46

Benitatxell to create a Hiking route and recreation area on Tossal Gros Unemployment up in Spain as economy sheds 203,000 jobs in August Tossal Gros is an old landfill in Benitatxell. Currently, it has degraded by uncontrolled waste dumping in recent years. August is traditionally a slow month for the Spanish labour market, as many summer jobs get axed in the hospitality and retail sectors. Now the Town Hall plans to restore the area with the creation of a recreational forested area and a hiking route. This year has been worse than others, released figures show. It will have a subsidy of 20,000 euros from the Diputación de Alicante to achieve this. The clearing of the plot is also planned with the elimination of invasive species, the transport of waste to landfill, grading the land and improving vegetation by keeping the species of interest such as rosemary, lavender and mastic. In addition existing trees will be pruned and forest species such as holm oaks, Kermes oaks, carob trees, wild olive trees and mastic trees will be planted on the slopes. From: Las Provincias • Unemployment rose by 47,047 people from July, the biggest rise on record for a month of August since 2011. • The official number of people without a job is now 3.18 million: 1.3 million men and 1.87 million women. • There were 1.6 million new job contracts signed in August, a 4.3% rise from the same month last year. But of these, only 153,921 were permanent contracts, representing 9.61% of the total. see: El País