AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson

Arsonist caught and convicted

After many fires in the region during the summer, the Céret gendarmes put together a special team of investigators and have managed to identify the arsonist responsible for three fires in Villelongue-dels-Monts and Laroque-des-Albères.  The defendant is a homeless man who was regularly seen in and around Villelongue-dels-Monts.  He was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a suspended sentence, and the obligation to train to work in order to be able to compensate the victims.

Teenager found dead in his home

The body of a 14 year old boy has been found in a house in Alénya.  He had apparently been beaten to death and then left in the house.  Police were alerted after questioning a couple who were acting ‘suspiciously’ in the town of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris.  The couple were the boy’s mother and step-father who were travelling with the teenager’s little sister.  Following the questioning the police contacted their counterparts in Alénya who went to the house and made the terrible discovery.  A murder investigation is underway and so far the only ‘explanation’ put forward by the step-father was that he had discovered that the teenager had raped his 9 year old sister and had become so crazy with rage that he had beaten the boy to death.  

Missing man found dead

80 year old Jean-Pierre Le Bellego had been missing from his retirement home in Montbolo since September 21st.  He had left on foot but had not been seen or heard from since.  A large search involving around 50 gendarmes and volunteers from the village was organised on Friday and sadly the man’s body was found tangled in dense vegetation not far from the village.  It appeared that he had suffered a fall. 

Innovative water treatment container installed in Saint-Cyprien port

For the past two years, because of the drought restrictions, boat owners have not been allowed to wash down their boats with fresh water.  On Friday the town hall installed a state of the art seawater desalinator which collects water from the port and is purified using reverse osmosis technology which filters the water to such an extent that only water molecules can pass, not the sea salt.  The system can produce 12,000 litres at a time, allowing up 85 boats per day to be washed.  As desalinated water is not mineral it has no limescale so leaves no traces on the boats – and as an added bonus this system is free to use by all St. Cyprien boat-owners. 

Very rare bird sighted in Arles-sur-Tech

The word ‘ibis’ just makes me think of the French hotel chain but the more knowledgeable people (ie everybody) will know it is a species of bird.  The bald ibis is one of the top 100 most endangered species in the world, having practically been eradicated from Northern Europe 300 years ago – so one can only imagine the delight of ornithologists to hear that 4 of them have been spotted (and photographed) on the roof of a house in Arles-sur-Tech.  These comic-looking birds measure between 60 and 80cm, have bluish-black plumage, a long red curved beak, and are bald.  Experts believe these birds are from a reintroduction programme and are making their first migratory trip independently.  According to the article, in preparation for this first long trip they have been taught how to fly by following ULMs.

And finally…

The owners of a grocery shop in Fontpédrouse up in the mountains are selling up, saying that they are being boycotted by the locals (120 inhabitants) because they are not Catalan.  Residents deny this, stating that it was the fact that goods were overpriced, the bread was dry and that the owners did not have a good commercial attitude.  Emmanuelle and her husband bought the shop 4 years ago so they also mention that being closed during Covid and the fact that the main road (RN116) collapsed and remained closed for repairs for 3 months perhaps did not help either.  In case anyone is interested, the asking price for the shop is 8000€