What is the Javea International Civic Society?

The civic society, as it is more commonly known, is now 21 years old. It is a non profit making, non commercial, Association of Neighbours formally constituted under Spanish Law and registered in the mercantile registry in Alicante.  

Why? - It was founded in 1988 in response to local demands for information and help in obtaining almost all or any of the services or facilities required to live a normal urban life, roads, access, water, electricity, sewage treatment, telephone. Particularly important were the contacts established to reveal and explain the Spanish legal and financial systems, to ensure people obtained proper legal deeds to property, the certification of various building obligations, how to execute a legal contract for buying and selling a property and the relationship between a contract and a deed.

By whom - The mayor (Alcalde) at the time of inauguration was Enrique Bas Espinás. (1980-1992) The original initiative for the founding of the society was through two senior Shell executives Keijs Romeijn and Colin Marcus. An Institute of Foreign Property Owners had for some time been in existence but after several years of operation it had been realised that local protocols and operations differed so much between different communities, a very rapidly expanding Jaea needed to create its own group to deal with all issues here. Thus the JICS was launched in June 1988.

The Bulletin - At that time there were primarily two rapidly expanding foreign sectors of the community, the British and Germans with the British outnumbering others by 2-1. Many Germans and other nationalities were able to speak and read in English so it was decided to produce a journal in English. This was called the Bulletin which now as then remains the societys principle instrument of communication. Intermittently we present seminars on matters of current importance, the most recent in March of this year (2009) to address the matter of equity release from property. Click on the Bullets from Bulletins button to see excerts from the Bulletins over the past 21 years. 

Changing times, changing roles - The entry of Spain into the European Union precipitated a major and fundamental change in all aspects of life. Certainly many of the obligations of EU membership have taken a long time to be recognised, accepted and implemented; certainly there has been evidence of resistance, obfuscation, and (through the infamous LRAU legislation) blatant abuse of euro-membership though gradually, certainly in Javea, municipal operations have improved enormously. We no longer attend the Thursday weekly market as before, currently we may be contacted in the small forecourt of the An Shebeen Irish pub and restaurant in Arenal on Tuesday mornings 10.15 - 1.00.

What do we do?  - Members of the board of management are all volunteers. Through constantly monitoring developments, meetings with councillors, local organisations, groups, all press conferences, we are able to report back to you through the Bulletin, which is issued 10 times a year. On a consultative basis we have had continuous contact and meetings with many groups particularly with individual councillors. At the time of writing we don't provide political or religious coverage except when there are municipal elections so our engagement from a party political perspective is minimal.

The overall community mix - The demographic make up of the community may be split into three: - The Javiense- locally born residents,  the second home non-permanent group, mostly out-of-town Spanish and many foreigners, the domiciled foreign Spanish residents who now make up the larger part of the overall community.  Numerically the foreign residents have the capacity to determine the outcome of municipal elections. However a combination of reluctance to interfere in their affairs, and a common apathy towards politics of any kind, means our arrival on the political scene and consequent lack of consideration in local affairs, has taken a long time to develop.

Cost of Annual Membership Jan 1st to Dec 31st.

For monthly membership collection and by email ............33 euros

For postal delivery in Spain     (Post cost 3 euros)............36 euros

For out of Spain delivery          (Post cost 10 euros)..........43 euros

Click here for Membership Form 2010

Where to contact us:-

Jávea International Civic Society, Apartado de Correos 333, 03730 Já¡vea/Xàbia, Alicante, Spain. 

Come and see us at the An Shebeen Irish Tavern, Carretera Cabo La Nao Tuesday Morning from 10.00am - 1.00pm. click here for directions

Tel: +34 965 790 470 Mob: +34 619 270 493 Fax: +34 965 796 743 Email   javeacivicsoc@gmail.com

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT  

President /Communications/Web Master  - Jeni Jackson Phillips, 

Vice President / Security / Distribution  - David Reeve     

Secretary - Valerie Reeve, Treasurer /Membership Secretary - Llona Martin,

Legal Affairs  Susana Bultitude  Susan Bultitudes web page.  

Bulletin Editor/ Town Hall Liason - Ian Phillips, Honorary Auditor Michael Shilan

CONTRIBUTORS 

Alma Dorndorf, Cathy Perez Pinto, Don Twyford, David Barnes, Graham Hives