News
Tree dies
Desalination plant for the Axarquía ?
One of the four ancient ficus trees on Vélez-Málaga ’ s Paseo de Andalucía is reported to have died . The trees were planted in 1900 and the others appear to be in good health . Suggestions have been made to turn the dead tree into a sculpture , as has previously been done in the municipality .
Ads prohibited
Málaga ’ s city council has passed a by-law prohibiting the erection of huge advertising displays covering the side of buildings or on awnings covering scaffolding . The restriction will be applied closely in the historic centre of the city . Councillors also plan to regulate digital installations and screens .
Clean Torrox
The mayor of Torrox was in Madrid last month to accept an award for the cleanliness of the town . Óscar Medina took home the Silver Broom trophy from the Technical Association for Waste and Environment Management , the body which awards Ecoplayas flags . Torrox was the only municipality in Andalucía to be recognised , which the mayor said refelected the commitment of his team to make it one of the cleanest in Spain .
New Institute
Málaga University is to create an Institute of Materials and Nanotechnology for research into emerging fields . It is described as a centre of excellence which will provide adequate training to the University and its industrial partners . The Governing Council approved the creation of the body , to be known as IMANA , at its meeting last month .
See Jottings on page 24
The centreright Ciudadanos party has expressed its support of the conclusions of a study aimed at dealing with drought in the Axarquía and the production of electricity .
The research by Málaga University which sought to find a circular and sustainable project is reported to already have attracted the interest of private investors .
The report recommends the installation of a desalination plant with a network of pumping stations to bring water to the reservoir at Lake Viñuela ( pictured ). It also suggests that a photovoltaic plant using sunlight to produce clean energy could power the project as well as supplying the grid . The cost of the plant alone is estimated at € 140 million .
In the run-up to last month ’ s regional election , Ciudadanos said the
Work on the project to clean up the former Rio de Miel quarry in Nerja is reported to be near completion . The site became a huge , illegal dumping ground over many years , but now the land has been reclaimed in a huge € 1.6 million effort by Nerja and the regional government .
Over 800,000 cubic metres of building and demolition waste plus agricultural cuttings had accumulated at the former quarry over a period of 18 years . The process of stablising and sealing the area included creating channels for drainage , after which a compost cover proposal represented a “ a decisive step to face the lack of water in the eastern part of the province ,” because , “ water is life ” and the Axarquía must stop being “ forgotten .” The party added that the water generated would be sufficient to allow many areas , presently unviable because of a lack of supplies , to be developed for producing crops in a sustainable way .
The party also described as “ incomprehensible ” that successive governments in Madrid of not yet drafted a project to extend the coastal local rail network to Nerja .
Quarry clean-up almost complete was placed over the ground and native plant species planted .
However , the story is far from over as , in October , Nerja ’ s mayor , José Alberto Armijo , as well as the town ’ s Councillor for Urban Planning and six local business owners from the construction sector , are due to appear in court in Málaga to face charges of offences against natural resources and the environment . The prosecutor has called for prison sentences of two years for each defendant , plus 18 months of disqualification and fines of up to € 18,250 euros .
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