News
School movie
A 16 minute film made by students at the Alfaguar secondary school in Torrox is to be screened at Spanish film festivals . “ Andrea ’ s decision ” aims to identify sexist behaviour to help in the fight against gender violence . Over 150 youngsters participated in the project which was coordinated by the Nerja producer and director David Navas .
Club honoured
Nerja Athletics Club has been honoured with the “ M for Málaga ” award from the provincial government for contributing to the development of the province . The town ’ s mayor said it was a “ deserved recognition ” for years of success . José Albert Armijo described the Club ’ s achievements as a “ true benchmark for the world of athletics at the provincial , regional , national and international levels .”
Multiple fraudster
A 55-year-old man arrested in Almuñécar last month was in possession of 44 identity cards , each with a different face and name , which police believe he used to scam at least € 250,000 , a figure described as a “ minimum assessment .” Investigators say he had produced “ high quality ” copies of DNI cards , using them to obtain thousands of Euros credit at shopping centres in Granada , Almería , Madrid , Murcia and Sevilla . He gave false addresses which turned out to be unoccupied premises where he could easily collect incoming post from his victims .
City plans
Málaga plans to close two city centre roads to private vehicles when the next phase of the Metro opens late next year . Alameda Principal and the Paseo del Parque will be open only to public transport , cyclists , and personal mobility vehicles . During this year , three more cycle lanes totalling around three kilometres are expected to open in the city .
Footpath financed
The project to construct a footpath to connect Nerja ’ s Caletilia and El Salón beaches has been given a budget of € 163,000 and will be financed by the provincial government . The walkway will eventually become a part of the Senda Litoral , the future coastal footpath stretching from Nerja to Manilva along the shoreline of Málaga . The town ’ s Councilor for Urbanism , Nieves Atencia , said work is likely to start after summer .
Catalan poll result
Those who would see Cataluña break away from Spain as an independent state took more than half the votes in the region ’ s election held on February 14 . The secessionists strong showing , split across several parties , came from a low turn-out which resulted in the Cataluña Socialist Party ( PSC ) becoming the single party with most votes . The PSC took 33 seats , 17 more than in the last election , while the Catalan Republican Left ( ERC ) also won 33 seats but with fewer votes . Junts per Catalunya ( Together for Catalunya , JXCAT ) took a fifth of the votes winning 32 seats .
Amongst other parties , Ciudadanos took six seats and the Partido Popular just four , both being eclipsed by Vox which attracted 7.7 per cent of votes giving the far right party its first 11 seats in the region . The election was overshadowed by the Covid pandemic resulting in a low turn-out of 54 per cent , compared with the 79 per cent recorded in December 2017 .
The election was triggered last September after the region ’ s separatist president , Quim Torra , was banned
The Guardia Civil is reported to have arrested an individual in Torrox who is alleged to have mediated between scammers and their victims in a series of frauds totalling € 530,000 . The suspect is one of four detained in an investigation into a group which promised loans in order to steal cash . The gang was investigated by police in the Basque Country who identified four people following a complaint received in February last year . They found that those involved had created an on-line business network to persuade victims of their authenticity .
The suspects had also rented offices where their targets were met face to face with the aim of creating a financial plan which turned out to be fraudulent . It required victims to pay a commission in order to facilitate a loan which subsequently never materialised , at which point the
Salvador Illa
from office for displaying proindependence symbols on public buildings during the 2019 general election campaign . Torra hailed last month ’ s result , in which secessionists won 51 per cent of the votes for the first time , as a “ resounding proindependence victory .”
The coalition now controlling Cataluña is led by the PSC leader , Salvador Illa , who resigned as Spain ’ s Health Minister in January . He was previously the PSC ’ s Secretary and served for ten years as mayor of his home town , La Roca des Vallès , 35 kilometres northeast of Barcelona .
Local suspect in national loans scam scammers became uncontactable .
While investigating the first complaint , police uncovered two other similar scams reported in Madrid in 2015 and 2019 , and began to liaise with Interpol . The first arrest came in the capital last July , followed by the Torrox detention in October . Two further members of the gang were found in Croatia and the Alicante town of Torrevieja earlier this year .
Rincón facility
A new fire station is to be built in Rincón de la Victoria to provide improved coverage in the west of the Axarquía . A site in Parque Victoria has been ceded by Rincón Town Hall to the provincial government for the € 2.5 million development . The project is expected to be licenced by the end of this year with construction likely to take between 12 and 18 months .
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