News
River management
A working partnership has been formed
by Nerja Town Hall and the regional
government to develop a management
plan for the River Chillar in the
municipality. In summer, the area
attracts 3,000 people in hundreds of cars
every day for bathing and sports
activities, and its sustainability is under
debate. As well as environmental
damage, the influx brings rubbish and
vandalism, as well as rescue call-outs for
those who get into difficulties,
Last plot
The last vacant plot on the Agriculture
Technology Park in Vélez-Málaga has
been sold. The 2,000 square metre site
will become the fourth acquired by the
local business Reyes Gutiérrez which
specialises in the commercialisation of
subtropical fruits and products derived
from them. Vélez’ mayor Antonio
Moreno Ferrer has also confirmed that a
new wall to protect the area from
flooding is to be built this year.
Nerja monitors
Four installations to monitor the
environment are now operating in Nerja.
The sensors - at the Balcón de Europa,
Burriana beach, plaza de los Cangrejos,
and Maro car park - record a range of
data, such as temperature and pressure,
while cameras send pictures every 30
minutes which will soon be available on
the municipal website. The initiative is
part of the Smart Costa del Sol project.
Vélez upgrades
The project to upgrade plaza de Las
Carmelitas in Vélez-Málaga has been
completed at a cost of over €600,000.
As well as laying a new impermeable
surface, the work has involved replacing
the drainage and irrigation systems, with
medium and low voltage power lines
now routed underground instead of
overhead. The next phase of
improvements will affect the
commercial arteries of Camino de
Málaga and part of calle Canalejas.
Prosecutor demands
prison for dumping
The Málaga Prosecutor has called for
prison sentences, fines and a ban from
public office for nine people, including
Nerja’s mayor, as the enquiry into an
illegal rubbish dump continues. The
site at Rio de La Miel, in the extreme
east of the municipalty and within the
National Park of the Tejeda, Almijara
and Alhama Sierras, accumulated
802,000 cubic metres of waste material
in over 18 years of uncontrolled
dumping.
Mayor José Albert Armijo of the
Partido Popular, the Town Planning
and Housing Councillor Mari Nieves
Atencia, and seven business owners in
the construction sector face prison
sentences of two years and 18 months,
plus suspension from public offices.
Sr Armijo, mayor from 1995 to 2015,
and from June 2019 until now, is
accused of an offence against natural
resources and the environment which
carries a possible fine of €7,300. The
prosecutor has called for the same fine
for the councillor, and wants penalties
of €18,250 for each of the business
owners.
However, the prosecutor has dismissed
charges against Rosa Arabal, socialist
mayor between 2015 and 2019, and her
environment councillor Jorge Bravo, as
well as former environment councillor
José Miguel Jimena who served in the
Armijo administration from 2007 to
2011.
The Partido Popular at Nerja Town
Hall issued a statement disputing the
conclusions of the Prosecutor and
claiming that those charged expected
to be “totally acquitted.” It said that at
no time, “did the political activity of
those under investigation amount to
criminal behaviour.”
The dump operated on the site of an
old quarry with the authorisation of
the regional government, the Junta de
Andalucía, from June 2008. However, a
year later the area became protected
when it was included within the
Natural Park.
In the years before its final closure in
September 2016, the Junta issued at
least four orders to close the site which
later expired, while ecologists and local
residents made repeated demands for
action to be taken. The prosecutor has
estimated that returning the land to its
in original state would now cost €10.8
million.
Tranvía debate continues
The regional development minister
says she will meet Vélez-Málaga’s town
council to discuss the future of the
tranvía. However, Marifrán Carazo of
the Partido Popular has added that the
tram system is “exclusively” an urban
responsibility.
The tranvía system was mothballed in
2012 because of spiralling debt, but
Vélez’ mayor, Antonio Moreno Ferrer,
has pledged to reopen it. A year ago,
the provincial delegate for Málaga said
the Junta de Andalucía was “open to
negotiations” on the future of the tram
route but stressed that discussions
would begin “from scratch” because a
40% subsidy promised by her socialist
processor had never been signed off.
The future of the public transport
system, which opened between Vélez
and Torre del Mar in October 2006
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following an investment of €32
million, was raised again last month by
a socialist member of the Junta,
Francisco Conejo. He recalled that in
2015, the Junta, then under socialist
control, agreed to reactivate the tram
with an annual contribution to
compensate for its operating deficit.
However, three years later the offer
was withdrawn after it was found that
the system did not meet the conditions
required to be declared a regional
responsibility.
Mayor Antonio Moreno Ferrer is
reported to have reached an agreement
in which the Junta de Andalucía would
allocate €2 million to help reactivate
the tranvía system, but the change of
control from the socialist PSOE party
to the Partido Popular following last
year’s election, effectively paralysed
this.