Maro complaint
The environmental group Ecologists in
Action have formally complained about the
construction of a house in Maro. They
claim the property is on a protected site
within the terrestrial maritime public
domain at Caleta de Maro. The Costas
department of the Environment Ministry
and Nerja Town Hall were reported to be
unaware of the development last month
and were investigating.
Grants awarded
An oil museum in Cómpeta and a centre
for studying raisin production in Moclinejo
are amongst projects sharing €450,000 in
grants from the provincial government.
Other grants announced last month go to
the installation of an artificial playing
surface and other facilities at the municipal
football grounds in Arenas and
Benamargosa.
Garden visits
The botanical gardens at La Concepción in
Málaga ended 2018 with a 9.6% increase in
visitor numbers compared with the year
before. Over 52,000 people visited the site
which is the highest number since it
opened to the public in 1994. As a result,
the income from admissions of over
€193,500 was nearly €20,000 up on 2017.
Rincón decides
A referendum held in Rincón de la Victoria
has selected an ecological option for the
town’s new 3.6 kilometre paseo maritime.
More than three-quarters of the 2,700 votes
cast opted for a design which excludes
concrete, and favours a “green, less
aggressive” design, according to mayor
Francisco Salado. The new walkway will
have bike lanes, LED solar street lamps,
benches, green areas and space for games.
Port plans
Plans for a new 135-metre-tall five-star
hotel in Málaga’s port area are presently on
public display. The proposal, which
includes commercial and leisure facilities, is
expected to begin construction next year,
once the necessary permissions have been
given. The plans can be viewed at Málaga’s
Urban Planning offices on weekday
mornings until mid-March.
Hunting scam
A 44-year-old man detained in Málaga last
month is suspected of advertising hunting
leases for €600 on the internet. Complaints
have been received from land-owners in
Badajoz, Albacete and Alicante but police
say there may be more victims. It is alleged
that the suspect demanded the cash as a
prepayment, but failed to deliver and
became evasive when his clients
complained.
Nerja’s caves at 60
The 60th anniversary of the
opening of Nerja’s famous
complex of caves at Maro
was marked in January by a
gathering of the four
survivors of the group of
five youngsters who made
the accidental discovery in
1959. José Torres, Francisco
Navas and the brothers
Manuel and Miguel Muñoz
met to remember the day
when the first true descent
into the caverns was made.
They paid tribute to their
missing friend, José Luis
Barbero, who died in June
2007.
Rosa Arrabal and José María Domínguez with the
commemorative lottery ticket
Before 1959, the boys had seen bats
flying out of an opening in the ground
and had peered inside with a lantern,
reporting what they had seen to
friends. When the significance of their
explorations was finally revealed on
January 12, 1959, the local newspaper
headlined the story, “Cave of
Wonders.”
Further exploration continued and in
November 1959, when the Upper
Galleries were discovered, it was
realised that the network of caverns
was one of the most extensive in Spain.
Two months later, the Governor of the
time, Rodríguez Acosta, established the
Foundation which still manages the
caves today and which formally
opened the complex to the public on
June 12, 1960.
The inauguration ceremony included
the first artistic performance to be
given in the huge central cavern: the
Ballet La Tour de París performed to
the accompaniment of the Málaga
Symphony Orchestra and the evening
included scenes from Tchaikovsky’s
Swan Lake, believed to be the first time
in history that ballet had been
performed in such a setting.
On June 15, 1961, the caves were
declared a Heritage Site and since then
have continued to be amongst the most
visited tourist sites in the country with
more than 18 million people now
having entered the caverns. Last year,
the total was 45,000, an increase of 12
per cent on 2017.
Research and conservation remain of
prime importance inside the caves. A
monitoring network was first installed
in 1993 to record a number of
16
parameters on an hourly basis,
hydrochemical controls at points of
dripping water have been carried out
since 1991, and the Nerja Caves
Investigation Institute was founded in
1999 to develop scientific investigation
into the caverns and promote their
conservation. The research team, led
by Professor José Luis Sanchidrián, and
conservationist Luis Efrén Fernández,
continue to investigate the area’s pre-
history.
The 60th anniversary was celebrated
with the appearance of the Nerja Caves
on the National Lottery tickets on
January 12. Other events are planned
for later in the year, including a very
special 60th International Festival of
Music and Dance in the summer.
Want list
Málaga’s mayor Francisco de la Torre
has been quick to list the topics he
wants to raise with the new regional
government. Reducing the risk of
damage caused by flooding of the
Guadalhorce river and creating better
access to the Andalucía Technology
Park top his list of action points. De la
Torre said he expects improved
collaboration between the Junta and
the city, now that both areas are
controlled by the Partido Popular.
Provincial president
Francisco Salado is the new president
of the Diputacíon, Málaga’s provincial
government. His predecessor, Elias
Bendodo, stood down last month after
almost eight years when he was
appointed a Minister in the new
regional administration of Juan Manuel
Moreno. Salado, a law graduate who
was born in Benagalbón in 1965, is a
former Partido Popular mayor of
Rincón de la Victoria.