Café jobs
Illegal fishing spotted
off Maro
A fishing boat from Caleta de Vélez has
been caught fishing illegally off the
coast of the Maro–Cerro Gordo natural
park. A group of diving enthusiasts
from Motril captured video of the
vessel in early January and have
forwarded it to the authorities.
Ten years ago, the area around the
cliffs east of Nerja was declared a
natural reserve which gives a semi-
protected status to its flora, fauna and
geology. It covers a total of 1,913
hectares of which 384 are on land and
1,529 are at sea.
The opening of the first Hard Rock Café
in the city of Málaga has created 82 jobs.
The new venue is the second for the
chain of theme restaurants in the
province following their opening in
Puerto Banús in October 2009. The latest
outlet is expected to open opposite the
Pompidou Centre in the Málaga’s Pier
One development during March.
Direct line
The first goods train to travel directly
from Málaga’s port to Madrid completed
its journey from Pier 9 on January 17. The
test run with empty container wagons
comes ahead of a weekly service planned
to start later in the year. Shipping
company Hapag-Lloyd intends to send
merchandise from the capital to Málaga
to be loaded onto vessels enroute to
Canada.
Vehicles damaged
National Police have been searching for
the personal responsible for firing an air
pistol at vehicles in Vélez-Málaga. At least
six parked cars in calle Molino de Velasco
are reported to have been damaged, while
one motorist received a minor injury to
his leg. The vehicles received impacts to
their windows and roofs on the same
afternoon last month.
No response
No interest has been shown in the €1.9
million contract to refurbish the
infrastructure supporting the Vélez-
Málaga tramway. The town hall invited
bids in December but mayor Antonio
Moreno said in January that none have
been received. The tranvía was closed in
2012 because of mounting debts and the
socialist administration has made it a
priority to reopen the public transport
system to Torre del Mar.
As such, fishing is prohibited along 12
kilometres of coast and within one
nautical mile (1,600 metres) from the
shoreline at depths of not less than 50
metres. However, the Club de
Actividades Subacuáticas La Espera
based in Motril say their members
spotted fishing activity in broad daylight
at about 400 metres from the shore
early in January and shot video which
they later published on Facebook. They
claimed the boat was in 34 metres of
water and trawling the sea bed which is
a threatened and fragile area of
environmental biodiversity.
The club says it has sent a copy of the
video to the relevant offices of the
Guardia Civil and the regional
government. It also claims that this is
not the first incident of this kind which
their members have witnessed in the
same area and claim that the controls
available to the authorities, “do not
have the resources to cover the entire
protected coastline.”
Scooting around Málaga
Málaga is calling on the government to
regulate the use of electric scooters, of
which around 450 are presently
available for rental in the city. Last
year, the vehicles are understood to
have caused around 300 accidents
nationwide and Tráfico, Spain’s traffic
regulation authority, has promised to
examine introducing legislation to
control their users.
However, with fine weather, many
pedestrianised areas and year-round
tourism, the popularity of electric
scooters has soared in Málaga. But, as
the city council points out, there are
almost no legal tools available to
constrain their use, and the group
Málaga Ahora has criticised the
“inactivity” in exercising controls.
The town hall has received a barrage of
complaints from residents, particularly
those with visual or physical
disabilities, about the presence of the
scooters on pavements. In addition,
users have been criticised for leaving
the machines unattended in places
which are unsuitable, and even using
them in committing acts of vandalism.
Already 40 fines have been issued to
the four rental companies operating in
the city with the town hall threatening
to remove any more scooters found
abandoned.
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Mobilty councillor Elvira Maeso said last
month that the legal limbo surrounding
scooters must end and their use must be
clarified, including whether they can be
used on pavements and roads, whether
there is a maximum speed limit, and
whether users must be insured and wear
a safety helmet. She confirmed that the
city is working to up its by-laws and has
previously called for a 10 kph maximum,
priority for pedestrians at all times, and
leaving scooters only in designated
parking areas.
Going green
Bus services in the city of Málaga are
set to benefit from a new tool which
will give them priority at traffic lights.
Operator EMT says at present, local
buses spend 20% of their time waiting
stationary at a red light. The device to
be installed at five points in El Palo will
sense the vehicle’s approach and switch
the signals to green.
And the road link from the
Guadalhorce motorway to the
Technology Park in Málaga is to be
expanded to three lanes on each
carriageway to ease congestion. Final
go-ahead to the 14-month, €3 million
construction project was given last
month. The extra lane will be restricted
to public transport vehicles and others
with two or more occupants.