Fishing row
A row between the fishing fleet at Caleta de
Vélez and local wholesalers continued
through February after the fishing crews
discontinued a 5% discount to purchasers of
ten boxes of their catches. The wholesalers
say the “unilateral action” is “scaring away
the big spenders” while other fleets,
including those in Marbella, Fuengirola and
Estepona, have maintained the discount.
Buyers are reportedly boycotting Caleta,
forcing the fleet to look for sales elsewhere.
Romanes suspect
The prosecutor has called for a 25-year
custodial sentence for the man suspected of
stabbing his partner to death in Los
Romanes, near La Viñuela, in February.
The woman was found with extensive
injuries to abdomen, back, thorax,
extremities and face. The suspect was
detained in Marbella the following day and
is being held in prison.
Attempted murder
A 44-year-old man is being held in Málaga
on suspicion of unsuccessfully attempting
to asphyxiate his former wife with a
blanket. The couple’s son was also arrested
following the incident in late January for
doing nothing to stop the attack at the
victim’s home. The father and son are also
alleged to have stolen €1,000, credit cards
and mobile phones before abandoning her.
Restaurant fire
A man and woman in their 40s were
treated at Alcaucín’s health centre after fire
broke out at a restaurant in Puente don
Manuel last month. The blaze is
understood to have started in a rotisserie
one Saturday morning. Emergency services
were able to restrict damage to the lower
floor of the building in calle Buenavista.
Arson attack
A man and woman in their 40s have been
detained in Málaga on suspicion of setting
fire to an abandoned car in which a
homeless man was sleeping. The victim
suffered serious injuries to his legs and
abdomen. The incident took place in the
Llano de Doña Trinidad area at a site
where people are known to go to take
drugs.
Totalán tragedy
investigation
Following the death of a toddler who
fell down a 70 metre bore hole in
Totalañ in January, the Málaga
prosecutor has called for the owner of
land where the tragedy unfolded to be
charged with reckless homicide. The
body of two-year-old Julen Roselló
from the El Palo district of Málaga was
recovered at the end of a massive
rescue operation, almost two weeks
after he disappeared during a family
lunch. (Soltalk last month.)
The bore hole had been drilled about a
month earlier in an effort to find water
and had left an opening just 25 cm in
diameter. Land owner David Serrano, a
friend of the bereaved family, said he
had covered the hole with two concrete
blocks after the exploration proved
unsuccessful in case someone stumbled
and broke an ankle. “I never thought a
child could fit into it,” he said later. “I’ll
never forgive myself.”
Serrano’s legal team deflected
responsibility for drilling the hole to
the engineer who undertook the work
which was carried out without a licence
from the regional government. They
said Serrano was convinced the
operation was legal, although the
contractor who bored the test hole has
claimed that Serrano had assured him
that he had all the necessary permits.
Since the Totalán tragedy made
national headlines, a number of
environmental groups have alleged that
there are “thousands” of illegal wells
dug in the province of Málaga, many of
which lack minimum security
measures. They say that, apart from
the danger posed to children and
animals, the “theft” of water from such
illegal installations threatens and may
be polluting the water supply to the
public.
Civil Defence volunteers have been
sealing illegal wells in the Axarquía
since the tragedy. Rincón de la Victoria
was the first municipality to take
action, followed by Vélez-Málaga,
Torrox, Nerja and others. Anyone
coming across an apparently
abandoned well should contact their
town hall and the Guardia Civil.
Málaga plans lorry
restrictions
Málaga is reported to be preparing to
restrict the movement of heavy goods
vehicles in the east of the city. The plans
follow continuing complaints from
residents along Avenida Juan Sebastian
Elcano which carries the N-340 road
along the coast into the city centre.
They claim the problem is caused by
the number of lorries which choose
this route to travel between the port
area in the centre of the city and the
cement factory on its eastern outskirts.
Local business leaders say these
vehicles are supposed to make the
journey via the city’s ring road, but
drivers choose the N-340 instead in
order to save ten minutes time.
The city is understood to be preparing
a new local by-law to restrict the
movement of such vehicles which the
councillor for mobility, Elvira Maeso
says will achieve “significant
14
advantages” in traffic flow and
reduction in congestion, as well as
improving the safety of other road
users, noise reduction and air quality.
The draft of the new legislation is
understood to include restrictions
based on the weight and dimensions of
the vehicles and their times of travel,
with exceptions.
Mourinho fined
The former Real Madrid manager José
Mourinho has been handed fines and
penalties totalling €3 million plus a
one-year suspended prison sentence
over unpaid tax issues. Spanish
prosecutors had accused Mourinho of
failing to declare income of €1.6
million in 2011 and €1.7 million in
2012. They claimed that by ceding his
image rights to companies in tax
havens, Mourinho committed fraud by
not declaring the income those
companies made from the rights.