News
Bullfight exhibits
Exhibits from Málaga’s Museum of
Bullfighting were removed by court order
last month after their owner failed to pay a
debt of €455,000. The Extremadura
businessman Juan Barco owes the cash to a
firm which refurbished the city centre
building. The collection is reported to total
3,000 exhibits of which 300 have been on
display since the museum opened five
years ago.
Water pipe
Work on a pipeline to connect La Viñuela
reservoir with La Concepción west of
Málaga is expected to start before summer.
The new link is expected to go towards
meeting the irrigation demands of
subtropical fruit growers in the Axarquía.
Despite recent heavy rains, La Viñuela
remains at just over 30% of its capacity.
Free transport
Rincón de la Victoria plans to make its local
bus service free to all residents who are
registered at the town hall within three
years. Initially, free travel will be available
to students under 25, and to those over 65.
Mayor Francisco Salado said the initiative
was helping improve mobility, reduce
contamination and support sustainable
development.
Nerja sanitation
enquiry re-opens
A number of Nerja politicians began to
be questioned last month as an enquiry
re-opened into the municipality’s
practice of dumping waste water in the
sea. The investigation was suspended
by a court in Torrox last June as nine
present and former town councillors
were waiting to be called to give
evidence.
Those now expected to answer
questions began with José Alberto
Armijo, the present mayor who was
previously mayor between 1995 and
2015. He was called to give his
responses on February 18. Others
include former Town Planning and
Housing Councillor Mari Nieves
Atencia and former Environment
Councillor José Miguel Jimena, both of
whom served in Mayor Armijo’s
Partido Popular team between 2011 and
2015. The fourth to be called is Jorge
Bravo of Izquierda Unida who was
Environment Councillor in the socialist
coalition administration from 2015 to
2019.
The investigation, named Operation
Vastum, opened in 2017 following a
complaint to the Guardia Civil from
the group Ecologists in Action about
three municipalities which were not
purifying waste water in line with
European directives. Nerja was named
along with Coín and Alhaurín el
Grande.
Sports beaches Until Nerja’s new water treatment plant
is completed and goes into operation,
the town continues to dump waste
water at sea. Last March, a TV
documentary broadcast dramatic
underwater footage taken at the end of
one of the outlet pipes about a
kilometre off shore. Video taken by
divers from the Spanish Institute of
Oceanography supported claims that
around nine tons of baby-wipes were
lying on the sea bed, with piles of waste
up to three metres high and 20 metres
in diameter at the end of one of the
pipes.
Torrox has installed new sports equipment
on two of its beaches. Las Lindes de El
Morche and Peñoncillo beaches now boast
zip lines for use by children aged between
four and 14 years. The town says the
initiative is part of plan to increase use of
beaches year round. Meanwhile, work on the municipality’s
new water treatment plant continues.
Permission was granted in late January
for the unit on the coast road between
Nerja and Maro to be supplied with a
high tension power supply, with first
Avocado boost
Growers in the Axarquía have reported a
sharp increase in the selling price for
avocados towards the end of January. The
cause has been linked to the US Super Bowl
and the demand it generates for guacamole,
the avocado dip which is hugely popular in
North America. The Trops co-operative
said sales of avocados ahead of the globally
popular sports event were 100,000 tons in
2018, and rose to 120,000 last year.
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trials now expected later this year.
However, central government has been
criticised for its “passivity” in failing to
respond to Nerja’s request for
clarification of the on-going operation
related to plant.
The Integrated Sanitation Forum of the
Costa del Sol said last month that it is
“vitally important” to know who will be
responsible for the operation of the
plant once it is up and running, “which
requires preparing a whole new
protocol of action well in advance.”
The Forum, formed in 2007 by
organisations in the province, says it is
not simply a case of the government,
“handing over the keys and running.”
Sea fog
Seventeen flights were diverted from
Málaga airport on February 5 as dense
sea fog rolled in along the coast. The
phenomenon, known as “taro”,
happens when warm air flows over
cold sea water creating high humidity.
Further flights were diverted to Faro,
Jerez, Sevilla, Granada amd Almería on
February 16 when visibility along the
coast was again hampered by misty
conditions.
Police protection
Local police in Vélez-Málaga have
acquired 75 new protection jackets.
Security councillor José María
Domínguez said the high-quality items,
which protect officers against firearm
and knife attacks, have been added to
the 18 already in use by the force. They
represent an investment of almost
€50,000 by the town hall.
Drugs found
A Swiss national who flew out of
Málaga allegedly carrying 13.5 kilos of
marijuana in her luggage was detained
on arrival at Manchester last month.
The woman was caught by an
automatic system which raises alerts to
the possible presence of drugs in
suitcases. When her luggage was
inspected, the substance was found in
24 vacuum-packed plastic bags.
See Smalltalk
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