News
Benidorm dropped
Plans for a movie version of the British
TV hit comedy Benidorm seem to have
been shelved after the show’s creator,
Darren Litten, announced he is to open a
bar in the resort. He says the venture will
be based on the TV series, and is to be
named Mateo after the flirtatious
bartender character played by Jake
Canuso who appeared in all 74 episodes.
Benidorm ran for 11 years before being
axed in 2018.
Spain wins
After this year’s Eurovision Song Contest
was cancelled, an on-line vote to select the
best entry was won by Spain. Contest
organisers said that the Spanish song,
Universo sung and co-written by Blas
Cantó, took first place with more than a
third of the votes. Cantó has already
accepted an invitation to represent Spain
in 2021.
Smog dispersing
The toxic smog which has become a
feature of Madrid has dispersed since the
lockdown began. With most people at
home and not relying on road transport,
and with factories at a standstill, the
pollution which has been plaguing the city
has decreased noticeably. In recent years,
the local authority has been forced to
restrict traffic on some roads and even
close the city centre to non-essential
traffic in an effort to reduce nitrogen
dioxide levels.
Karma moment
Two men in their 30s who snatched a bag
containing over €3,000 in cash were
caught by a swift-footed police officer.
The victim was leaving a bank in Sevilla
when the two thieves pounced and ran
off. But they failed to account for the fact
that their pursuer was a 4x400 metre
World Champion, and 400 metre
European record holder and Spanish
Champion in the Masters (45+ years) class.
Granada research
Researchers at Granada University are
conducting a ten-week trial on 200
volunteers to find out if Vitamin D can
help fight Covid-19 which causes a
respiratory infection. The vitamin,
considered essential for a healthy
immune system, is generated by exposure
to sunshine, and is present in some foods
and through dietary supplements. The
investigation follows a study at Trinity
College, Dublin, which found that adults
who took Vitamin D supplements
experienced a 50% reduction in chest
infections.
A Nerja golf course
at last?
Plans for a €300 million golf course,
hotel and housing development
between Nerja and Maro resurfaced at
the end of March and immediately ran
into strong local opposition. The
prospect of the municipality being
home to a golf course has been raised
many times over more than 20 years
and the latest proposals were published
in the Official Gazette of the province
of Málaga at the end of March.
The usual 20 days given for the
submission of comments has been
suspended because of the coronavirus
crisis, but within five days of its
publication, well over 1,000 signatures
had been gathered on a petition
opposing the development. The
campaign is being organised by a
pressure group formed in 2017,
Plataforma Otra Nerja y Maro es
Posible (Another Way for Nerja and
Maro is Possible) which says it will
destroy, “one of the things that Nerja
has as a tourist asset: its landscape.”
In a statement, the group denounced
the “irresponsibility of a political,
legislative and judicial system” which
plans to allow Larios to “radically
transform” land which has been under
special protection for decades.
According to the developers, Sociedad
Azucarera Larios S. A. (Salsa), the new
project will cover about 200 hectares of
land north and south of the N-340
road, from a point east of Burriana
beach almost as far as the municpality’s
border with Granada.
In the south it would border the area of
the Maro – Cerro Gordo Natural Park.
Salsa says 90 per cent of this area,
which will surround the village of Maro
on three sides, is presently
undeveloped. However, the proposals
would require amendments to Nerja’s
town planning legislation, (PGOU) and
to the Axarquia Territorial Planning
Plan (POTAX).
Between the N-340 and the A-7
autovía, the project seeks to redevelop
the derelict 19th century San Joaquín
sugar factory as an hotel, surrounded
by 680 luxury homes, while to the
south, an 18-hole golf course with
14
pic: Dave Jamieson
San Joaquín factory, Maro
stunning views across the
Mediterranean is planned. The whole
development would be irrigated with
recycled water from Nerja’s waste
water treatment plant which is
presently under construction nearby.
Salsa says it will invest €311 million
over ten years creating 520 jobs during
construction, plus 600 direct and other
indirect positions when complete. “The
objective,” says the developer, “is to
make Nerja an attractive destination
for high-spending tourists which is not
sensitive to seasonality.”
The published proposals reactivate a
planning agreement between the
owners Salsa and Nerja Town Hall
which dates from April 2015. This
however was never formalised after
local elections resulted in the
replacement of the controlling Partido
Popular at the town hall by a coalition
led by the socialist PSOE party. Control
was returned to the PP following last
year’s municipal elections.
Back in 2002, Nerja Town Hall sold a
million square metres of land in a €15
million deal with developers
MedGroup who planned an 18-hole
golf, complete with four-star luxury
hotel, tourist and residential
accommodation, plus public leisure
facilities. However, the regional
government blocked the plan because
part of the development would have
been inside the Natural Park of the
Tejeda, Alhama and Almijara Sierras.
The project was finally abandoned in
2006, with Medgroup resorting to legal
action in an effort to recover its
investment.