Soltalk May 2020 | Page 16

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.