News
Council Zooms
Nerja to upgrade
Playa Calahonda
Nerja’s town council has commissioned
a viability study on proposals to open a
restaurant on the town’s Calahonda
beach. The town centre beach,
immediately to the east of the Balcón
de Europa, was home to the Papagaya
beach bar, famed for its live music
performances, until it was closed in
2014 after complaints of noise from
local residents.
Council Meeting April 8
Nerja’s Town Council meeting on April
8 was the municipality’s first ever to be
held via video conferencing. Mayor
José Alberto Armijo chaired the session
in the Town Hall, presently closed to
the public, while 21 councillors
contributed live from their homes
using the Zoom conferencing software.
The whole meeting was streamed live
on Facebook.
Beach reprieve?
The mayor of Torrox has asked central
government to waive the normal
charges demanded from owners of
beach bars and restaurants. Businesses
along the nine kilometres of publicly-
owned beaches in the town must pay a
fee to the Environment Department,
and Oscar Médina is arguing that with
Easter trade lost and the summer season
uncertain, owners and their staff are
already in financial difficulties.
“Tourism is one of the principal sectors
driving our municipality’s economy,” he
adds.
Sophisticated gang
A Málaga gang, alleged to have
committed over 50 thefts from
churches and other establishments
across the province and further afield,
has been detained by National Police in
the city. The nine members of the
group are in their 20s and include
Spanish, French and Philippine
nationals who are also believed to have
been involved in drugs trafficking.
Nerja and Torrox were amongst several
towns hit by the suspects using what
investigators described as
“sophisticated techniques,” including
micro cameras and frequency
inhibitors.
In 2017, the municipality acquired the
1,300 square metre beach, previously
privately owned, for €953,600, and the
following year demolished what was
left of the bar after a fire in derelict
cottages on the site. Now, councillors
are proposing to open a new
establishment on the site.
The Town Planning department has
authorised an economic feasibility
study which will outline the urban
development factors to be taken into
account by anyone considering bidding
for the licence to operate the facility.
The councillor responsible, Nieves
Atencia, described Playa Calahonda as
“one of the most photographed coves
pic: Dave Jamieson
Playa Calahonda pictured in 2008
on the Costa del Sol.” Despite the
present paralysis of business because
the country’s State of Alarm, Nerja’s
town council says it plans to proceed
with the project in the coming months.
Aliens in the Axarquía?
Have there been alien forces at work in
the skies over Vélez-Málaga? Since the
lockdown, local social networks have
been speculating about the origins of
strange and powerful humming noises
which have been heard over the town
in the dead of night. With factories
silent and both road and air traffic
down to a bare minimum in recent
weeks, the hours of darkness should be
almost completely silent except for the
calls of nocturnal wildlife.
However, many people locally – and
elsewhere in Spain – have reported
hearing unexpected sounds, in
particular a continuous low rumbling,
sometimes accompanied by vibrations
such as might be expected when a
heavy lorry drives past. Some have
even claimed to have heard trumpets
sounding, triggering bizarre
predictions associated with the Biblical
apocalyptic trumpets referred to in the
Book of Revelations. However, NASA
has an explanation. “The Earth has
16
natural emissions that sound like music
from a science fiction movie,” says the
American agency, “but in reality that
hum is known as ‘cielomoto’” which
roughly translates as ‘sky motorcycle.’
Apparently, while earthquakes occur
when tectonic plates collide deep below
the Earth’s surface, a similar effect is
created high above our heads when hot
and cold air masses collide. NASA says
the natural phenomenon is quite
common, but with reduced noise
pollution at present, it is more likely to
be heard.
False identity
A man has been arrested in Torrox
after living in the country for 22 years
under a false identity. The 53-year-old,
who is reported to be from Latvia, not
Lithuanian as his papers state, told
police he assumed a new identity after
being arrested 30 times in his home
country. Police became suspicious after
inspecting his documents at a traffic
check point.