Emu dies
An emu which was spotted running loose
through the streets of a Barcelona town
last month collapsed and died following a
police chase. The alert was raised in Sant
Cugat del Vallès and the bird was chased
by two patrol cars and two bikes for over
two kilometres. The search began for the
owner who could be fined up to €2,000
for keeping an exotic species.
Dealer jailed
A 37-year-old Málaga woman has been
sent to prison for selling drugs. A court in
the city heard she sold cocaine and heroin
to customers from her home in the García
Grana district, and in front of her two
daughters aged seven years and eight
weeks. Quantities of various substances
were found by police at the home of the
woman who has previous convictions for
drugs trafficking.
Market protest
More than 200 people turned out in
Almuñécar last month to protest at the
planned demolition of the town’s market.
The local council has invited tenders to
raze the existing market which is on a
prime site in the town centre and to
rebuild incorporating a large food area.
Opponents say the plan will be hugely
detrimental to local retailers and have
vowed to fight it “tooth and nail.”
Driver detained
A 52-year-old French national was
arrested at 4.00am in Rincón de la
Victoria after being seen driving erratically
and at speed in the town. He tested
positive for alcohol and police found
quantities of marijuana and hashish in his
car. The detained man is reported to have
a history of motoring offences.
UK suspect
Metro extension in
Málaga
The Public Works Ministry is this
month expected to put out to tender
contracts for the extension of Málaga’s
metro system as far as the Hospital
Civil. At present, these are expected to
be awarded in May next year.
The city of Málaga and the regional
government have been negotiating
over the nature of the metro extension
for months, and news of the contract
offer has come ahead of any final
agreement between the two. The Junta
de Andalucía has also dismissed
criticism that the process of assessing
and awarding the contract will fall
within the run-up to next year’s
municipal elections; the machinery of
administrative management, it says,
continues and does not stop for the
elections. Last month, regional president Susana
Díaz addressed the continuing refusal
of Málaga’s mayor, Francisco de la
Torre, to accept the plans for the work
as they stand. “Don’t throw stones in its
way,” was the message, but the mayor
continues to demand the lines should
run completely underground which, he
says, is the wishes of local residents.
The plan, as outlined in May 2017, is to
build a 1.8 kilometre extension to Line
2 from El Corte Inglés to the hospital.
The work is expected to take two years
and will create around 500 jobs. The
project, a third of which will be
underground with the remainder on
the surface, will complete the final
phase of the system as agreed in 2013. Meanwhile, the existing metro services
continue to attract customers. The total
number of passengers transported in
the first nine months if this year was
up nine per cent on the same period
last year at 4.45 million. The total for
the third quarter of this year is over 1.3
million, an increase of 13.7 per cent on
July to September in 2017.
Málaga’s high earners
revealed
A 32-year-old Brazilian man wanted in the
UK on drugs offences has been detained in
Málaga. He was detained in the Las Flores
district on a European arrest warrant.
According to the indictment, the suspect
had a prominent role in a Brazilian
criminal organisation which hid drugs in
tourist apartments in London and
distributed them to customers by
messengers on mopeds. Residents of Rincón de la Victoria
enjoy the second highest average
income in the province of Málaga,
€27,282, according to data published by
Spain’s tax agency last month. In the
list of 74 municipalities in Málaga with
over 1,000 residents, the difference
between the wealthiest and the poorest
is over €16,000. Amongst towns east of the capital,
Vélez-Málaga lies 14th with an average
per capita income of €20,272 and Nerja
is 20th with €18,784. Frigiliana is 27th
with €17,105 while Torrox is one place
lower on €17,051. Cómpeta is in 40th
place with an average €15,828, Alcaucín
is 47th on €15,123 and and Viñuela is
50th with €14,989.
Sports arsonist Benahavís is home to the richest
residents whose incomes average
€28,443 while Almáchar returns the
lowest figure of €12,032. The top five
Málaga municipalities has not changed
from last year with Benahavís and
Rincñon de la Victoria followed by the
city of Málaga (€25,180), Marbella
(€24,791) and Alhaurin de la Torre
(€24,714). The average income in the
province is €22.631, which is €456 or
two per cent up on the previous year. Nationally, the wealthiest in Spain are
the 86,500 residents of Pozuelo de
Alarcón, a suburb of Madrid, whose
average annual income is in excess of
€72,000. At the other end of the scale
is Zahínos, a small town in Badajoz,
where the average is €11,166.
Police in Vélez-Málaga have been
searching for arsonists who set fire to a
pile of mats at the town’s Fernando Ruiz
Hierro sports stadium last month. The
blaze also affected other materials stored
with the mats which are used as landing
cushions in the high jump and pole vault
events. With the nearest fire station
nearby, the outbreak was quickly stifled
and an enquiry was opened.
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