News
Marina safety
Work to integrate Caleta’s port and marina
(pictured) with the rest of the town will
continue with the installation safety
features for pedestrians in the area. A
contract worth €42,229 is on offer, 80% of
which comes from European Regional
Development funds. The project is part of
similar work underway at another dozen
harbours along the coast of Andalucía.
Brits register
The number of Britons registering as
residents in Spain has risen by 10% as the
Brexit deadline approaches. The Interior
Ministry says there are almost 366,000
British ex-pats living in Spain, mostly in
Andalucía and Valencia. One of the UK’s
three consuls to Spain, Sarah-Jane Morris,
has urged British residents to register and
says, “the data suggests they are taking this
seriously’.
Catalan survey
Support for independence in Cataluña
appears to be waning, A poll taken by the
region’s government in July showed
support for remaining as part of Spain at
48%, while independence was advocated by
only 42% of respondents. Previously, the
two sides had been tied at about 45%.
Fatal wounding
A 50-year-old man has been arrested in
Málaga in connection with the death of his
81-year-old mother last month. Witnesses
said the incident began as an argument
between the suspect and his sister, and
when their mother tried to intervene she
was shot in the abdomen with a shotgun.
The man then allegedly returned to the
scene and shot the victim in the head.
Apartment blaze
A 31-year-old man was rushed to hospital
in Sevilla suffering from 70% burns after
fire broke out in his apartment in Torre del
Mar last month. Other residents of the ten-
storey block were evacuated until the blaze
was extinguished. Several gas bottles were
reported to have been found in the man’s
flat with their regulators and pipes cut.
Junta to tackle
illegal homes
The President of Junta de Andalucía,
Juanna Moreno, has reiterated the
commitment of the regional
government to families whose home
ownership is in an irregular situation.
Speaking on urban planning to action
groups and local mayors in Vélez-
Málaga last month, Sr Moreno said he
was convinced that with good will and
dialogue, it would be possible to
achieve a solution, “which is beneficial
to most illegal housing.” Sr Moreno said that the problem has
dragged on for decades without a
solution because of a “complex
bureaucratic tangle that could have
been undertaken with greater
diligence.” He added that the new
Partido Popular administration in
Andalucía is taking it seriously enough
for its President to listen directly to
those affected, and called for the
collaboration and cooperation of the
municipalities in the region.
According to the Ministry of Public
Works, Infrastructure and Planning,
there are around 300,000 properties
which were constructed illegally in the
region some years ago. In many cases,
the purchasers believed they had taken
all necessary advice and actions,
including applying for and being
granted municipal licences, to ensure
that the property was fully legal. The group Save Our Homes Axarquía
(SOHA) wants the rules to distinguish
between those owners who did not
have a licence before construction, and
those owners who met all local
requirements and therefore possessed
what they believed was the necessary
paperwork. It also raises the problem
of those who obtained licences which
were later declared void by a court.
PP accused of spreading
disinformation on line
Two of the most popular social
network sites suspended 365 fake
accounts last month, claiming they
were linked to Spain’s Partido Popular
(PP), the party presently in opposition
in Parliament to the temporary
administration of the socialist PSOE
party. Facebook and Twitter said in a
statement that it identified the PP
accounts which had been “falsely
boosting public sentiment online in
Spain” through spamming and re-
Tweeting disinformation to influence
public opinion and spread spam. coordinated with one another and used
fake accounts to misrepresent
themselves, and that was the basis for
our action.” However, the PP has
rejected the claims made saying that it,
“never created false accounts because it
considers that real effectiveness in
social networks comes from actual
volunteers with their own accounts.”
Separately, Facebook added that it had
deleted 100 Instagram and Facebook
accounts with links to “individuals
connected with the PP” which had been
used to “amplify” the content of other
users. Twitter said the deleted accounts
were used in the run-up to Spain’s last
general election in April, and the latest
action came just after another election
was announced for November. TB alert
A spokesperson for Facebook said,
“The people behind this activity
14
In June, Twitter said it had suspended
130 fake accounts in Spain which it
believed were directly associated with
the independence movement in
Cataluña.
The regional health service activated
the protocol established for infectious
diseases last month after detecting an
outbreak of tuberculosis amongst
immigrants who arrived illegally on the
Málaga coast. Two of the 90 people
aboard two small boats tested positive
for the disease and were hospitalised.
Their companions and the team who
rescued them have been advised on the
tests and treatment required.