In the space of only four days, 19 people were injured in three different accidents between Castell del Ferro and La Herradura, along the N-340.

The most spectacular, yet the one with the least injured, happened on the 21st, more or less opposite San Antonio, involving an articulated lorry and a saloon car. The driver – a Moroccan – apparently took the bend to fast, tipping his vehicle over. As chance would have it, just at that moment a car was attempting to overtake it. The lorry landed on top, and both slid over to the outer lane crash barrier (Front page photograph).

Next came an accident (24th) near Castell de Ferro and involved a Moroccan family of seven in a people carrier, which invaded the oncoming lane on the tight bend leading down to Castell, and collided with another people carrier with a Spanish family of five onboard.

Finally, on the 26th, four cars were involved in a multiple-car accident near the turn off for the Punta de la Mona. This final accident produced eight injured. A Citroën, driven by a 35-year-old man heading east, inexplicably encroached upon the oncoming lane. This caused a head-on collision with a large off-road vehicle, driven by a couple from La Herradura.

The wreckage was blocking the road, so when a van came out the tunnel, the driver had to swerve, causing him to run off the road - he was unhurt, however. The next car that came along - an Alfa Romeo, carrying five people, ploughed into the side of the stranded Citröen.

All told, everybody involved, (eight people), except the driver of the van, had to be attended to at Motril hospital, although only two had to remain in hospital under observation.

The N-340 continues to be a dangerous road. One of the factors that causes accidents in this part of the country is the lack of rain and the build up of dust and tyre rubber deposits. As soon as there is a little rain, the road surfaces turn into a treacherous ice-skating rink.

Soon - with any luck - the N-340 will be relegated to a secondary road usage. However, the drop in road usage has caused some drivers to become more reckless along the Maro-Torrox stretch, resulting in quite a few accidents.

On the 23rd, April 2001, municipal policeman, Agustín M.N. went to the town hall building at eight in the evening. Agustín was one of the three members of the police examination board in charge of judging the coming exams for the aspirants of seven vacancies in the local police department. So far, nothing strange. He sought out the cleaner and asked her for the master keys, so that he could ostensibly enter the police union’s office. In reality, he entered the Personnel Department, switched on the computer and downloaded all the answers for the coming police entry test. The following day he passed this information to two examinees, who, not surprisingly, passed with admirably high marks. That was the trouble, you see, because the examiners considered that the questions were very difficult and the rest of the examinees scored expectedly low marks. So the examining board decided to run the test again with different questions, but not quite so hard. The two scored miserably – worse in fact than the other examinees. They even failed very easy ones that had been especially composed as indicators. An investigation was mounted and it wasn’t long before the cleaner was questioned… More damningly, just before she left that evening, she remembered going into the Personnel Dept. and finding Agustín there in front of the computer, which she found puzzling. In his defence, he said that he couldn’t have done as accused because he didn’t have the computer password, but the clerk in the office pointed out that this particular computer didn’t have one anyway. Agustín was sentenced to two years in prison, but he has the right of appeal. The PA governing party has said that they cannot comment on the incident until they receive an official communication from the Motril law courts.

The EDAR (sewage recycling plant) continues to hum – and I don’t mean acoustically! According to the Regional Government, the recycling plant that was installed in Almuñécar is one of the most modern and efficient ones around, costing some 21 million euros. Furthermore, it has passed all its run-in checks, they say. This is not what the noses of the residents of Torrecuevas would opine. The Delegate for the Environment in the provincial office of the Junta de Andalucía, Gerardo Sánchez, therefore suspects that the problem lies with the ‘managing or operation’ of the plant. Of course, Don Gerardo has long been struck off Benavides’ Christmas card list and, therefore, the man’s opinion is as welcome as a fart in a lift. Sr. Sánchez has said that they would look into it, and if they did find anomalies that require building alterations, they would be carried out. In a display of timeless buck-passing, the Regional Government pointed out, as a by-the-by, that they neither designed the plant nor approved the environmental impact report – it was, they say, the Central Government in the heinous hands of the conservatives PP under Aznar! In the meantime, the suffering neighbours of the malodorous plant, 1,500 of whom signed a petition to demand solutions, will be received again by Sr. Sánchez in February, to see if the corrective steps, that will have been taken by then, have been effective. Finally, Francisco Leal, who was in charge of the building of the plant, said that he had worked there for a year and claims that it doesn’t smell – I imagine that neither do your own farts, Francisco… a clear case of olfactory burnout!

All hell broke loose on the 8th in Avenida Don Juan Carlos II, when builders moved in to start on the underground car park next to the hotel that is under construction. The first thing anybody knew that something was about to happen was when the diversion road signs sprouted. Then the JCB’s appeared to demolish the tree-base pots in the pavement… and that was when horizontal flight met rotary resistance (think about it!). The neighbours took angrily to the streets. Middle-aged housewives starting retrieving and stacking the heavy, bulky fences that the builders had laid across access streets. They stood belligerently before the JCB and it wasn’t long before the local police and the Guardia Civil turned up. The Guardia looked on in a little-dissimulated bored posture. In the meantime the locals tussled with the municipal police (perhaps to the secret amusement of the Guardia policemen present). Perhaps the Town Hall had expected things to quieten down by nightfall – they were wrong. When the builders sneaked back in during the following early hours, there were the neighbours, with braziers lit and smoking, waiting for them. So, were the fifty-odd protesters demonstrating against the underground car park? No, what they wanted was an independent guarantee that their houses wouldn’t fall down during, or following, the excavation process. And that’s what they got: it was agreed after a long drawn out meeting in the Town Hall that inspectors from the building company, from the Town Hall and one hired by the locals to represent them, would go round each house, note down every existing crack or lack of them and make a report. Now, the locals know that if cracks appear, then it can’t be ignored and everybody knows who will have to pay for it. Couldn’t this whole thing have been averted by doing this in the first place? You see, the Town Hall – Benny, to be exact – has a bit of a reputation for getting the diggers in and destroying anything that could possibly cause objection and hindrance at a later date, then saying, “Whoops! It’s done now – what a pity, but let’s get on with it.” The prime example, of course, is the Altillo underground car park, still fresh in the memories of many.

With around 5,000 complaints filed against the PGOU by Almuñequeros and Herradureños, not forgetting the heavy flak coming from both Granada and Sevilla, the Town Hall has opted for a face saver: a referendum. It’s a clever move by Benny, because if the referendum – should it ever be carried out – goes against the PGOU, then he can write it off with his head held high, claiming that he is both upholding democracy and listening to his constituents, and… avoid a looming confrontation that he would most certainly lose, with the Junta de Andalucía, and losing face. If on the other hand the referendum supports the PGOU then he will have a positive weapon with which to confront the Junta. It’s a win/win situation. Now you know why this man runs rings around other local politicians.

Last month we mentioned that the Asociaión de Periodistas de la Costa y Alpujarra (APCA), of which the Seaside Gazette is a member, was going to hold its annual Christmas Awards gala on the 16th. We also mentioned that we had nominated Cecilia Chacón. Well, we are pleased to say that Cecilia received a prize for her ‘humanitarian work.’ “Cecilia is a well-loved person in Almuñécar, owing to her help and support for those in need in the township,” said the Chairman of the APCA, Jose Antonio Maldonado. Many other distinctions were awarded, with the well-known journalist in the region, Alfredo Amestoy, taking the main award. Alfredo Amestoy used to host his own TV chat show on Canal Sur regional TV.

A large crater has appeared where the ice-rink never stood! I’m talking about the park between the Municipal Market and Radiovision’s bottom door. As we mentioned on previous occasions this white elephant (municipal ice-rink) underneath Plaza Kuwait, never took off, basically because they couldn’t get the ice to stop melting, which was hardly surprising, if you consider how hot the Parking Leo (underneath the market) gets with the sun beating down on it all day. The huge ice-rink room was a veritable oven in the summer. Anyway, it was stillborn – or better said, it was aborted. In its place – hence the crater – will be a huge aquarium, which if it doesn’t boil all the fish, will be a very interesting tourist attraction. The budget is 5.5m euros and will occupy 2,566sq/mts. Let’s hope it works, otherwise it will be ‘a ration of gold fish all round.’ Mind you, as the whole thing will be sunk at least two floors down, perhaps that won’t be much of a problem.

I must tell you about a new Italian coffee shop that has opened up just across the road from El Faro. Yes, you can get a cup of real Italian coffee from ristorantes and pizzerias, but the only place you can go for a typical European cafeteria in Almuñécar with a continental flavour is this small but popular bar, Leonardo. The French, Belgians and Italians already go there for their continental breakfasts, in the form of cappuccinos and croissants. Andrea Tomberli worked in the café business in Venice for 20-odd years, so he knows how to pull a mean coffee. Swedish-born Catherine de Noirmont first came to Almuñécar in the 70s with her parents, as a youngster and between them, Catherine and Andrea, they run Leonardo, Mondays to Saturdays, 9am to 9pm. So you can’t complain, can you? Within a space of 20 metres, you can either choose between an English breakfast at El Faro, or a continental breakfast at Leonardo. Oh, you’ll see why it’s called Leonardo, just as soon as you have a look at the walls, by the way.

The Plaza del Acueducto - which is the one that is behind Carbonell’s, where the Otívar road reaches the fountain junction - has finally been inaugurated. Although there is quite a good slice of aqueduct there, it is not the only part remaining of the 1st-century Roman construction that used to bring water to the town in that distant epoch; there are three more stretches along Rio Seco, which are well worth a visit. Anyway, the Mayor, Sr. Juan Carlos Benavides, proudly declared this 3,000sq/mt park completed and open to the public. It has been a quietly kept secret, it would seem, that this square is to become a centre point for the town. If you look at the surrounding blocks of flats, you will see that the façades facing the square are much more ornate that the sides facing the main junction on the main road for the town, in other words, facing MacDonalds’. One of them spots a mock bell tower bearing the words, ‘Plaza Mayor’ – a name normally reserved for the main square of a town. Who knows?

The Plataforma en Defensa de la Vega, which requires little translation, has asked the provincial regional authorities - the Council for the Environment, to be exact - to include the vegas of Almuñécar and La Herradura in the POTA (Plan de Ordenación del Territorio de Andalucía). This move was to prevent any local politician from any political party from destroying the vega. However, the PA – the governing party in Almuñécar – has reiterated that in no part of the PGOU does it contemplate erecting ‘one brick in the vega.’ Emilio González Pavesio, who is the Councillor for Urbanism in the Almuñécar Town Hall, went even further to claim that the PGOU contemplates incrementing the town’s protected green zones. However, he did point out that ‘crop protection’ would disappear once the crops were no longer produced. In other words, whilst the fruit trees are there, they will be protected, but if they’re not… The Plataforma is not having it, though: “The one-sided projects of the PA for the vega would leave the small land-holder and his cortijo in the vega at the mercy of building speculators.” The Councillor insists that the chirimoyo plantations (la vega) are a point of prime tourist interest and that the Town Hall has not the slightest intention of smothering it all in concrete. “The chirimoyo woods will be left standing, barring where a golf course would go.” It would appear that the Town Hall could go blue in the face, claiming that they all regularly hug chirimoyos and cavort naked through their leafy avenues in ecological ecstasy… the Plataforma continues not to trust them an inch. Very strange, indeed!

Good art and good food can be found together, starting on 20th January in Coco Loco. This bar/restaurant is on the just past Chinasol, heading out towards Cotobro. Art and photographs for all tastes will be exhibited, so go along enjoy the art and one of those wonderful tapas that Coco Loco is famous for. A really nice couple, Mercedes and Mohamed, runs the bar and provides excellent Moroccan cooking at least once a week or upon order – very recommended.

It seems like only a month ago that the Alhucemas Gardens (the ones next to the P4 football stadium) were laid and inaugurated. Well, now it has been announced that it’s all coming back up again because they’ve decided to build underground parking there. “This decision reflects the economic impulse, developed in the township, and which is hoped will be maintained in the coming years, seeing as the completion of the coastal dual-carriageway will make Almuñécar and its surroundings even more attractive – if such a thing were possible – for tourism and investment,” said a Town Hall source. The projected parking will be able to cater for 298 vehicles, 24 of which will be for motorcycles. It will be situated between Calle Larache and Calle Tetuan, occupying an equivalent surface area of 6,755sq/mts. The entrance and exit ramps will be facing the stadium. All of which is bringing on an editorial whinge… It is not as if the idea of putting underground car parking facilities in the area had never occurred to anybody before, is it? I mean, first they were talking about putting parking under the football stadium, and then they were talking about putting parking under the new high school – on both occasions, long before work started on either construction. It was blindingly obvious to all concerned that the P-4 would need some serious parking areas, so why, for heavens sake, did they spend all that money on putting the damned gardens down in the first place? Never mind – it’s not good for my cholesterol.

In search of his roots. Brasileña, Sebastián Molina Sanchéz, came to Almuñécar in search of his family roots – his grandmother had emigrated from here to Brazil at the beginning of last century. María Dolores Mingorance González was born in El Cerval and was taken to Brazil when she was only one year old when her parents migrated. Sebastian first got in contact with the Almuñécar town hall about three years ago and managed to obtain a copy of his grandmother’s birth certificate via Internet. He made a flying visit with his wife and promised to return with more time for exploring the local area.

Almuñécar has managed to recycle 63,000 litres of used cooking oil this year. Wow! (stop ya whinging – I’ve got to fill this section somehow!) All of the used oil comes from restaurants and bars, but the man in charge is hoping that housewives will also co-operate in the future. Should you come over all strange, like, then there’s a container for the said used oil at the top end of the municipal market.

Twenty lasses from Lentejí have participated in a computer course. Hmmm… twenty females from Lentejí… that’s 50% of the population, damn it! The council-sponsored course was entitled, ‘Women and New Technologies.’ Awesome, eh? “Most of the participants, who are aged between 20 and 65, have approached these new technologies for the first time, and have shown a lot of interest in following up on coming courses,” said Marino Fajardo, who is the village councillor in charge. It won’t be long before Lentejí is building intergalactic rockets and self-flushing toilets up there. It will go to their heads, mark my words!

The town authorities have decided once and for all to solve the problem of the town morgue. He we are with around 22, 000 inhabitants but no public morgue. The proposed site for the morgue will be the municipal cemetery, which stands between Santa Cruz and Torrecuevas. This appears to have laid to rest (no pun intended) the accusation made by the PSOE that the Mayor was sneakily trying to shift the said cemetery. Do you know the name of the municipal cemetery, by the way? It’s called ‘El Magnífico.’ Very modest, right? It was originally just a nickname, but it has stuck and become the official name. You see, on the site many years back, they built a factory (sugar or ice – I can’t remember). All the locals marvelled at its splendour and would often remark, ¡Qué Magnífico! Anyway, the factory stopped being magnificent a long time ago and was pulled down, to be replaced by the actual cemetery. The main municipal cemetery, however, had been San Miguel Castle up to the mid 80s, when all the tenants were turfed out and relocated in the present installations, as well as in people’s cupboards and school children’s ghoulish collections. Anyway, back to the plot. The proposed mortuary will have four mourning rooms, a body bank and a cafeteria. Digressing again (it’s this damned coffee!), about 15 years back, our mayor Benny used to live in Avenida Costa del Sol, which leads up to Costa Banana. Up to Benny’s moving into the area, this main street was a humming discotheque alley, with all the town’s main discos there: Sidi Pepe’s, Noa Noa, El Mango and El Caribe. Within a short time of Benny taking up residence there, they all fizzled out… I wonder why that was! Then, some time after, just after Benny moved into his luxury villa up on the hill, the Town Hall planned to install the municipal morgue on the ground floor of his ex-block. The locals where furious and pointed out that this would never have been suggested if the Mayor had still been living there – the matter was dropped. Now, all these years later, the morgue has raised its ‘stiff’ head again!

Mid December saw the opening of the new Women’s Centre (Centro Municipal de Información a la Mujer), which can be found on the third floor of the Casa de la Cultura. The new centre, which replaces the old one in the Centro de Servicios Sociales, Paquita Ruiz, provides legal advice and a psychologist amongst its services.

The Council has finally approved the budget for the new fire station, which stands at 1,670,284 euros and will come from the municipal coffers during 2006 and 2007. The work – when it does actually begin – will last a maximum of twelve months.

Here’s some more blindingly interesting information for you! The Town Hall is going to spend 50,000 euros on modernising its computer system by installing a LAN system, which will replace the present ToKen Ring system… Don’t expect me to tell you what is all about – my computer knowledge is almost on the level of an Amstrad 8256!

Bridge Update
Very little has filtered down through the press since last month, concerning the Torrecuveas bridge disaster, mostly perhaps because the judge, Raul Muñoz, in charge of the case ordered the Secreto de Sumario to be extended one month, on the first anniversary of the accident.

However, on the 21st December, the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) announced that it already had samples of all the materials necessary for testing: steel, concrete and bolts, for example.

This announcement allowed the judge to lift the information blackout the following day. This line of investigation is to determine whether the accident was caused by material failure, as speculated upon by the Minister of Work, Jesus Caldera, on the day following the accident. This analysis of material is only one of many lines of study belonging to the numerous investigations open (three).

One consequence of the lifting of the Secreto de Sumario is that the site security measures can finally be relaxed. However, the construction team UTE La Herradura has been told to maintain private security guards in place, under supervision of the Guardia Civil. ‘UTE,’ by the way, stands for Union Temporal de Empresas, in other words ‘temporary union of companies’ for the execution of major works. Work for the removal of the fallen metal structures commenced with the end of the Christmas holidays.

Although work on the La Herradura-Taramay stretch of the new A-7 remains halted, work on stabilising terrain in the Taramay area has continued for that purpose.

With all this mysterious going on, down in the Marina del Este, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the Town Hall and find out what all the rumpus is about. I’m referring to the small ditch for a pipe down the access road, which was converted into a centre curb right down the entrance to the Marina between where the chain was, down to the guard box at the entrance proper. Anyway, the Town-Hall sent a JCB down on the 28th December and within an hour, the road was returned to its original state. So, I went up to the second floor to see Paco in the Urbanismo department. He was kind enough to explain things to me. They are as follows: the road that leads down from the very top of the Marina del Este to the port itself is known as the E-111. There was some dispute over to whom this belonged: was it private or public? The Town Hall won. However, the company that owns the Marina decided that the private access road to the port begins where they had the chain, claiming that this land, including the beach, etc, was ceded by the port authorities. The Town Hall, on the other hand, claims that it is a ‘zona verde/via pública’ area. This little squabble is at the courts, but this hasn’t stopped the Marina owners trying to put a chain up and force people to use the nearby car park… at a price. Logically, until the courts decide, the disputed area cannot be claimed by either, and certainly not be chained off with the purpose of charging admission, surely? Certainly, the chain and its custodian have disappeared! Well now you know, Folks!

You will have noticed the Town Council has ordered the boiler-suit boys to blitz the potholes around the village! Amazingly, one of the opposition parties – the PP – actually congratulated the PA-lead Town Council for this initiative. Wonders will never cease!

The Asociación de Padres (Las Gaviotas) organised a fund-raising paella, which turned out quite well – the whole thing; not just the paella! Three hundred hungry souls turned up and provided 1,500 euros in all, to go on extra school material. Joaquín Barbero (the Olympic Rice Throwing Champion) actually cooked the monster dish. The Asociación also thanked La Sardina, El Castillo and El Tinao, together with Supermercado Jiménez Guillén. Bread was provided by Panadería La Herradura. Furthermore the Chirimoya Council provided 20k of fruit for the occasion, too. Finally, Amigos de La Herradura provided the furniture and fighting irons for the Rice and Prawn Riot.

The Friends of La Herradura put on the pressure, as the Town Hall hopes to undertake conservation work on the old well, which exists beside the old N340 in Cerro Gordo, by classifying it as a national monument. It used to be the source of water for people who worked on public works years ago along this route. Once the N340 route changed, of course, the use of this well diminished and the structure itself deteriorated. What the Association Amigos de La Herradura has proposed is the repair and restoration of this well, which was popularly referred to as the Pocillo de Cerro Gordo. The group is hoping to stir up the nationalist sentiments of the local population in order to put pressure on the responsible local authorities. Certainly with projects such as the restoration of the fortress (the old Guardia Civil premises set back from the Summer cinema) and the recent smartening up of the plaza with Roman ruins beside Carbonell in Almuñécar, there’s no reason why the Herradureños should expect any less support with their well!

Approximately 18,000 euros has been invested in the public areas in La Herradura, updating the footpath and road immediately behind the Hotel Almijara. This area, called Plaza Eucalipto now has a pavement in place, asphalted road, parking spaces, streetlights, a drainage system and is planned to include plants and greenery. The interesting thing is that the hotel, itself, has been pushing the Town Hall for this public work in order to improve the access to its rear entrance. In typical fashion, however, the road system has been set up so that the turning arc is not sufficient for the many coaches that ferry tourists to the hotel each week. Instead, the driver is expected to reverse down this tight road and let them out. Well, there you go! An additional part of the urban plan, dedicated to the commercial sector, work is expected to take place on other roads: Canalejas and Unidad. As well, Santa Adela and la Antigua (right in the old centre of the town) will be worked on during the next few months.

All over Christmas, there was a selection of religious and cultural activities on offer, including concerts within the Church, San José, the Rosario de la Aurora in the lead up to Christmas for early birds, who set off at 6am from the Church, wander the streets singing traditional songs and culminate in a hearty breakfast of buñuelos (local doughnuts) and hot chocolate. For those of us who are not naturally of the early morning persuasion, the tradition is usually to spend Christmas Eve with the family, leading to midnight mass and on to going out with friends and relatives in the local bars. Some of the local restaurants have started offering Christmas Day lunch with the usual Northern European fare of turkey with trimmings with a tremendous response from the locals.

And for those of you who want to venture to a different part of the village, Cocoa has all sorts of things available to do during these quieter months. Not only are there yoga courses to suit all levels and abilities, every morning (Monday-Friday), but also Sergio reassures me that many people are still active with tennis lessons, paddle, tournaments and knockouts. For anyone who has always wanted to explore their dancing talents, there are also classes available in salsa. So pop on up!

Are you feeling that the options available are just a tad too demanding and you really believe that ‘tis the season to indulge? Well, fa la la la la- we can recommend some more relaxing alternatives as well. Again, up at Cocoa, apart from the yoga, Marina is working her healing hands with shiatsu and back down in the village, Dawn has opened up the spa just around the corner from the Fitness Studio (which has classes to sort all levels and tastes, with a new over-50’s class starting up on Thursday mornings). In her clinic, Dawn can spoil you with all sorts of treats, ranging from manicures and pedicures to Swedish massage.

The Sun lounge opened its doors during December; another English bar enters the village. Leanne, Les, and Stewart are happy to welcome you to enjoy their bar food (eighties wine bar revisited!). It’s already been busy, with punters enjoying the elegant comfortable deco and exploring the chance of booking alternative entertainment, such as catamaraning, horse riding and quad biking through them. Keep your eyes and ears open for more!

Welcome to the world an early Christmas present at Realengo! Saturday 10th December marked a very special occasion for Maria José and José of the Pizzeria Realengo, with the birth of their second child, a beautiful daughter called Nora. We wish the happy family much health and happiness!

Finally, next month we’ll be telling you more about the local library services. Suffice it to mention that Valerie Bacon (apologies over the typo last month in the article about Mike Rainbow) and her colleagues are doing a brilliant job to keep the library in operation under the Centro Cultural Jate, for you to visit and enjoy specifically on Wednesday mornings.

The socialists (PSOE) have accused the governing party (PP) of not carrying out their election promises, even after half of the legislature… Are these guys for real? Since when has any political party honoured its electoral promises? The PSOE points out that after promising not to raise taxes, the Town Council went ahead and raised them by 21%, as far as the rates (rubbish collection) goes. (An unheard of breach of promise in the democratic world, no less!). Finally, according to the PSOE, the pensioners’ residence, which was built for the old folk of the village, has turned into a luxury residence for those with high pensions and foreigners.

The Guardia Civil caught two men, during a routine road check on the N340, with 1,600 doses of hashish and a spot of cocaine for good measure. One of the men was Salobreña resident 32-year-old B.Q. and 39-year-old A.O.O.S from Almuñécar. They might have got away with it, if the Guardia hadn’t noticed that they were more nervous than a turkey around Christmas and kept looking at each other without saying a word. Casting aside the possibility that they were deeply in love, hence the mute gazing, the Guardia had them out of the car and patted down. One of them was found to have a large quantity of hashish inside his underpants… and people actually smoke this stuff?

The Asociación de Chiringuitos de Costa Tropical held its assembly this year on 14th December at the Casa de Cultura de Salobreña with one theme to be discussed above all else – the state of the licences. The Chairman, Francisco Rodríguez Vega, said that they were ‘trying to analyse the moment in which the concessions find themselves on the basis of expiration and renovation,” which doesn’t make a lot of sense in any language. However, having consulted several Spaniards, who were just as mystified by this utterance, I can only conclude that chiringuito owners are worried about getting their licences renewed once they expire. This is probably because the relevant authority is Costas, who are meaner than a hornet with a rotten-apple hangover.

Back to politics! The PSA - Partido Socialista Andaluza, who have nothing to do with the main socialist party, the PSOE - are not impressed with one of their number, namely Emilio Utrabo. The party spokesman, Francisco Palomares, stated that the said PSA councillor ‘does not comply with party discipline.’ Accordingly, the PSA has demanded that he hands in his party papers - in other words, renounces his councillorship, so that another member of the party who was on the candidate list can occupy his post. As the PSA only have two councillors in the Town Council, he represents 50% of the party presence. What brought this to a head was when Sr. Utrabo voted against his party’s wishes in the last town hall council meeting. Sr. Utrabo, far from complying with the demands of the party, suggested instead that the other PSA councillor, Sr. Palomares, should resign, something, he claimed, that would not be difficult for him as he had already ‘left’ on two previous occasions but had ‘returned.’ Sr. Utrabo said that he would continue to occupy his post as long as ‘one single Salobreñero asks him to.’ The party General Secretary assured him that he would not be expelled from the party. Still miffed, he asked how he could be accused of not following the party strategy, if it was he, himself, that designed it. The whole crisis appears to have come about because Sr. Utrabo supported, with his vote, the motion to permit the construction of the Magalles Golf Course.

Salobreña – as Tony Sharley mentiones on the following page – is mounting its own stand at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur) up in Madrid, between the 25th and 29th of this month. The Mayor considers that the decision to go to this expense is based on this ‘crucial moment in time’ where Salobreña finds itself, with respect to its efforts to promote Salobreña tourism. The decision to go it alone does not mean that the Town Hall has fallen out with the provincial tourist board, he emphasises. “We had asked them for more room on the shared stand, but they responded that it was impossible, as all space had already been allocated. We understand this, so accordingly we looked at the possibility of hosting our own stand,” said the mayor, Jesús Avelino Menéndez. “Once we had communicated our decision to the board and they had listened to our reasoning, they said that our decision had been a logical one,” he added. The decision does not come cheap; 80,000 euros will have to be found from the municipal coffers. However, some of the costs will be offset by contributions from private developers that have vested interests in the execution of the PGOU.

More politics! The ex-Mayor of Salobreña and PSOE rebel, Manuel Pérez Cobos, has set up his own party, which has a base of some 80 militants… and he plans to run for mayor again. The initials of the new socialist party are PSI (Partido Socialista Independiente). Far from giving up politics, after being ousted from power – he occupied the post of mayor for a total of 19 years – he’s decided to jump back into the political scrum. So now there are three official socialist parties in Salobreña: the principal one in the whole of Spain, who now occupy the Central Government in Madrid as well as the Regional Government in Sevilla, the PSOE. Next we have the Partido Socialista Andaluza, which is a minor Andalusian party, but represented in most of the region. And finally, this local socialist party – present only in Salobreña – the Partido Socialista Independiente.

And now, with nothing to do with damned politics, we come to the radio workshop for the young… Right! So that rules you out, eh? (and me, sob!) The youth department of the Town Hall, Area de Juventud, has set up two work groups for the town’s youths to study ‘communication techniques’ and ‘Solidarity Radio.’ This basically means that the town’s kids can have their own radio programmes. Gawd! If they start transmitting sounds that they like, we’ll have moped engines, unhindered by restraining exhaust silencers, blasting over the airwaves! If your kids would like to participate, then you should get their names down at the Oficina Información Juvenil, or at the Casa de Cultura.

Local woman accosted on Salobreña beach. An English woman, walking along the beach between El Peñon and La Caleta with her young son, was accosted by a man who exposed himself. The man, thought to be Spanish, was hiding in the canes just off the beach and, when the woman and her son approached the spot where he was hiding, he ran onto the beach in front of them and exposed himself. The lady shouted at the man, who ran off into the canes and disappeared. The incident was reported to the Guardia Civil by the lady and her husband later that day. The next day, she and her son walked along this stretch of the beach again, assuming everything would be back to normal and the flasher would have disappeared. However, the man appeared again, exposed himself and was then chased into the canes by two men who happened to be walking along the beach. The man was not caught, but the Guardia are now patrolling this part of the beach and are carrying out further inquiries into the two incidents. This walk along the beach, is one many people do every day, including the lady in question and if you have any problems of a similar nature, or are threatened by anyone, then please report the incident to the Guardia or the Local Police. Sadly, the young son of the couple in question is now very upset about going to the beach in Salobreña and particularly to the stretch where the two incidents took place.

News about the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ in Salobreña. Those who know this bridge, which is on the first road back from the beach road and crossing the Río Guadalfeo between Salobreña and Motril, will know that it is currently not connected to any roads and, therefore, is not in use! The idea behind this bridge was to relieve some of the congestion on the main coastal road, particularly in the summer months and during fiestas, when the traffic is particularly heavy. However, permission was not obtained, nor were funds made available, to connect link roads to this bridge! The latest information is that the roads will be connected to the bridge, in the not too distant future, as soon as Motril has obtained the funding from Central Government - no date has been given, as yet.

A meeting was held at the Town Hall on Friday 16th December for everyone living in Salobreña, Lobres and Molvízar that speaks English. This meeting was held to explain the proposed changes that will take place in the next ten to fifteen years, which will have an effect on the three villages mentioned. The Mayor was not able to attend, as he had an unavoidable appointment in Granada, but was represented by an municipal architect and a senior technician, who have overall responsibility for overseeing the development plans. Gemma Odriozola, who many people already know in her capacity as a helper of foreigners with problems, carried out any of the translations that were necessary, between the officials and the audience. Between seventy and eighty people attended and the following are some of the major points that came from the meeting. Two Marinas are proposed, one in the area of La Guardia beach, which is the area between El Peñon and La Caleta. This is an area designated as TH. 1. This Marina is the one most likely to be built, as it does not utilise too much beach space and will incorporate part of the old sugar cane factory. The plan is that there will be some 370 mooring spaces available at this Marina. The proposal for a second Marina, at the Motril or Río Guadalfeo end of Salobreña beach, is less likely to happen, because the Central Government is not too keen on beach areas being removed to create marinas, because it can cause problems with beach erosion and subsequent flooding. This end of the beach at Salobreña is designated as TH. 2. The main building of the old sugar cane factory will become a museum. The green area behind the beachfront apartments, called the Vega, will be kept as a green belt area and will have a cycle track built through it. There are two golf courses planned, one along the cemetery road, which has been mentioned in a previous edition of The Seaside Gazette, along with an equestrian centre and the other in Molvízar, which will also have residential houses and flats. There are currently only two golf courses in Granada province, one on the outskirts of Granada and the other in Motril. It is thought that the new courses, along with other proposed amenities, will help to attract tourists to the area, help to preserve some of the Green Areas and get rid of some of the plastic greenhouses. Salobreña currently has only the beach and the wonderful weather to offer any visitors and it is accepted, that not everyone coming here, just wants to spend their time sitting on a beach. The new facilities will also help to generate revenue and much needed jobs in the village. The area designated for the building of new hotels, (these hotels were reported as being cancelled in the last issue of the Seaside Gazette) is now a possibility once again, but there is no mention of the company to be involved in building them. With the planned building of flats and houses in the area, it is hoped that the population of Salobreña, Lobres and Molvízar will increase to 20-25,000 residents in the next ten to fifteen years. Lobres will have the largest growth, with some 7,000 buildings. The authorities are looking to expand where the plastic greenhouses are currently situated at Lobres. There is also a plan to regenerate the natural park area above the village, which was devastated by a fire in the recent past. Other proposals include the turning of the beachfront and the old part of the village of Salobreña into pedestrian only zones. To help this situation, the building of two car parks has been proposed. One car park would be built at the top of the village, near the radio station, and is still being discussed. The other will be built in the area of the artisan workshops, which will be an underground arrangement, with work hopefully begining in 2006. At least one such car park is needed in the new part of the village, near to the Town Hall and one near the beach, but the building of these was not discussed. It is also proposed to build a cable car system, from the beach to the top of the old village. The gathering was also informed that the Málaga-Granada-Almería section of the motorway would be completed by 2010. These proposals for expansion and new amenities in Salobreña, Lobres and Molvízar will please some people and horrify some others. However, let’s be realistic and accept that it will all be motivated by that commodity that is in short supply around here, money! If the Regional or National Government, or private enterprise, is not willing to provide the financial support, then all of these proposals are just pie in the sky! Possibly like the cable cars?

An exhibition of photographs can still be seen at the municipal library (biblioteca) in Salobreña until 8th January. This exhibition, sponsored by La Caixa bank, shows images of Andalucía from 1910 to 1930 and includes photographs possibly never seen before. It is well worth a visit and it is free.

From over the river comes the latest information on the Motril Golf Course Saga. The course will be opened as an eighteen-hole course from 1st April this year - an appropriate date really. It is hoped that this will help to ease the queues and make playing at the course all the more enjoyable. However, there is currently no information about the price of a round, when Los Moriscos becomes eighteen holes, just that it will go up!

Beach erosion in Motril. There has been some serious erosion of the beach in the area of the new German hotel and the golf club in Motril. This has been caused by the high winds whipping up the waves and the water has then caused some parts of the beach to disappear. Some effort has been made to replace the collapsed parts with other materials, but it has hardly been successful. Earlier this year, cars were being driven along this section of the beach, but now it is difficult to pull a golf trolley along safely!

A spectacular new roundabout for Motril. Opposite the Dani supermarket, along the Avenida de Salobreña and near to Plaza San Sebastian a new roundabout will be built. The work will begin in three months time. The new roundabout will boast - if that’s the correct word - a fountain with a sculptured set of yacht sails, to reflect a Modern Motril! It is hoped the roundabout will help to relieve the traffic bottleneck at this point when it’s busy in the town. Let’s face it, when it’s busy, Motril itself is a complete bottleneck!

Shock news for building plot owners on Alfamar. The Ayuntamiento has decided, that permission to build new houses on the Urbanisación Alfamar in Salobreña, will not be granted to the owners of building plots there, until an adequate sewage system has been installed on the residential development and fully approved by the Town Hall. This means that no more building licenses will be issued and any future buildings, put up before the installation of an approved sewage system, will be classed as illegal and the owners of these buildings will be financially liable for their removal, as well as any court costs incurred by the Council.

Decapitated dogs on the beach. It has been reported that the torsos of two dogs, minus their heads, have been found on the beach near El Peñon recently. There were no other signs of damage on their bodies and the Local Police are baffled by the condition of the animals. They do not suspect that the deaths were part of any kind of ritual slaughter and are continuing with their investigations. However, it is likely that the incident will remain a mystery, unless anyone reading this article has any relevant information and lets me know?