Economic greed from the plastic greenhouses (invernaderos) has created a situation, which is now totally out of control on the coast and is putting people’s lives at risk. The recent devastation in Almuñécar caused by flooding has prompted the Guardia Civil to alert, once again, the authorities to the catastrophic circumstances that many towns and villages on the coast are now threatened with, due to the ever-increasing spread of the plastics.

No concrete legislation exists to stop this epidemic and the authorities have turned a blind eye for far too long, even though they have had previous warnings. Ramblas and barrancos are used as dumping grounds for the waste products from plastics or are built over and the plastics have changed the shape of whole hillsides and are destroying our natural habitats.

The villages named as being under threat are: Motril, Carchuna, Gualchos, Rubite, Lújar, Polopos, Sorvilán, Albondón, Albuñol and La Mamola. The authorities in these towns have allowed vast areas of land to be covered by the plastic greenhouses and have not stopped the ramblas and barrancos from being encroached upon or used as dumping grounds for the tons of rubbish and discarded plastic produced by them.

The Costa Tropical gets its fair share of storms, as we saw in September in Almuñécar, when 180 litres per sq/m fell, causing major destruction in the town. With hillsides surrounding these towns now full of plastic greenhouses, the water cannot be absorbed into the ground and will shoot straight over the plastics – just like putting up an umbrella but with far more devastating consequences, as the water gathers speed and takes the illegally dumped refuse in the ramblas and barrancos with it.

Five years ago, the Guardia Civil alerted the town authorities, saying that without taking control of the plastic greenhouses there could be a disaster. All the mayors were made aware of the possible dangers and were given precise instructions on how to stop the problem. Unfortunately, no one has taken a blind bit of notice; the plastic greenhouses multiply annually and the situation is now such that the Guardia Civil has felt it necessary to warn us once again.

The amount of money generated from the plastic greenhouses is enormous and there is more profit in having a plastic greenhouse per square metre, than selling the land for other purposes. As land has rocketed in price and becomes harder to obtain nearer the coast, greenhouses have taken to the hillsides and their owners have changed the shape of whole hillside areas, invaded the rivers and destroyed the natural habitat.

Five years ago the village of La Garnatilla didn’t have a view of the coastal town of Torrenueva until a greenhouse owner decided to take off the top of a large hill. The amount of money it took to do this must have been immense but the huge profits he could obtain from the greenhouses was obviously too irresistible.

The plastic greenhouses really started to take hold in the Granada province as Almería began to run out of space and water. The invasion has been rapid and relentless - even the birds mistake the sea with the plastic greenhouses. In 1985 the towns of Torrenueva, La Mamola, Polopos and Castell de Ferro suffered major destruction and in 1973 the town of La Rábita lost 46 people in tragic circumstances. As one woman from the town said, “I lost my house and then had to bury my husband and two of my children.”

On the 24th of October, the Environment Department (Medio Ambiente) finally admitted that the plastics were now out of control; that all the plastics that don’t have a license or have been constructed in protected areas will be taken down.

Unfortunately, the sheer amount of plastics means it will take years to inspect them all and in the meantime more will be built.

One month later, the new estimates for the cost of putting right the damages caused by the flood have grown considerably. More than 2,400 Almuñequeros have either lost their cars, or suffered considerable damage to their house or farms. The official evaluation of damages takes into account 1,300 vehicles, one hundred dwellings and 290 garages.

Otívar reported 300 smallholdings with considerable damage, as well as 23 dwellings and two business premises, and God knows that they didn’t have many to start with!

In Jete over 200 farmers have put in for damages to their land, whilst Lentegí lost about three hectares of avocado, valued at 32,760 euros, 5.2 hectares of níspero, valued at 32,000 euros and six hectares of olive, valued at nearly 14,640.

Going back to Almuñécar, 90 business premises were affected, 60 apartment-blocks were flooded out at ground level.

The well is not going well in Lentegi. Several farmers, belonging to the local irrigation collective (comunidad de riegos) have had to pop round to the Guardia Civil and thence go before the magistrate, after having been reported by a neighbour, who claims that they are preventing him from piping water from his well. It sounds as if they have been ‘aquatically naughty,’ but if you look closer it gets interesting.

You see the well in question has been sunk near the Fuente de Guadajama, which is where all the local farmers get their water and – if I am not mistaken – from where the village itself gets its water supply. The farmers apparently are quite happy that this affair is getting some publicity as their concern about this water extraction at such a sensitive spot has been largely ignored by the authorities.

Turning now to Jete, do you remember that fire that started in November 2002, below and to the south of the Picacho de Bodíjar but soon spread to wipe out 2,732 hectares in the municipalities of Jete, Ítrabo, Molvízar, Salobreña, Los Guájares, Otívar and Lentigí? Well, the resulting court action has finally reached a conclusion. The sentence found that the culprit had decided to burn cuttings from his fruit trees, knowing full well that it was forbidden in that area. This action together with gusting winds caused to the fire to spread with such devastating effect. Consequently, the said farmer was found guilty of the crime arson through grave negligence and sentenced to one year and 11 months in prision. He also has to indemnify the Junta (for the expenses incurred in extinguishing the fire) 281,019 euros and compensate one land owner the sum of 157,743 euros for damages.

Don’t let a bit of rainfall fool you folks, because it was a November like this one when this fire occurred – go easy on the matches!

Meanwhile, back down on the coast, the PSOE has complained about the state of the Almuñécar picadero (riding school). Bear in mind that this installation is publicly owned, although it is leased to private hands. The PSOE has demanded that the Town Hall does not renew the present lease until the leaseholder carries out the necessary repairs, etc, to put the picadero back to its original state, having fallen into disrepair in many parts. At the same time the PSOE wants the contract opened to bidding, with the conditions reflecting the original aims of the picadero of when it was conceived.

The picadero, in case you didn’t know, is in Taramay, just behind the now-closed Hotel Taramay, on the main road.

According to the PSOE Councillor, Francisco Prados, the stables are in disrepair and are overcrowded, with two or three horses occupying a space that was originally intended for one.

Most people reacted in the same way upon hearing that the Town Hall had recommenced charging, virtually the day after the flood, for parking in the Blue Zones, going so far as to fine drivers: everybody was completely stunned at the gross injustice and insensitivity of the act. Some people even refused to believe that this could be happening.

First of all the town was under mud and debris. Many people had simply ‘lost’ their cars; others had found them as write-offs. Good parts of the town were impassable and both public underground car parks were out of action. Where the hell were people expected to park?

The first opposition party to be off the mark in pointing this tremendous faux pas out was the conservative PP, I believe, but before long all had joined in the chorus of justified condemnation. After, what a slap in the face it was to the townsfolk of Almuñécar!

Finally, however, on the 22nd of October – exactly one month after the Black Day – the Town Hall issued a press note explained that they would not be processing the parking fines that had been dished out between the 21st September and the 3rd of October.

The ruling party can thank its lucky stars that this pathetic blunder and mindless bureaucratic ‘leeching’ did not occur just before the elections, otherwise they doubtlessly would be out of a job!

The local conservative party (PP) has had its first assembly without Juan Luis in the driving seat. The new leader is Trinidad Herrera Lorente, who is married with three kids. She is a lawyer by profession.

As could be expected, she is very critical of the Mayor, also known as Bad Penny Benny by his detractors or Benny the Many, by his fans. She also stated that the local party won’t be ‘renovated’ until after the coming General & Regional Elections next year.

What she didn’t make clear, however, was whether she would continue to support the Mayor’s controversial PGOU, as was the case with the now ex-Chairman of the Almuñécar PP, Juan Luis González Montoro.

So, here we are, on the second anniversary of that terrible accident in which six workers either fell to their death or were mangled between the falling girders and there is still nobody that has been declared as the culprit.

The Junta de Andalucía attributes the accident to the cimbra (the huge, concrete mould that inches its way along the top of the bridge structure) and clears the Administration of any blame. Hardly surprising really, as both the Junta and the Central Government are run by the same political party: PSOE.

Furthermore, how many times have we reported in the Seaside Gazette that work has recommenced on the A-7 bridge over Torrecuevas? At least four times and each time, the bridge site soon returns to inactivity within days.

But here we are, witnessing the Blame Game in full swing. Although a final decision has not been made, as I said above, it looks as though the cimbra is going to be the cause of the accident, but has yet to be decided is whether it failed because of a design fault or inadequate maintenance.

Meanwhile, the bridge site remains inactive…

A pregnant teacher has reported that she was harassed during out-of-school hours by a group of kids from her school. As the area school board has begun the law suit in her stead, they have not disclosed which Almuñécar school is involved, although we do know that it is an Instituto, of which there are only three: Al Ándalus, Virgen de la Antigua and the new P-4 one.

The culprits had buzzed her with a moped and thrown olives at her as they whizzed past. The teacher was taken to the medical centre, close to a nervous breakdown.

It was a little difficult to see the Syrians, due to the turbulent dust that billowed around them, but there they were, eroding the marble blocks with determination and the odd power tool.

I watched, fascinated, as one sculptor retreated a couple of paces from litho-combat with his stony opponent and held up a small model in the palm of his hand to compare it with the sulking block – it was evident that he was winning.

The Parque Botánico el Majuelo is already adorned with the fruit of last years crop of sculptured marble, tucked away in sandy glade, almost giving the impression of a sacred jungle clearing containing religious effigies.

I spoke with Aktham Abdul Hamid, who is the director of the arts academy in Damascus, from which these sculptors come. He told me that this is the third consecutive year that this collaboration between the academy and the Town Hall has taken place. As was the case on previous years, the work in the Majuelo is scheduled to conclude before the Encuentro Hispano Árabe, which will be held between 25th and 27th of this month. The main conference will include a lecture on The Borders of the Nazari Kingdom.

Anyway, go along to see the sculptures in the Majuelo and don’t miss these very interesting talks in the Casa de Cultura on the above dates.

On Saturday October 20th, 30 Members and guests of the Almuñécar Branch of the Royal Naval Association celebrated the 202nd anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar at a formal Trafalgar Night Dinner, held in the Salobreña Hotel.

The Battle of Trafalgar took place just down the coast from here, off Cape Trafalgar, during the 21st October 1805, and was one of the Royal Navy’s greatest away wins.

Trafalgar Night is celebrated by the Men and Women of the Royal Navy every year, and every ship, submarine and stone frigate, (that’s Navy-speak for a shore establishment), will have a formal dinner.

Unfortunately our guest of honour, the Deputy Defence Attaché from the British Embassy in Madrid, had to withdraw from the dinner at very short notice, due to Service commitments. He did send abject apologies, though obviously it left us in the lurch without a guest speaker. Happily, one of the members stepped into the breach and kept us entertained. After the port had been passed, a superb raffle held on the night raised some €300 for the local Almuñécar charity, ADALH. (See last month’s Gazette, page 65.)

Branch meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month, with the Christmas party being held on Tuesday 11th at the restaurant Árbol Blanco – only 40 places available. Ex-RN, RM, QRRNS and RFA personnel and other interested parties are invited to contact Dave Toms either by e-mail on almunecarRNA@hotmail.com or on 677 31 19 02 for details of future events.

Francisco Prados, local Secretary of the PSOE saw it coming, which is why he raised the alarm in the press on the 23rd of August: González Pavesio; ex-Consejal de Urbanismo and hitherto right-hand man of the Mayor, (see photo) had suddenly disappeared off the electoral list just before the municipal elections. This caught everybody by surprise because it was widely believed that Juan Carlos Benavides was grooming him as his political heir.

Then, not long after the Mayor was re-elected to office a new permanent post was announced in the Town Hall; i.e., a functionary; not a political appointment. This post comes with a 46,000-euro per-annum salary; spread over 15 payments; i.e., 12 monthly salaries plus three month’s bonus. That is approximately 3,066 euros each hit, which is, by some quirk of fate, half a million pesetas exactly.

So, as I said, Sr. Prados accused the Mayor of providing a cushy little number for Pavesio at the taxpayer’s expense. Sr. Prados pointed out that the selection board was rigged as both the Mayor and the Consejal de Urbanismo sat on the board, which goes against the ‘public functions statutes.’

Four days later (27/10) the Town Hall withdrew the offer, only to submit it again via the Official Provincial Gazette (BOP).

On a different note, but of the same nature, the local leader of the PSOE, Rocío Palacios, announced the fact that the Mayor had signed two contracts with the Onda Tropical TV station (which is run by militants of the Mayor’s party) worth 19,000 euros of public funds for subscriptions to a weekly newspaper (virtually run by the Mayor’s party) and publicity for Parque Peña Escrita mountain park.

Sra. Palacios pointed out that the first deal involved 150 subscriptions to the said weekly Costa Tropical Información, which would be delivered to clubs, associations, as part of the campaign to promote literacy and reading, worth 8,400 euros. The second contract belonged to a publicity campaign to promote the said mountain park.

She concluded that it was lamentable that money was spent in this fashion when there were not enough public funds, supposedly, to pay the rubbish collection company, El Mirlo.

The Almuñécar Bird Park, Loro Sexi, hasn’t been very chirpy lately, owing to a kind of bacteria that was detected in one of the specimens. Accordingly, the municipal vet, Antonio Pontes, decided to shut it down provisionally to avoid the spread of the bacteria, called chlamydia, to other birds or humans. However, he considers that the health risks are not important as the chlamydia has little incidence.

As for the mountain park that was mentioned in a previous article, it has been re-opened, owing to an administrative elapse: after nearly three years of bureaucratic wrangling the case against the park by the Ministry of the Environment was annulled because they had taken to long to respond. Consequently the Town Hall has received provisional authorisation to re-open the facilities.

The Town Hall issued a communiqué on the 17th October, publicly thanking the Ministry of the Environment for its collaboration in the cleaning up of the beaches of Almuñécar and La Herradura. Costas (the governmental department that is responsible for Spain’s coasts) has removed a total of 23,000 tonnes of the debris produced by the flood. Isn’t it nice when the heads of different administrations, be they municipal, provincial, regional or national, work together for good of the citizenry in general, rather than for the benefit of the political agendas of their parties?

As far as fast loans to cover losses incurred by the recent flood go, I went round to speak with Miguel Olivares and Raúl Merina at the Avenida de Andalucía branch of the Caja Rural. I mentioned in the last Seaside Gazette about the existence of such loans, destined to cover the needs produced by the flood on the 21st of September, by the way.

The Rural was very quick off the mark to provide fast, soft loans; i.e., one that would give you the money in your hands in a couple of days and require the least amount of paperwork necessary, as well doing away with various kinds of commissions.

So, basically, the deal looks like this: no opening, study or cancellations commissions, whereas personal loans tend to have quite high ones. The annual interest is the Euribor + 0.75%.

The best course of action would be to go round and to speak with either Miguel, who is the Branch Manager, or Raúl, who is head of loans. Both speak excellent English (Raúl has an English wife).

The Christmas Lottery; i.e., El Gordo, still a good way off, with the draw taking place on the 22nd of December, but in Almuñécar the supply of such lottery tickets is totally exhausted.

There’s a very simple reason for this, and that is that the Spanish believe that where ever disaster has struck then fortune will smile on this area with the lottery. Many people believe this because this coincidence has a habit of reoccurring.

So, thousands of people from all over the country have been buying up lottery tickets for sale in Almuñécar. And as for the lottery numbers that coincide with the date of Almuñécar’s and la Herradura’s flood, well they were long since snatched up. One of the family that owns Carbonel’s did manage to find the Christmas lottery number of 21907 (21st Sep 07) on the Internet and lost no time acquiring it.

But it is not all a case of tourists buying up the available lottery tickets, either for their own use or for selling on, because 60% of all Xmas tickets here were bought by Semana Santa brotherhoods, local firms for their workers or even highschools and juniorschools for the staff and/or to fund school trips.

445 years since the Shipwreck of the Spanish Armada in La Herradura’s bay, as marked on 19th October by the Association of the Friends of La Herradura. In 1562 under the rule of Philip II, over 5,000 people drowned -greater than the total number of recorded residents living in the village now. The original event was significant enough to be referred to within the classic, Don Quixote. In contrast, this anniversary was quietly marked by a simple gathering near the mosaic that depicts the scene, just outside the village church of San José.

La Herradura beach still dirty 21 days after flood, with notices warning swimmers not to bathe or use the showers to wash (Agua contaminada). This was particularly important, as ironically temperatures rose during October, tempting people into the bay, polluted by cane and branches and other matter that we probably prefer not to think about.

Speaking of which, once the weather did turn with another (albeit reduced) downfall, it became evident that the sewage drains had not been properly cleared yet. I’m not saying that there’s been no cleaning, but with the reasonably heavy spate of rain that we had, these drains along the beachfront were spewing up fowl-smelling stuff that certainly wasn’t meant to line our streets.

Parts of Punta de la Mona, Cantarriján and Calaisa still need to be properly attended to and although the Department of the Environment has committed to undertaking the task, you’re still best advised to use your common sense before entering the sea or taking any risks with public sources of water. In fact, even the sand has been littered with lots of unsavoury stuff because of the change in tide, which basically brought the items discarded through the river, back on shore.

Hopefully, nature will stop this bizarre ‘tennis match’ before too long and we can get back to some conditions that are relatively normal for this time of year.

Andrés Segovia competition to be held 19th – 25th November at the Civic Centre in La Herradura, so we thought you might be intrigued about the man himself. Tony Morton has kindly provided us with extracts from an interview Segovia had with Christopher Nupen (BBC) during the late 1960s, when he was anticipating moving into his newly constructed house Los Olivos, overlooking La Herradura’s beautiful bay. Here, he claimed that he “worked harder than ever!” (a bit like all of us really).

When asked about whether he had a repertoire at the beginning of his career, Segovia claimed that he “had to rescue the guitar twice. Firstly from the noisy hands of the Flamenco players and second from the poor repertoire it had … (of) fervent and devoted incompetence.”

Next he was asked at which point he decided to play Bach on the guitar.

“I discovered the book written by Hans Brueger about a collection of compositions that Bach made. Immediately, I selected some of them to play at my next concert in Paris. My friends disapproved … but I decided to ignore their advice.”

When questioned about why there was a lack of repertoire for the guitar up until Segovia arrived on the scene in the 19th Century, he responded with “The guitar is a very complicated instrument. It is like an orchestra we could look at with the reverse sides of binoculars. I mean by that, that everything, every instrument of an orchestra, is inside of the guitar, but in miniature, in many different colours and many different timbres. The guitar is a very difficult instrument to perfect. It is a kind of synthesis of the forest. When I arrived on the international scene I played in big halls. I needed more sound. To make a strong sound requires a good guitar, strong nails of the players, but soft in quality of tone.”

“The guitar is the instrument for the amorous dialogue with women we love. If the woman … betrays us, then we take the cello in order to open our heart to a friend and if the friend is implicated in the infidelity… then we choose the organ to communicate our sorrow with God.”

Segovia then went on to speak of his first acquaintance with Manuel Ramirez who, after hearing him play, gave him an excellent guitar. “When I said I could not pay him, he said to pay him without money by playing this guitar all over the world. I played it for the next 30 years.”

“My ambition was to redeem the guitar, take it from the Flamenco players and put it on stage with the other orchestral instruments.”

As you’ll be able to see from the quality of the competition we’re privileged enough to enjoy during November, the dream of this great man has been realised.

Andrés Segovia: 21 January 1893 - 3 June 1987.

Agricultural land will take time to recover from floods, as is clear when you take a drive up along the Río Jate. Local landowner, José Barbero, pointed out that in the 60 years he’d lived in the campo, he’d never seen anything like it. The Department of the Environment had been working to clear debris with machinery and trucks the week before, but as José pointed out, “What they need to do in the very least is to help us by clearing the water course properly, something that hasn’t been done for centuries. When the water moves through, it’s not contained by river banks or politics.”

Apart from several metres of destroyed wall along the riverbank, there are still a number of dead wild boars, due to the extent of the storm and amount of motorway-work debris that was washed down, especially from the Cantalobos area. The small passage that was constructed by the company to allow the passage of water was clearly insufficient for the huge amount of debris that was dragged along by the raging torrent. Once the blocked passage broke, it gained greater momentum and of course was far more damaging because, rather than just water, there was a build up of mud and matter that pulled everything along with it. Added to this, the sanitation system of pipes, etc, which was embedded in the river area and there are no points for guessing why, at least at the time of writing the sewage system continues to be up the creek (well, maybe ‘up the riverbed’ in this case).

New bridge at Las Gaviotas is set to be an improvement on the last one, or so the authorities are claiming. We live in hope as for a start the important looking engineering people have come along and taken measurements to determine the quality of the terrain. The company contracted to undertake the work here, as well as on the bridge over the Rio Verde, have said that there shouldn’t be a central strut (as previously) to the bridge. Instead, it will be supported by a number of wide girders, leaving a passageway. According to the same company, the manufacture of these girders will take some time, so whilst we’re negotiating the makeshift alternative route, their aim to focus on building the sidewalls. No time commitment…naturally.

Galería de arte Felicia Hall is pleased to announce a new exhibition, opening Saturday, November 3, at 8:00 pm. The show, Peter Thomas, Maître Pastelliste de France runs through to December 31st.

Originally a water colourist, but now better described as a ‘landscape painter,’ Peter works almost exclusively in pastels. He attaches great importance to working on site, so as to catch the changing light and essential character of place. His paintings are almost completely finished outdoors, despite weather conditions and often a ‘certain discomfort.’

The Gallery is also pleased to offer a very special class, ‘Painting in Pastel with Peter Thomas.’ This is set to run November 8th, 9th and 10th from 11am to 2pm. The class will be held outdoors and taught in English. The cost is €50 per day and includes lunch at a restaurant after the class. The fee does not include materials. The class will be limited to six to eight persons.

Information is available at the Gallery in the building behind Bonache in La Herradura, or by phoning 958 82 70 42.

170 representations have been made on conservation of Cerro Gordo parkland, because people are clearly concerned about the document (Plan de Ordenación de Recursos Naturales) (aptly named PORN some would say, given the naturist slant of the area). The objective of this plan is twofold: to protect both the parkland and the coastline of this special zone (already designated by the European Union as an Especially Important Protected Zone in the Mediterranean, or a ZEPIM - they love their acronyms, don’t they?) earmarked as a particular point for breeding programmes (we’e talking marine life!). The idea is to sufficiently halt the fishing in this area and build up the flora and fauna once more, for the enjoyment of all.

El Gallinero celebrates a very successful fifth birthday on 19th November, so make sure you pop in beforehand to say hello and wish Margaretha and Linus well.

Stephen Hill was moving his workshop down from Rescate, during September. On September 21st, he had an urgent order to fulfill for the legendry flamenco guitarist, Paco de Lucia. When the storm first hit, he was getting last minute tools from Rescate, to enable him to finish the guitar and deliver it the next day for Paco’s concert in the Plaza de Toros of Málaga.

Stephen found himself caught in the first rains in Rescate, unable to leave, as he was on the ‘moto,’ combating hailstorms, power surges and rivers of mud. Finally, he started to come down, with a bag of valuable tools, but then spotted some of his Rescate neighbours, who were having problems crossing the mud and boulder strewn gullies that had spilled out all over the roads.

Then came the second cloudburst, by which time he was in El Cerval, crossing the main ‘barranco’ (gulley) there, parked his scooter with tool bag on one side and then went back to help. Before his very eyes there appeared a huge river of mud and rock flowing over the road, in front and behind the car of a neighbour he was helping. They both took shelter in the car as the hail started again, Stephen still wearing his crash helmet, as if he had some premonition of what was going to happen next.

And then it did, as a concrete wall collapsed on the car, the same time as both scrambled out to ‘safety’ only to see Stephen’s bike being pulled into the river of mud, together with his precious tool bag. There was nothing he could do, as both took shelter in the house of the eminent painter, Robert McKellar, fellow artisan and artist in the hills of La Herradura.

Once the rain stopped, Stephen managed to retrieve his bike covered in mud and not working. The tools sadly lay somewhere between El Cerval and the Mediterranean and he ended up hitching a ride home, only to be welcomed by two inches of water there as well.

Always one to see the positive side of things, Stephen remarks that, “After this adventure, I’m pleased to say that I now have my workshop behind the Plaza de Independencia of La Herradura, at Calle Canalejas 35, making fine Spanish guitars and teaching intensive guitar making courses. Carlos Cayuela, a half Spaniard from the UK also just moved here so we have formed Flamenco en La Herradura, offering guitar and fine instruments making courses, as well as Flamenco guitar lessons.”

Needless to say, Stephen did deliver the guitar to Paco in the end, improvising the tools that were missing, and he loved it! You can get in contact with Stephen on 678 195 536.

Hideaway pleased to announce that their Quiz Night on 25th October went really well and thanks to the many that attended. Also, they would like to say a big ‘Thank you’ to Quiz Master, Kelvin and his assistant, Josh, for all their help during the quiz. The great news is that if you enjoyed the Indian snacks in the buffet that night, then there will be more of that to come at their forthcoming ‘Curry Night.’ Make sure you mark your diaries for Thursday November 29th. Ask at the bar for further details.

Talking of suffering artists, I’m pretty sure all of you are familiar with the normally smiling face of Renata Barcelos. In fact, you may even have seen her work exhibited at Galería de Arte Felicia Hall during the summer. Sadly, this lovely person has had a pretty tough time since then, particularly with the flood that entirely destroyed her workshop, resulting in her losing valuable pieces, machinery and tools. Renata is one of the real life victims of this disaster, but a fighter nonetheless. A truly talented lady, Renata creates the most spectacular sculptures (examples of which you can view on her web site www.renatabarcelos.com). I’m certain that if you take a look, you’ll be tempted, especially as Christmas approaches.

El Ancla still home of sport with the pulses racing (not from much more exercise than lifting the proverbial glass of refreshment)! Not only have patrons enjoyed the amazing Rugby World Cup, plus the usual menu of nail-biting football, but some pretty hairy car racing as well. If armchair sport is your thing, in a friendly welcoming atmosphere where you get a chance to ‘ooh and aaah’ with the rest of them, well El Ancla is the place for you. Not to mention, the place for Sunday lunches, where with the team’s fine fare, booking is recommended more than ever.

Blue Lagoon introduces a new selection of English beers and ales to give you that home away from home kind of feeling. Good chat, lovely views, tasty food and authentic beers. What more could you want for, as the days get shorter and cooler?

As autumn sets in, and we retreat earlier with the darker evenings, the village seems quiet (well, apart from Halloween, when the ‘tricksters or treaters’ were seen fearlessly roaming the streets, dressed as a refugees from a Thriller excerpt). Clearly, people are saving their valuable ‘centimos’ for the Festive Season. The school term is well under way; life is progressing ‘as normal’ for this time of year and the businesses are battening down the hatches to prepare for the final onslaught of 2007. We’ve been spoilt by some brilliant weather, as if to compensate for the flood; but I fear many realise that good weather just isn’t enough.

As the Ghoulies gathered at the Sunlounge on Halloween, we might have expected some shrieking and at least a bit of bloodshed. But you’ll be pleased to discover that the protagonists (doubtless, inspired by the E numbers from all the sweets) flapped about like bats during the many imaginative games. Stirring a cauldron-packed amount of fun, everyone enjoyed a wonderful time. Thanks go to top witch Leanne and helpers. You do realise, that you’re hooked now and there’s no way you’re flying off on your broomstick to avoid the same chaos next year?

Flamenco Show ‘La llama viva’ programmed for 9th November. You can buy your tickets directly from the Civic Centre at a cost of €10 for a star-studded line up of guitar, singing, dancing, clapping, flute and even violin in what promises to be an impressive show.

Salobrena Town Hall has recently announced through their Urban Councillor, Manuel Peréz Cobos, a new initiative that will be undertaken to study the two manmade reefs that were placed either side of the El Peñón rock a few years back. The study will evaluate the regeneration on and around the reefs and the impact on the fishing grounds.

Another important part of the study, and from a tourism point of view, is to see whether these reefs now offer visitors to the area the possibility to enjoy the reefs through scuba diving activities. We thought this was an ideal opportunity for us to speak to a resident scuba-diving expert, Richard James, a B.S.A.C. (British Sub Aqua Club)- licensed scuba instructor, to see what he had to say on these new developments. Richard has been to the Town Hall and was told that as these reefs where part of a conservation area he was not allowed to dive around them and would not be told where they were (although he has been searching for them for the past four years and hasn’t located them).

Richard did point out to us that as a qualified diver with eighteen-years experience, he understood and respected marine life and its complexities although he would be very interested to see the reefs and at least be able to take photos of what they actually looked like.

We then contacted the office of Manuel Peréz Cobos to let him know that there was an experienced British scuba diver living in the area that would be delighted to assist them in their study of the reefs. We look forward to seeing whether the Town Hall take up Richard’s kind offer and, with any luck, we might one day get a report from Richard on the progress of the reefs and a few photos!

Back to the future and the mopeds roaring noisily around Salobreña with their young riders without helmets and silencers removed. The Plan of Road Education has now been decided upon and details released. The overall plan by the police and Town Hall is to ‘sensitise’ the young offenders (usually between 14 – 16 years of age) so that they don’t bother their neighbours, making them understand the importance of riding their mopeds with due care and attention and to the noise, speed and lack of helmets.

This plan also has a ‘parent-awareness programme’ built into it apparently. Hmmm … a couple of years ago I heard the story of a young moped rider being killed in Salobreña and his father worked for the Guardia Civil… Even parents, working for the Guardia Civil, seem to have very little control over what their offspring do, once they are out and about in town with their mates on mopeds, so what chance do parents have who are mere mortals? (Other than not allow their children to have a moped in the first place).

Olga Garcia has confirmed that this new campaign will start up in schools in early 2008 and it is hoped that the young people that it is directed at will become much more aware of the importance of the correct use of the public thoroughfares and the dangers for pedestrians and bike riders alike.

Alberto Sanchez, from the police, then went and spoilt it all by saying that he didn’t want the youngsters to look on the police as their enemies who liked to go around giving them fines. I am sure there are many of us who have dreamt of some dastardly plan to ‘sensitise’ the noisy and dangerous moped drivers and it sure doesn’t include classroom studies!

Talking of classroom studies or rather, the lack of them, it seems that the parents of children at the Miguel de Cervantes school in Molvízar have gone on strike and have removed their children in protest. Fabulous news if you are one of the lucky children. For some time now, the school has needed another six teachers to complete its full staffing requirements but they have never materialised. Parents are now saying that the situation is untenable with many teachers having to cover classes where there are no permanent teachers available or simply no teachers at all for some classes.

While this crisis has been going on, some children have been switched to schools in Salobreña and it is alleged that their educational standards have suffered due to the lack of staffing in Molvízar. Parents are also worried about the teachers that are working under these reduced circumstances and say that they are being burnt out by this ongoing situation put upon them.

Promises have been made by the school authorities to provide more teachers quickly but the parents say that until they see at least three new staff in place they will not return their children to the school (sounds like they have heard it all before). Oh dear, it will all end in tears!

Ítrabo’s Mayor, Antonio Jesus Carrascosa Valverde (PSOE), went AWOL (absent without leave) in July … and August … and September. In October the jungle drums started beating up in the hills as councillors wanted to have a meeting to discuss all those important things that councillors like to chitchat about for hours … and hours … and hours. In mid October still no meeting date had been set until the Mayor popped back into the fray saying that indeed there should have been a meeting at the end of September although it wasn’t necessary to set hard and fast dates for such things. The Major added that a meeting in October was an ideal time as it allowed important municipality topics to be discussed which otherwise might not have come up for discussion at the end of September. He then went on to say that the person from the PP party that had requested a meeting was still upset at the kicking they got when they lost the last election and still hadn’t got over it. Sounds like there might be a few fireworks at the next meeting when it does eventually take place!

The Salobreña underpass is to be opened in a provisional form by the first of November, which will open up access between the town and the cementery road … just in time for All Saint’s Day (Día de los Difuntos). However, this underpass together with a pedestrian walkway in the Portichuelo area, will remain in provisional form as the definitive access route is still to be decided for the La Guardia and TH1 area (the hotel zone if and when it ever gets the go ahead).

Manuel Perez Cobos has announced the opening of the underpass in provisional form, stressing the importance for drivers and pedestrians that need this access route now, adding that from a point of safety they cannot wait for a decision to be made in the long term.

Enslaved Grandmother Syndrome. When a press release from Salobreña Town Hall landed in my inbox with this heading, I really thought someone at the Town Hall had gone just that little bit too far. I immediately made a Google search and found that such a syndrome does exist (also recognised by the World Health Organisation) and a doctor from the University of Granada, Antonio Giujarro-Morales MD, had a web page explaining this syndrome with music to listen to while you read about it (very annoying music too, which immediately put my blood pressure up).

The definition is ‘a very frequent, serious and potentially fatal health and social problem in adult housewife women, due to ignored and/or denied imbalance, when her age-related decreasing abilities and will power are not enough to fulfil the accumulative familial tasks that she is carrying at present.’

Back to the Salobreña press release … which informs us that during the last three months of this year they are running courses for women to equip them with strategies that will allow them to confront their emotions, fears, buck up their self-esteem and generally help them to grow and develop personally into raging feminists (OK, I made that last bit up but the press release did seem to mention the words ‘feminist’ and ‘equality’ many times).

Perhaps, girls, it is time to reach up to that top shelf and get down that dusty copy you have kept for the past 37 years of ‘The Female Eunuch’ and distribute them around Salobreña. Not to be read by the female residents you understand but to be used to bash (hit) their husbands over the head with when they get out of hand.

The War of the Block Communities
Our Spanish hosts take hierarchy to heart, even when the organisation is as trivial as la Comunidad de Propietarios; i.e., the administration that governs the communal needs of a block of flats, for instance. You might find that a retired lawyer is the Chairman, who is keen to remind mere mortals that he is El Presidente.

But if things are touchy within such and administration, imagine how sensitive things can be when two clash. Oh, I should point out – as is the case here – that comunidades also govern residential estates; not just apartment blocks. Such is the case in Calle Juan XXIII, where one Comunidad accuses another of having ‘invaded their territory… sorry, property, over the last 40 years.

The dispute lies, according to ‘the aggrieved,’ that those in front have encroached upon part of the street that both comunidades border on, under which their sewage system runs.

Basically, then, one group of property owners have no access to their sewage system – other than via the toilets, that is; i.e., if they get blocked, there are no manhole covers for access. Surprisingly, the Town Hall periodically issues reports saying that the sewage system has been inspected, but that is impossible, say the owners. As you can imagine, the Town Hall is also struck off their Christmas card list after allegedly ‘looking the other way’ for the last 40 years.

The original houses were built back in 1964 by the local priest-cum-building developer, Fausto Rodríguez. The Town Hall has no plans or official documents for the project, though; the earliest documentations dates back only to the 80’s, by which time their sewage-system inspection points had already been built over.

The man who was Mayor of Salobreña for 20 years and actual Councillor for Town Planning, Manuel Pérez Cobos, says that the Town Hall can do nothing about it because officially the street doesn’t exist.

Please contact me by email if you have any news for the next issue heloise@seasidegazette.es

Plans for a new industrial estate (polígono industiral) came to light at the beginning of October in the Gorgoracha area, near Vélez de Benaudalla. The proposed location of this new estate, measuring a staggering three million square meters, is between the Loma de Fábrica de Gorgoracha and the Loma de Fábrica de Motril and next to the motorway construction (otherwise known as the area between the Gorgoracha tunnel heading in the direction of Vélez de Benaudalla).

Just when many people thought their property and land was safe from the motorway coming through the area (or not so safe, as many found to their cost), there will no doubt be many property owners in the area now worrying about how, and if, this new proposal will affect them.

We spoke to Julia Guerrero Fajardo at the Technical Department of Vélez de Benaudalla Town Hall, who confirmed to us that this proposal is still in its early stages of consultation and that at present no definite timescale was available, as there were still many obstacles in its way before getting the go ahead.

Then a new twist developed to this story in mid October that could have a direct impact on the Gorgoracha bid for an industrial estate. Motril’s Urban Councillor, Luisa García Chamorro, announced with great fanfare that Motril had plans for a new 2m-sq/mt, industrial estate that would be located to the north of Las Ventillas, between Puntalón and La Garnatilla. The rationale behind this being that the areas of the industrial estates in Motril are too small to accommodate the growth of companies now wanting to invest in the area and the proposed site would be near the eastern end of the Motril motorway and the railway, if and when that ever comes to fruition.

The Motril proposal, which has now been sent to the Council of Public Works, will then need to get approval in the Plan of Territorial Arrangement of the Coast of Granada and once it has been through these hoops, would go through the PGOU process (local councils produce a ten year plan for urban, green belt and other zones and is known as the Plan General de Ordinación Urbana. The plan designates areas that are suitable for building development and sub divides these areas into different categories of usage, i.e. housing, retail, industrial, etc. The plan has to be submitted to and approved by the regional government; i.e., the Junta de Andalucía). So… will it be Gorgoracha or Motril… or both?

A photographic exhibition entitled. A Sea of Memories, begins on the 9th November and runs through until the end of the month. Teresa Morales, Motril’s Councillor of Immigration and Fisheries, announced that the exhibition would show over one hundred images from the past fifty years of different aspects of life of the men and women who live and work in the Motril docks/harbour area. For those of you with an interest in local history, you can find it at the Exhibition Hall at the Harbour Authority.

Motril Rugby Club needs you! I am sure there are plenty of you out there who have either played or supported the beautiful game … bet you were all watching the Rugby World Cup!

The Motril Rugby Club was formed in 1999 by Fernando Aguado and I recently caught up with their Chairman, Massimiliano D’Onofrio to find out more about them. The club has a current membership of 150 with 32 senior players, a boys’ section of 20 (13-17 year olds) and a children’s section (girls welcomed) of 24 (7 to12-year olds).

Their home ground is at the polideportivo to the north of Motril (next to the football stadium) and you can find them training there on a Wednesday and Friday evening between 8 pm and 10 pm (they also have another training evening in Granada on Tuesdays for those players working or studying there).

The club play in the Andaluz Rugby 2nd League (October – May) where there are currently 15 teams and last year they achieved third place in the League. One of their players, Francisco Hernandez, plays in the Spanish under-20’s team. They currently have five foreign members and are actively looking for new players at all levels but especially for their senior section.

As Massimiliano pointed out, many of the players speak English and it doesn’t matter what age you are, as everyone is invited to join in and train with them and I hear that the after training, bar sessions are very lively!

Every year they invite a foreign team to Motril, which has included a team from Bath and the Preston Grasshoppers.

So come on boys … support your local Rugby team and give Massimiliano D’Onofrio a call on 626 006 815 or go along to their home ground on a training evening where they will make you very welcome.

The sand on our beaches is disappearing rapidly and especially on the beaches of Playa Granada and Carchuna. Motril councillors recently had a meeting with the coastal authorities to find some definitive long-term solution.

There appear to be two solutions in the shorter and longer terms, which will now be studied. In the shorter term, a proposal was made to make periodic sand movements from the Farillo de Calahonda beach. Unfortunately, this would merely put a ‘patch’ on the problem, which could then cause sand erosion elsewhere and is seen by local ecologists as a total waste of time.

For the longer-term solution, some bright spark has come up with the suggestion of putting break waters at various intervals along the beaches, which would ensure that the waves wouldn’t have such an impact when hitting the beach. Break waters, or groynes as they are known too, are installed on beaches all over Spain so perhaps it is time for the councillors to take an all expenses paid trip to some of these locations and make a decision before Playa Granada beach ends up on the 6th tee of the golf course.

The Harbour Authority of Motril was recently called to a meeting to explain themselves. It appears they are charging the fishing community over the odds for lighting and water and need to get on and do some overdue maintenance to the roads, parking facilities and sign posting as well as keeping the harbour area generally clean and tidy. It is hoped that when the Harbour Authority answer the questions put to them everyone will start to see some investment in the area, which is needed for the development of this important area.

Club Náutico in the Motril port have just told 150 boat owners that don’t pay mooring fees to get in their boats and sail off into the horizon by 31st December. Ángel Díaz Sol from Club Náutico explained that some boat owners have been using the boat club facilities for over twenty years and they haven’t been paying their dues, whilst other club members have to pay in full.

One of the affected boat owners says he has been mooring his boat there since before Ángel Díaz Sol was born and considers that because of the many years he has been there he shouldn’t be booted out of the club. The group of 150 that will have to move their boats say they will continue to fight this ultimatum that they’ve been given, although it looks extremely unlikely they will be on the winning side. There is currently a nine-year waiting list for mooring space in Motril and those seeking mooring space there end up further down the coast in Almuñécar.

The Motril Town Hall is confident that by next year there will be an established sea link between Motril and Melilla (The Spanish North-African city/enclave). The Vice-Mayor, Francisco Villoslada (PAI-CC), said that the project was just waiting on the planned twinning of Motril with Melilla.

Sr. Villoslada, however, wasn’t very clear as to how ‘established’ this sea link would be, not wishing to go into details, although he did confirm that it would be ‘more or less’ a regular passenger and freight service.

The First Minister, Juan José Imbroda (PP) – the city is classified as an autonomous region with its own parliament – has been invited over for the Homage to the Spanish Flag ceremony, which will be held some time this month.

However, soon after this ‘sea-link’ announcement was made, the port authorities said that this was the first that they had ever heard of such a project, which is surprising as the ferries would be operating from there. The Chairman of the port authority suggested that the town hall should go through the establish channels before embarking on such an adventure.

Anybody that has lived here for a score years or more will remember when there were ferries that operated out of Motril for Italy and North Africa, before being dropped as uneconomical. However, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge – or under the keel – since then and the coast has become a lot more cosmopolitan, so perhaps we should keep our fingers crossed.

Ah, nearly forgot: there was a Letter-to-the-Editor in the Ideal last month from a gentleman who was suggesting a small airport for Motril. He said that although the idea might sound a bit loopy (mad) there was an airfield during the Spanish Civil war just behind Carchuna…

There is to be a new ‘lung’ for Motril in the form of a 225-hectar park around the Cerro del Toro, where 80,000 specimens of 42 different species of wild plants will abound. In fact, it’s well on its way, said the municipal Councillor for the Environment, who calculates that within two years the La Nacla area will be ready to receive visitors. And we’re talking about a rather large chunk of land – one of the biggest in Andalucía, dedicated as a green recreation area behind the town, with around seven kilometres of tracks and footpaths. ¡Enhorabuena, Motril!

What connection is there between Egypt, the Mayor of Almuñécar, palm spraying in Las Esplanadas and Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus? Well, many years ago the then and actual Mayor of neighbouring Almuñécar decided that the Costa Tropical didn’t look tropical enough, so he ordered a ship load of palm trees from Egypt. However, what he didn’t order or expect was another Egyptian import – for no extra shipping cost – the nasty little Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus, more commonly known here as the Picudo Rojo (Red Palm Weevil).

Before long Almuñécar was sharing this new kind of cross Mediterranean tourist with Salobreña and Motril, before extending all along the coast. The Picudo Rojo began lunch in Motril in 2001 and has been munching merrily ever since, wiping out 30% of the towns palms in such places as the port gardens and the main thoroughfare, Avenida de Salobreña.

Although the Town Hall carries out spraying in public gardens, etc, folks, privately owned palms must be treated out of the owner’s own pocket. However, they will give you all the advice you need, and if you do have an infected palm, they will cut it down and triturate it free of charge by the Junta.