Carlos Rojas, Mayor of Motril (PP) has kindly agreed to begin our Motril Focus section for July and August with a few words of welcome.

“I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our visitors to the Motril area this summer. There have been many vibrant changes to the centre of Motril over the past few years and to other areas such as the Playa Poniente and Playa Granada beaches including the Los Moriscos golf course. We are now beginning to see new and exciting changes here with many more activities available for us all to enjoy over the summer months. I would like to wish all of you an enjoyable and happy summer here in Motril and on the Costa Tropical de Granada and we hope to see you again many times in the future when you will be assured of the warmest of welcomes.”

A slithery serpent has been hissing-off her new neighbours at an apartment block in the centre of Motril from her new, rooftop home. She is approximately 2.5 metres in length, and has family in tow - yes folks there are quite a few of them up on this roof!

The neighbours are totally hypnotised by their new neighbours and for three months have been trying to evict them from their rooftop fortress. One hysterical (human) neighbour commented that she lived on the top floor and was absolutely terrified and had resorted to chain smoking to calm her steadily worsening nerves. The neighbour also resorted to having to keep her windows shut at all times in case mother snake pops in, asking if she can borrow a bowel of sugar.

La Señora, as the unwelcome new tenant is now called, has been living beneath the roof tiles and can be seen taking a stroll across them and sunbathing at various times of the day. Photos have been shown to animal experts who say that the snake is not poisonous and probably purchased by someone who no longer wants it. If the neighbours get an expert in to remove the snakes from the roof they will have to bear the costs and so they have been looking to the Council for a remedy to the situation (well, a much cheaper option after all).

The firemen have been called in to try to catch La Señora on several occasions but to no avail. Firstly, on advice of an expert they put a rabbit in a cage on the roof. The idea being that the snake would enter the cage and eat the rabbit whole whereupon it couldn’t then leave the cage. That must have been fun for the rabbit and luckily for him he didn’t interest the snake. Some bright spark then came up with the idea of gassing the snakes. The neighbours then had to remove their own animals and belongings from their apartments and up go the firemen again but still no success.

Now the neighbours are getting themselves into a highly agitated state and are demanding that the Council remove the whole roof in an effort to remove La Señora once and for us. They arrange a protest and cut off the road running alongside the apartment block for seven hours, throwing rubbish all over the road and bringing out chairs, tables and umbrellas to give themselves somewhere comfortable to sit while they get the attention they think they deserve. A meeting with the Mayor was hastily arranged and on 20 June the roof tiles were removed. Really couldn’t make this up if you tried, eh? OK, who put La Señora on the roof in the first place?

Casa de los Bates is hosting a very special cultural evening on Friday 25th July 2008. This will be the first time that one of the most prestigious venues for weddings, social events and Conde-Nast recommended country estate accommodation here on the Costa Tropical has organised an event of this nature. The famous Granadino pianist and composer, Juan Gallego-Coin, will be performing a recital, which will start at 10 pm within the beautifully manicured gardens of the house.

Here is your opportunity to visit Casa de los Bates for a very atmospheric and indulging evening. In the first part of the evening, Juan Gallego-Coin, who plays annually at the Alhambra International Festival in Granada, will perform works by Debussy and Beethoven and in the second part will perform works by Albánez, Granados and his own compositions.

Tickets, priced at €30 (including a complimentary cocktail and canapés provided by the El Buque Restaurants of Motril and Playa Granada), go on sale on the 10th July and can be obtained from the Motril and Salobreña tourist offices, Radiovision and the Syntagma Health Clinic in Motril.

Tickets numbers are limited to 400 and seating is not allocated. There is parking for 100 cars. The house will open its doors to ticket holders at 9.30 pm offering the audience a little time to look around the gardens before the event starts.

If you require any further information please contact Monica at Syntagma on 958 83 46 20. Finally, it should be mentioned that a portion of the entrance fee will be donated to an African Children’s charity.

A German national, 41 years of age, was recently reported to the police for beating up his dog in broad daylight in the middle of Motril. Witnesses were horrified to see him giving his dog a jolly good kicking on a main street and when approached by the police, the dog beater answered them by saying “You can see it is mine” aiming his boot at the dog again, kicking it twice more in front of them.

Said man was immediately carted off to the jail and the dog was deposited at a local animal shelter in the hope that it can be re-homed soon to people who will give it the love and attention it deserves. Motril Council and the local police have made a call to all Motril residents to let them know of any mistreatment to animals in the hope that they can put a stop to this ‘totally unjustifiable type of behaviour.’

The Inspectors for Consumers (La Oficina Municipal de Información al Consumidor) have paid 570 surprise visits to shops and offices in Motril over the past few months. Only twelve establishments got caught for various discrepancies and the Inspectors announce that this shows how excellent the quality of shopping is in Motril.

They do, however, say that the worst offenders are estate agencies with thirty-three of them not having an opening licence for the past twelve months. The bizarre shops or ‘todos a cien’ as they are still commonly known to the locals, have received a bad press and the inspectors say they will be watching them carefully to ensure they adhere to shop opening times. These shops have apparently been opening outside normal shopping hours and are causing unfair competition to other shops in the town.

We are also informed that there will shortly be new claim forms for any unhappy clients that wish to make complaints but these will now include a new section so that the owner of the shop can give his version of events too.