News from Andalucia, and the Costa del Sol

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SEPTEMBER 14th - SEPTEMBER 20th

A HEALTHY AMBULANCE

The Red Cross in Manilva is to be given a new ambulance by the Town Hall's health department. Great care has been taken in selecting a vehicle that can offer the best emergency service for the area. Sadly, the ambulance currently in use is in a bad state of health.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Manilva Town Hall is to undertake work to provide lighting at Peñoncillo, plus outside the multi-purpose pavilions in Manilva and San Luis de Sabanilla. In addition, the neighbourhoods of arroyo La Peñuela, La Ocasión and Chorro Manso are to be connected to the sanitation networks.

KOSOVO BOUND

A contingent of 500 legionnaires currently based in Ronda is to be posted to Kosovo next march as part of the UN mission. There is already a group of 500 in the Balkans and another group was there previously. Each group is posted for six months.

MORE MONEY FOR LOCAL FIRE SERVICE

Málaga council is to invest 400 million pesetas in the city fire service. The money will be used on new materials and on improvements to several of the city's fire stations. The council has also donated three obsolete fire trucks with 3,000 litre tanks to the non-governmental organisation "Firemen without Frontiers". Two of the vehicles will see immediate use in Nicaragua.

PP seeks protection for Maro-Cerro Gordo nature park

Provincial deputy of the Partido Popular in Málaga, Pablo Antón, is urging provincial government to take up a role in the defence of the Maro-Cerro Grodo nature park between Nerja and Almuñecar, described as the last jewel of Málaga's provincial coastline. Sr Antón wants representations to be made to regional government in Sevilla, which has responsibility in environmental matters, to give final approval to a proposed plan for the categorisation of natural resources. The area was declared a nature park in 1989, but since then little has been done to improve conservation in the district, which is now witness to uncontrolled rubbish dumping and increased four wheel drive access which has damaged vegetation.

AMERICA TO THE RESCUE

The North American frigate Briscoe rescued a dozen Moroccan illegal immigrants found drifting in inflatable boats in a zone known as the Sea of Alborán. The Briscoe then alerted the Guardia Civil and one of its launches took the immigrants into the Bay of Algeciras. The 12 are currently being held by police in Algeciras pending their return to Morocco.

NERJA CAT STUDY AROUSES NATIONAL INTEREST

Nerja vet and local councillor Rafael Rivas has just published the results of a study he has carried out into leukaemia in cats.

The study looks in particular at any potential passing on of the infection from cats to humans, and how infected cats should be handled. The veterinarian researcher also indicates in which areas he believes future research should be carried out. The report's publication in the magazine "Pequeños Animales" has generated national interest, given that the disease is common in stray cats in Spain. Many specialist veterinary clinics and Madrid hospital have been in contact with the Nerja surgery to ask for more information or to pass on information of their own experiences in the field.

SPORTING LIFE

The new tennis and paddle courts at the Villa Deportivo in Torremolinos should be finished by the middle of October. Whilst in neighbouring Benalmádena the council's sports department have announced a new programme of activities for the 2000/2001 season. There will be 42 different courses and they are anticipating over 20,000 participants.

CIVIL ACTION

The Civil Defence teams of Torremolinos assisted over 1,000 bathers on the beaches of La Carihuela, el Bajondillo and Los Alamos this summer. In Mijas, the local Civil Defence was called out on 67 occasions. 23 of those calls were to put out or control fires, several of which were of a serious nature.

MAKING MARRIAGE WORK

The Castillo del Bil Bil at Benalmádena Costa has proved a great hit with couples wishing to get married at this romantic setting. The avalanche of bookings has taken the Town Hall by surprise and they are now fully booked till the end of the year.

A PEACE OF THE ACTION

Fuengirola Town Hall has appointed G2 productions of Málaga to manage the new Palacio de la Paz. The company will be expected to stage six performances, various congresses and multi-media exhibitions over the next year.

GOODBYE WILI, HELLO HOLGER

Estepona's luxury Kempinski Resort Hotel has a new manager. From September 1, Wili Dietz has been replaced by Holger Schroth, 36 year old German, Holger has worked for 11 years with the Kempinski group. Prior to coming to Estepona he was deputy manager of the prestigious Hotel Adion in Berlin.

CERVANTES THEATRE ANNOUNCES
PROGRAMME FOR THE NEW SEASON

The programme for the first quarter of the new season at Málaga's Cervantes Theatre has just been released and has something for everyone. City Councillor for culture, Antonio Garrido Moraga, spoke of the quality and diversity of the forthcoming attractions and was happy to report record takings for last season reaching 184 million pesetas.

The curtain raiser of the new season will be a concert of Mozart's Don Giovanni (September 22-24) and other highlights include the Chinese Folklore Ballet (October 17) and the Eiffman Ballet from San Petersburg (October 19). The city jazz festival takes place this year on November 14-18.

Full details of the new programme are posted on the theatre website at http://www.teatrocervantes.es

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

With the news that the widening of the Estepona to Guadiaro stretch of the N-340 will soon be underway plus the completion of the Estepona to Guadiaro motorway by 2003, San Roque Town hall is looking to the future

It is now studying the impact of increased tourism on the Guadiaro area and considering the possibility of the N-340 becoming once again just a local road connecting Torreguadiaro and Sotogrande when the motorway opens. Plans are also being considered to protect the ecology of the mouth of the Guadiaro River. These will included the restriction of further mass ribbon development.

EURPOPEAN MONEY FOR VELEZ MALAGA PARK

Vélez Málaga council has announced it is to spend 300 million pesetas on improvements to the Paseo de Larios walkway in the town. The council itself will spend 89 million with the rest coming from European funding. New paving will be laid and improvements made to drainage and the garden areas. Councillor for infrastructure José Luis Sánchez Toré said that nothing had been done to the area in the last 50 years. He also promised better quality plants.

BÓLIN'S MUSICAL CHAIRS

Benalmádena's Mayor, Enrique Bolin, has announced his intention to move the location of the proposed Palacio de la Musica to the planned Isla Bermeja or the enlarged recreational port. He says he considered those are better locations than the town's La Paloma park.

The reasons for his decision include a larger parking area need more space for the facilities themselves. He hopes the new location will make Benalmádena's Palacio de la Musica the equal to Sydney's famed opera house.

The change in location has also meant an enlarged budget. In its park location, 1,595 million pesetas had been allocated. Now, Bolin says, 8,000 million pesetas will be needed to cater for 1,600 spectators.

The facility will have three separate performing areas. A theatre for opera and classical music, a conservatory plus a room for chamber music seating 300 people.

RADIO FLAMINGOS

New miniature radio transmitters will be used as part of an innovative study on the movement of pink flamingos across Andalucia. The supreme council for scientific investigation (CSIC) is to spend 34 million pesetas on the project over the next three years. Particular interest will be taken in the bird's nesting habits around the Fuente de Piedra lagoon in Málaga.

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