News from Andalucia, and the Costa del Sol

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MARCH 22nd - MARCH 28th

MIRACLE IN MARBELLA

The GIL administration has reached an agreement with the PSOE and PP opposition. All parties have agreed to set aside their differences to sped through the badly needed San Pedro underpass on the N-340. In the space of a week they have undertaken to approve the expropriation of the necessary land, funding and an amendment of the town plan so that works can proceed.

PSOE BACKS CABA

Mayor of Estepona, Antonio Caba Tena, has been re-elected General Secretary of the PSOE in Estepona at the recently convened extraordinary assembly of the party.

PEDESTRIAN ZONE

Málaga provincial government has given Manilva 32 million pesetas for the reformation of the main street, Calle Mar. It will be converted into a pedestrian area, incorporating a special parking area and access for delivery vehicles and the emergency services.

AMERICANS TO BOOST ROTA

The US Defence Department has designed a special plan for the future of its naval base at Rota in Cádiz. The object is to convert the military installation into one of the major North American bases in Europe. The plan, Rota Vision 2010, if approved by the US congress, would involve the spending of 37,000 million pesetas over the next 10 years.

Rota's geographical position is vital to the USA globally. It is half way between North America and South East Asia. The Spanish Government has indicated it is prepared to approve the project. If passed by Congress, work would begin next year.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

The Feria de los Pueblos held in Fuengirola's feria ground had the most participants in the history of the event. Representatives of 27 countries and six autonomous communities attended. Amongst the participants were citizens from Palestine and China plus Spaniards from the Basque country, Aragón and Galicia.

PIONEERING ECOPARK FOR RONDA

Regional Government is to invest 400 million pesetas in the creation of a 3,000 Ecopark in the Ronda mountains dedicated principally to the conservation of native breeds of cattle, sheep and goats in danger of extinction.

The Ecopark, which will be first of its kind in ANDALUCIA, will be open to the general public. Guides will be available to take visitors on foot, bicycle or horseback over established routes.
The project will provide visitors' accommodation, a restaurant and an ethnographic centre for the exhibition of wildlife and sale of local products such as cheese and cork.

Preliminary work on the creation of the park will start within a few weeks.

LEGIONNAIRES OFF TO KOSOVO

Seven hundred and fifty legionnaires from IV Tercio based in Ronda will be leaving for peacekeeping duties in Kosovo between March 26 and April 4. They will fly out from the Morón Military airbase in Sevilla to the town of Istok in Kosovo, They will form part of the NATO led force, which will include troops from Portugal, Italy and Argentina.

BENALMADENA CABLE CAR BACK IN SERVICE

Technicians from regional government's transport department have carried out a series of tests on Benalmádena's cable car system. The technicians eventually gave the all clear and the cable car is back in service between Arroyo de la Miel and the top of Calamorro mountain.

The service, which has become highly popular with visitors and residents, was stopped at the beginning of the month. Freak weather conditions, including winds of up to 150 kilometres an hour, had sent three cabins crashing to the ground and damaged others.

Seventeen passengers had to be rescued by emergency services but nobody was injured in the incident.

MARINE PARK PLANNED FOR BENALMADENA

La Paloma will house 1,700 million pesetas development.

Parques Reuindos, owner of the Selwo Safari Park in Estepona and an attraction park and zoo in Madrid, plans to open a marine park in Arroyo de la Miel.

The 16,500 square metres is near La Paloma park. It will cost 1,700 million pesetas to develop and will take a year to complete. The project is now awaiting final agreement between the company and the Town Hall.

The marine park will include a dolphinarium with a terraced viewing area seating 1,500 people.

Other attractions will include exotic birds and raptors, penguins, sea lions and seal enclosures along with shopping and restaurant areas. Parques Reunidos is confident it will attract 300,000 visitors in the first year.

The proposed Marine Park is part of the Plan Olimpo, a macro-leisure project devised by Benalmádena's Mayor Enrique Bolin. It includes the cable car, monorail and the planned expansion of the sports marina. Benalmádena is already home to Tivoli World, the Sea Life Centre, Castillo de Colomares, Snake and Reptile City and many other popular attractions.

SKIING INVESTMENT

Regional president Manuel Chaves has announced a total investment in the Sierra Nevada ski station for this year of around 3,000 million pesetas. A third of the money will come directly from the Junta de ANDALUCIA and the rest will be financed by Cetursa, the company that runs the ski station. President Chaves warned that the station would fail to cope when visitor numbers exceeded 20,000 skiers at any one time.

NATURAL GAS ARRIVES IN MOTRIL

Motril will shortly be connected to natural gas, with the Enagá company close to the completion of a 70 kilometre pipeline to the town from Granada. The new cleaner energy source will be used by a few larger clients, including the Guadalfeo sugar refinery, within weeks. There is a later plan to lay pipelines for domestic users in the town.

REDEVELOPING HISTORIC MALAGA

Plans to redevelop and modernise the historic centre of Málaga city will need a joint public and private investment of 40,000 million pesetas. The figure was given by Mayor Francisco de la Torre who warned a slow, and complex procedure was ahead. Over the past five years, more than 9,000 million pesetas has been spent on redevelopment. The Mayor warned that the work remaining would take at least six years. It is hoped 50 per cent of the cost, would be funded by regional government.

KING IN MALAGA

King Juan Carlos 1 was in Málaga on Sunday to see the final of the Kings Cup basketball competition, held in the Martin Carpena sports pavillion in the city. There was local disappointment when Unicaja Málaga was eliminated in the semi finals. The final between Real Madrid and Barcelona ended with Barcelona the victors at 80-77.

ALORA SPORTS HALL OPEN

The new municipal sports hall was officially opened in the village of Alora last Saturday. The building cost 310 million pesetas to construct and is expected to be used by 3,500 people of all ages on a regular basis.

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