Owners register 33 properties a day as tourist accommodation

72 Pages·2017·9.65 MB·English

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THE NEWSPAPER FOR The story of
SOUTHERN SPAIN
Palmolive,
Official market leader Malaga’s queen
Audited by PGD/OJD
in English May 19th to 25th 2017 of punk
www.surinenglish.com
Paloma Romero formed
News 2 What To Do 46
Comment 24 My Home 51 the first all-girl punk band
LHiefeasltthy l&e Beauty 2357 SCplaosrsti fied 5662 in 1970s London 28&29
Food & Drink 43 Pastimes 70
Antonio Banderas
pulls out of city
arts project due
to criticism
The Malaga-born actor has
given up his bid to turn a
corner of the city into a
theatre and culture centre
Antonio Banderas said in a letter this
week that he was abandoning his
plans to turn the old Astoria cinema
building into a centre for the perform-
ing arts. His project, in conjunction
with architect José Seguí and the firm
behind the Starlite festival, had won
an open competition for ideas and
was now expected to bid for the con-
tract to build and manage the centre.
Criticism from opposition groups and
“insults and humiliating treatment”
THE END OF on social media have led the actor to
pull out to the shock of many. P8
AN ERA
“I’m sorry if I let you
BECKONS down.” Spain’s Eurovision
singer apologises for his
last place, while Portugal
celebrates
P25
Malaga CF legends Martín
Demichelis and Weligton call
it a day in an emotional week
for the club
P61
Demichelis (left) embraces Weligton after Wednesday’s press conference. :: SALVADOR SALAS
Owners register 33 properties a
:: AFP
Devoted to music . The
day as tourist accommodation director and conductor of
Collegium Musicum
prepares for their spring
concerts
P26&27
The number of places available in rented
Ten months after the first regulations could soon overtake hotel bookings AVE shortcut that will
holiday homes in the province of Malaga governing rented tourist accommo- and the industry is calling for these cut high-speed journey
dation came into force in Andalucía, figures to be included in official tour-
between Malaga and
is catching up with the total of hotel beds properties are being added to the reg- ism statistics. While more investors
Seville is one step closer
ister at a rate of 33 a day in the prov- are attracted to buying tourist prop-
ince of Malaga. The volume of tour- erties in Malaga and the Costa del Sol, to construction
P6
ists using rented accommodation hotels remain as full as ever. P2
101 kilometres in
24 hours in Ronda

Thousands take part in the
Legion’s gruelling race
P56
222222222222222 NEWS May 19th to 25th 2017
SUR IN ENGLISH
An average of 33 properties a day are
registered as tourist accommodation
Map of tourist accommodation in Andalucía
More than half of the
Cordoba
PILAR properties are in Jaén
MARTÍNEZ Malaga province
 [email protected] Seville
Almeria
Huelva Granada
By the end of this
summer, there could be
Malaga
more places in rented
holiday accommodation
Cadiz
than in hotels on the
The image shows the
Costa del Sol high concentration
(in red) of properties
on la Costa del Sol.
MALAGA. It is now nearly ten
months since new regulations were
introduced to ensure that properties
which are used as holiday accommo- Hotel places compared with rental accommodation
dation are registered with the Anda-
lusian tourism authorities, and fears Town Hotel places Rental places % rentals/hotels
that this would have a negative effect
on the sector appear to have been un- BENALMÁDENA 9,681 4,976 51.40 %
founded. Recently released figures CASARES 200 681 340.50 %
show that an average of 33 proper- Malaga city is becoming a popular rental destination. :: SUR ESTEPONA 7,334 4,648 63.38 %
ties in Malaga are being registered FUENGIROLA 7,514 2,943 39.17 %
every day: in other words, about 1,000 Malaga city as a place to invest in pro- MALAGA 9,143 7,284 79.67 %
a month. A third of owners of perty to rent out to tourists. MARBELLA 12,276 11,166 90.96 %
In Malaga province nearly 11,000 holiday properties in The popularity of the Costa del Sol MIJAS 1,638 7,171 437.79 %
properties have been registered sin- and the increased interest in Malaga NERJA 2,348 5,921 252.17 %
ce the new regulations came into for- Malaga do not live in city is the key. More than half of all RINCÓN VICTORIA 551 748 135.75 %
ce ten months ago, providing the province holiday rental properties in Andalu- TORREMOLINOS 19,285 2,077 10.77 %
accommodation for 54,152 tourists. cía are in Malaga province, and in TORROX 1,081 858 79.37 %
That figure is even more impressive some places such as Mijas and Nerja VÉLEZ MÁLAGA 995 1,026 103.12 %
when taking into account that there they already exceed the number of Source: Junta de Andalucía’s
are 79,029 hotel places available in Property owners are realising that hotel places, by 437 per cent and 252 Ministry of Tourism
the province (not including hostels). this sector, which some exploited per cent respectively.
The tourism authorities say that if illegally in the past, can be a way of In comparison, Torremolinos re- minar that rental properties ought Not everybody is happy about the
the trend continues at its present rate, earning money with little risk invol- mains primarily a destination for ho- to be included in public tourist pro- increase in rented holiday accomo-
by the end of this summer the num- ved. It is now, therefore, attracting tel holidays. However, the holiday motion campaigns as hotels are. dation, however. The tourism autho-
ber of beds available in rented investors: the figures show that 33 rental business has not really affec- Meanwhile hoteliers have called rities have received 82 complaints in
accommodation will equal those in per cent of owners of registered ho- ted hotels in general, as occupancy for rental property figures to be in- the past ten months, but only two
hotels or even exceed them. liday properties in Malaga province levels remain high and many of them cluded in the region’s overall tourism were from dissatisfied clients. Many
Internet platforms which put po- do not live in the region, and it is are often fully booked at weekends. statistics, due to the volume of tourists were from neighbours who were dis-
tential tourists in touch with the thought likely that more than 3,000 It is evident that each of these two choosing this type of accommoda- turbed by noise from the visitors du-
owners of holiday properties confirm owners of holiday accommodation sectors has a loyal following. tion. At present hotels are obliged to ring their holiday. There were also
the high occupancy figures and that are not even in Spain. In fact, the Sun- Earlier this week representatives pass on their tourism figures to the accusations of properties being ren-
the holiday rental business can be day Times recently dedicated a large of the big rentals plaforms such as National Institute of Statistics every ted out illegally, and not complying
highly profitable. part of an article to the potential of Airbnb and Homeaway said at a se- month, but rental properties are not. with the regulations.
May 19th to 25th 2017 NEWS 3
SUR IN ENGLISH
Real estate sales at their highest since The western Costa
del Sol boasts 86
per cent of all
2008, with a hundred a day in March
luxury properties
in Andalucía
The construction sector :: HÉCTOR BARBOTTA
on the Costa del Sol is MARBELLA. Before the econo-
mic crisis, 51 per cent of proper-
showing clear signs of
ties costing more than one million
revival, with more projects
euros in Andalucía were in the
approved and a 13 per cent western part of Malaga province,
but since the property bubble burst
rise in employment in the
and prices plunged there has been
first quarter
a dramatic change in the housing
market: 86 per cent of luxury pro-
:: NURIA TRIGUERO perties in Andalucía are now in
MALAGA. Property sales in the pro- the triangle formed by Marbella,
vince are at their highest since 2008, Estepona and Benahavís.
the year when the real estate bubble The figures, which show the
burst, according to statistics regar- strength of this section of the mar-
ding the Transfer of Property Rights ket even in the most adverse con-
in March which were published last ditions, were revealed recently at
week. the annual forum of the DOM3
The figures show that 2,925 pro- association, which called for new
perties changed hands during that action to take advantage of the
month, which is almost 100 a day opportunities for wealth and jobs
and the highest since the month of generated by this sector. It also ex-
April nine years ago. The increase pressed concern that Marbella is
compared with March 2016 was 37 missing out on investment becau-
per cent, and the accumulated se of the length of time it takes
growth during the first quarter of Marbella council to grant licences.
this year was 19.6 per cent. Last year the average price of
It appears that March was a spec- property in Marbella, Estepona
tacular month for property sales in Nearly 100 properties a day were sold in March this year. :: SUR and Benahavís was the sixth
Spain as a whole, with a 26.9 per highest in Spain, but this triangle
cent year-on-year increase bringing of growth has also speeded up this twice as many people attended as property market, because their sala- is seeing major growth and there
the total to 40,461, the highest re- year. last year. One of the speakers, José ries are too low. has been a 139 per cent increase
gistered in the country since Fe- “During the first quarter of 2017 Luis Suárez, even joked about “a new Despite the positive ambience, in property sales since 2010.
bruary 2011. permission has been granted for twi- method of measuring the health of Emilio López did strike a warning In 2016 the value of sales in this-
In Andalucía, the year-on-year ce as many homes as during the same the housing sector: counting the note, stressing that he was ‘modera- relatively small area reached 280
growth was 28 per cent, which means period last year,” he explained. In number of smiles per square metre tely’ optimistic about the prospects million euros, and created 3,000
that Malaga, with the aforementio- fact, from January to March a total that I see in this room.” for the sector, because many cons- direct and 9,000 indirect jobs.
ned increase of 37 per cent, was higher of 1,397 new houses were approved, He and others taking part in the tructors are still having difficulty in The luxury sector is performing
than both the regional and national which is a year-on-year increase of forum - the CEO of the Valuation So- obtaining finance for their projects. well, but could do even better. The
averages. 121 per cent. ciety, Juan Juan Fernández-Aceytu- He also called on the authorities to sector is concerned that investors
Coincidentally, these figures were “In Malaga the market is moving no; the director of design manage- start spending more money on in- are choosing areas other than Mar-
released on the day that the Associa- well now,” he said, adding that pri- ment at the Intu Group, María Arbo- frastructure. bella because the local authority
tion of Constructors and Developers ces are rising slightly (about four per ledas; property business manager of Last year the amount spent on pu- is not functioning properly in
of Malaga (ACP) held its annual mee- cent a year) and employment in the Caixabank, Ángel Salar; and the pre- blic works in the province rose from terms of granting licences, and
ting, and at this year’s event the at- construction sector rose by 13 per sident of the Association of Develo- 130 million euros in 2015 to 188 mi- says the process needs to be spee-
mosphere was optimistic. cent in the first quarter. pers and Constructors of Spain, Juan llion, and in the first quarter of this ded up as a matter of priority.
“2016 was the year in which we Apart from the positive figures, Antonio Gómez Pintado– described year it was 68 million, twice as much Last year, only 15 per cent of in-
saw a definitive reactivation of resi- another sign that the property mar- different elements of this new pro- as the same period last year, but this vestment in luxury property was
dential construction in Malaga,” said ket in Malaga is improving was that perty cycle, from new forms of fi- is not enough: “For a province the in Marbella, although the town
the president of the association, Emi- the meeting, held in the theatre in nance to the difficulties experien- size of Malaga, the figures are low,” continues to attract buyers of all
lio López, pointing out that the rate the Picasso Museum, was packed: ced by young people in accessing the he said. types.
4 NEWS May 19th to 25th 2017
SUR IN ENGLISH
Prison for teenager arrested in 112 REPORTS
Police officers injured so were asked to step aside from the
Fuengirola ‘sexting’ rape case
by angry tourists queue until they found them. This
resulted in them becoming aggres-
sive, accusing the police of being
MALAGA racist. When one officer acciden-
:: JUAN CANO. Two police officers tally tripped over the four-year-old
The 18-year-old suspect
were assaulted by British tourists child of one of them, the two men
has been remanded in at Malaga airport last week. Accord- became violent and left one officer
ing to police, the visitors, of African with a black eye and the other with
custody accused of sexual
ethnicity, were unable to find their a deep cut to his ear. The tourists
assault, coercion and
passports on departing the airport were arrested, missing their flight.
possession of child
Drug mule arrested at Motorcyclist dies in
pornography involving a
Malaga airport Benalmádena accident
13-year-old girl
:: JUAN CANO MALAGA BENALMÁDENA
MALAGA. National Police have ar- :: SUR. A 27-year-old Brazilian :: SUR. A 42-year-old motorcyclist
rested an 18-year-old man in connec- man was arrested at Malaga air- died on Monday morning after be-
tion with the rape and blackmail of port after he was found to be ing involved in an accident on Av-
a 13-year-old girl he had contacted on smuggling drugs. X-ray results enida del Sol in Benalmádena. Emer-
social media. Police are investigating the case. :: SUR showed that the detainee had in- gency services were informed of the
The victim’s parents raised the gested 96 pellets of cocaine, al- accident at 4.45am and the police
alarm last week when they reported reportedly told the suspect that she ever meeting with the girl for a sec- together weighing around one and an ambulance arrived at the
that the minor, resident on the west- no longer wished to continue their ond time, and therefore also denies kilogramme, with the intention scene shortly afterwards. However
ern Costa del Sol, had been forced into “relationship”. From that point on- committing the sexual abuse he is of excreting them and distribut- paramedics confirmed that the man
having sexual relations after the sus- wards their accounts differ completely. being accused of. ing the drug around Spain. had already died.
pect allegedly threatened to post in- The suspect has no previous con-
timate images of her online. Blackmail claim by victim victions, however the judge ordered Infamous Madrid the thefts together. One of the trio
The suspect met the 13-year-old The victim has stated that the sus- him to be remanded in custody ac- pickpockets in Malaga would turn off the alarms in the
girl on a social media site, where the pect became angry with her and cused of sexual assault, coercion and shop with a magnet or lockpick
two began to exchange messages. Ac- forced her to meet up with him a sec- the possession of child pornography. while the others stole from the
cording to sources close to the case, ond time. He then blackmailed her His defence has appealed the deci- MALAGA shops and their customers. The
the arrested man then persuaded the into having sex, in order to prevent sion. :: JUAN CANO. Three pickpockets men, of Cuban, Peruvian and
girl to send intimate photographs of him from uploading her intimate pho- Last week the association that have been arrested by police in Mexican descent, admitted that
herself. tos to Instagram for the public to see. helps fight addictions, Proyecto Malaga. Officers caught the thieves they worked as pickpockets col-
The statements of both victim and It has been suggested that he would Hombre, stated in a report that one red-handed with 1,300 euros in lectively and that they had come
suspect say that they met in person have continued to blackmail his vic- in three children aged between 12 their bag after following them to Malaga from Madrid, after po-
for the first time at the request of the tim in this way if he had not been re- and 14 had admitted to practising around Larios shopping centre lice in the capital became aware of
young man in Fuengirola. At the end ported to the police. ‘sexting’, the exchange of intimate where they had been carrying out their activity.
of this meeting, however, the victim The suspect, however, denies images via social media.
May 19th to 25th 2017 NEWS 5
SUR IN ENGLISH
“I’m a monster... take me to the police” IN BRIEF
Woman accused of
murdering a man and
freezing his body in her
ice cream shop shows
remorse as trial gets
under way
Inspecting the haul of weapons. :: SUR
:: SUR
SEVILLE. The brothers of María del Guardia Civil dismantles ried out across Malaga, Granada,
Carmen Q. B., the woman accused groups responsible for Jaén, Murcia and Burgos provinces.
of killing a 62-year-old man then Based in Roquetas de Mar, the
67 burglaries
putting his body in a freezer, testi- criminals were not afraid to use
fied on Tuesday, saying that the ac- violence, striking while the vic-
cused called them after the episode, MALAGA tims were in their homes.
which occurred on 9 January 2016 The woman (r) accused of killing and freezing a 62-year-old man. :: EFE :: Á. FRÍAS. The Guardia Civil have They are believed to be the per-
in the Macarena area of Seville, to made 16 arrests of people belong- petrators of the wave of burglaries
tell them that she was a “monster” fight and that he touched her. hitting him over the head with an ing to two groups assumed respon- in Alhaurín el Grande, using the
and that they should hand her over Speaking on Wednesday, she said umbrella, nor strangling him with sible for at least 67 burglaries car- same modus operandi.
to the police. that due to her alcoholism and fre- a cable - accusations that have the
When they arrived, they found quent consumption of cocaine and prosecution calling for 20 years be- Toll dodger drives 4km Magnitude 3.6 earthquake
her drinking from a bottle of whisky, sleeping pills, she couldn’t remem- hind bars.
in the wrong direction felt on the Costa del Sol
with bruises on her face and ber exactly what happened, apart The defence, meanwhile, is call-
scratches on her legs. She told them from a fight and her moment of ing for a lesser sentence of five years,
there was a dead man in her ice panic when she put the body in the citing her repentence, having apolo- MALAGA GRANADA
cream shop, that there had been a freezer. She says she cannot recall gised for “destroying” the family. :: J. CANO. A 46-year-old man from :: E. C. / A. N. A magnitude 3.6
Catalonia had to be stopped by po- earthquake, with its epicentre 12
lice after driving four kilometres in kilometres underground close to
the wrong direction on the AP-7 toll Alhama de Granada, was felt in
Pensioner accused of killing her
road in Manilva in the early hours Malaga and across towns in the
of Saturday morning. Axarquía at 12.07pm on Wednes-
husband cannot recall the incident
According to the toll operator, day afternoon with reports to the
the driver turned around, saying he emergency services of a “huge
couldn’t pay the 1.95 euros. He tested jolt” in Torrox. No damage has
negative for alcohol and drugs. been recorded.
:: ÁLVARO FRÍAS that he had been hit 14 times with
MALAGA. The 85-year-old woman a crutch, the pensioner stated that
from Rincón de la Victoria, accused she didn’t remember the day’s
of killing her husband by hitting him events very well and that if she had
over the head with a crutch in July done it, she couldn’t remember it.
2015, denied ever doing so to the The victim, then 82 and recently
jury on Monday. “I never hit him diagnosed with terminal cancer, had
with the crutch,” she said. serious mobility issues and the
However, when the public prose- prosecution believes that his wife
cution continued to stress the fact took advantage of that. The accused in court. :: SUR
6 NEWS May 19th to 25th 2017
SUR IN ENGLISH
The rail link to reduce travelling time between
Malaga and Seville has now been approved
Approval of the
Options proposed for the Almodóvar del Río ‘bypass’
environmental impact
study has opened the
way for the contract to
Present AVE lines
be put to tender in 2018 Cordoba
Options A and C to link the
Madrid-Cordoba-Seville and Cordoba-Malaga lines
:: IGNACIO LILLO Conventional line
MALAGA. The ‘bypass’ around
Almodóvar del Río (Cordoba), the
cheap solution to reduce the trav-
elling time on the AVE high-speed La Breña reservoir
trains between Malaga and Seville,
has now been given the green light Enlarged
from an environmental point of Almodóvar Encinarejo de area
1.9 km.
view. It is considerably cheaper del Río Cordoba
than the line which was started by A
Cordoba
the Junta de Andalucía and has now
been abandoned.
Posadas
A declaration of environmental
C
impact (DIA) for the project has
just been published by the govern- 5.5 km.
ment, and it supports ‘Alternative Seville
A’, which has been the favourite Guadalcázar
since the process began at the end
of 2015.
This solution will cost about 23.2 Antequera
million euros (32 million includ-
The option selected
ing the compulsory purchase of Malaga
The route which has now
land), but will shorten the jour-
been chosen has been the fa-
ney between the two cities by at Peñalosa
vourite from the start of the
least 20 minutes, to one hour 35
process
minutes.
The contract can now be put to
tender, and this will probably be
Wildlife
done next year, as Spanish prime
minister Mariano Rajoy indicated The environmental The land affected by the projected Hotels collect signatures to
recently. bypass is used for cultivation, with
report supports
The document explains that the herbaceous and woody vegetation, demand the coastal railway
alternative which has been selected Alternative A, which was and the wildlife species in that area
as the most favourable solution in- always the favourite are mainly steppe birds, hares, rab-
volves a new single-direction, elec- bits and field mice.
trified, international-width line, The environmental study indi- :: MÓNICA PÉREZ bella, one of the first to partici-
approximately 1.9 kms in length, cated that this area is supposed to MARBELLA The hotel sector on pate in the petition, says guests
with a maximum speed of 100 be associated with the presence of the Costa del Sol says the area frequently comment on the fact
km/h. works will be necessary, and that black vultures, but there was no cannot afford to wait any longer that a tourist destination such as
It will start at kilometre point in turn will minimise the impact sign of this being the case, nor did for the railway line to be ex- the Costa del Sol does not have
363.239 on the high-speed Madrid- during the works phase,” says the the environmentalists detect any tended to Marbella and Estepona, better infrastructure, with no
Seville line and connect with the study. presence of lynxes or imperial ea- and a petition has been organ- railway service west of Fuengi-
Cordoba-Malaga line at kilometre Also, although with alternative gles in the area in question. ised to demand that the project rola and roads which become very
point 5.270. C (the other finalist) the impacts As a result of the study, the min- be put into immediate effect. congested, especially in the sum-
The plans also include a straight- of the project would be minimised ister for the Environment has now The petition is already avail- mer months.
ening of one kilometre of the by using a viaduct to cross the Gua- decreed that the project for the able in local hotels for clients to Other sectors are also backing
Alcázar de San Juan-Cadiz line (on dalquivir river, with alternative A high-speed railway line to bypass sign, and it will be presented to the demand for the long-awaited
the conventional rail network), the railway line passes further Almodóvar del Rio is viable, be- the government when at least railway line to be extended as
which runs parallel to the Madrid- away and does not cross any pro- cause there is no visible indication half a million signatures have soon as possible, including busi-
Seville line. tected land, so there should be no of any significant adverse impacts been collected. ness associations, tourism com-
“Alternative A is shorter, which impact at all on conservation ar- on the area associated with the so- Fernando Al Farkh, manager panies and community groups
means that fewer earth movement eas. called Alternative A. of Los Monteros hotel in Mar- such as Rotary Clubs.
May 19th to 25th 2017 7
SUR IN ENGLISH
8 NEWS May 19th to 25th 2017
SUR IN ENGLISH
Shock and disappointment in Malaga as Antonio
Banderas pulls out of flagship cultural project
The Malaga actor was
QUOTES FROM
stung by the criticism over BANDERAS’ LETTER
his ideas with architect
 Original motives. “For a long
José Seguí for the Astoria
time I’ve been thinking about
cinema site and plans for launching a cultural project in
Malaga. This city is where I was
its future are now in chaos
born, where I studied Dramatic
Arts and where I started in the
:: SUR theatre, some 40 years ago.” “I
MALAGA. It seemed a perfect mar- never thought that this project
riage. The mayor of Malaga, Francisco was a way for me to make money.
de la Torre, had been given a winning What I’ve earned ... has been out-
idea for a building on the forever-con- side my homeland, fighting every-
troversial site of the old Astoria and day in one of the most competitive
Victoria cinemas in the city centre, places on earth, living in hotels, in
and Antonio Banderas finally had an airports, missing my kids growing
outlet for his dream of giving the city up. I was coming here to spend it.”
of his birth a major cultural centre.
However the dream very quickly  On pulling out. “The chorus
turned sour this week, when the fa- of voices that started against our
mous Hollywood actor, who has re- project, inside and outside local
cently been spending a lot of time in politics, which didn’t just criticise
Malaga, wrote a public letter in the it, but entered into sarcasm, tak-
daily Spanish SUR withdrawing his ing the mickey and, why not say
involvement in the iconic project. it, nastiness, made me start to
It came after some oppositioonn wonder if it was really worth risk-
councillors had unsuccessfully ttrriieedd ing so much.” “Thank you to
to get the public competition hhee hhaadd those who understand, apologies
won for the scheme cancelledd aanndd to those who don’t.”
a storm of social media innuueennddoo SSeegguuí (left), Banderas and García (behind) with the mayor. :: S. SALAS
about unsubstantiated irrreegguu--
larities and fraud. TThhe project focused on a ing to suggest that there should be
The site of the old Asttoorriiaa vveennuue for stage arts, includ- no second-round open competition down for being too high.
cinema has been a long-sttaanndd-- iinngg ttheatre, dance and mu- at all, so favouring Banderas. The vacillations of the council-
ing thorn in the siddee ooff ssiicc,, iinn a mostly well-received, He then changed the message to lors and a small but vociferous so-
Malaga’s mayor. The buuiilldd-- mmooddeernist design that some say that if there were to be one, it cial media campaign against the
ings, on the south-eastt ssiiddee ssoocciiaall media users nicknamed would be wise to choose people to plan have made the actor think
of the city’s historic Plazzaa ddee ‘‘tthhee gglass microwave’. How- build and run the site with “inter- again, to the shock and disappoint-
la Merced, near Picasso’s bbiirrtthh-- eevveerr, despite the euphoria, national stature”. ment of the city.
place, have been empty anndd nnee-- pprroobbllems were already begin- This was perceived by many op- People came to the defence of
glected since 2004. In 20100 tthhee nniinngg..TThe competition was non- position councillors, most of whom the project, unable to understand
council bought them for 21 mmiilllliioonn bbiinnddiinng, in that the winner had supported the Banderas project, as how the city “had wasted the op-
euros with a view to creating aa nneeww The Astoria site on Plaza tthhee oopption to bid to go on and build unfair bias in favour of the actor in portunity”. But the decision has
cultural space. de la Merced. :: N.SALAS aanndd mmanage the project on a conces- an open contest, some calling it been taken, as Banderas stated
Last year, a public competition wass ssiionary basis. Seguí and Banderas “banderismo”. week.
finally announced for an initial de- showed enthusiasm about going As the plans were two storeys The actor says he will look for
sign concept for the site. peoppllee’’ss ddeelliigghhtt iitt wwaass aa sscchheemmee by ahead in a further open competition. higher than regulations permitted, another way to give Malaga a cul-
Over seventy entries were submit- architect José SSeguíí wiith the support there was also some unhappiness tural legacy, but from the private
ted and the judging panel reviewed of Antonio Banderas and Sandra Controversy grows that the scheme was getting atten- sector, and the mayor will now have
them anonymously. When the win- García-Sanjuan, who is behind Mar- Malaga’s mayor, Francisco de la tion when other ideas for the site to look for other ideas for this eter-
ner’s envelope was opened, to most bella’s Starlite festival. Torre, courted controversy by seem- in previous years had been turned nally controversial site.
Xxx
Xxx.
May 19th to 25th 2017 NEWS 9
SUR IN ENGLISH
Court to investigate allegations of criminal
to irregularities in the concession of
the licence awarded for the construc-
tion of the racecourse due to the clas-
activity in Mijas racecourse management sification of the land in question.
The secretary’s report, which used
expressions such as “flagrant illegali-
ties” said that the racecourse was
“rented to the town hall”. In other
words, according to the report, the
A Mijas councillor reported
local authority ended up paying the
the case after the management an annual fee to have
the use of a facility that it really
municipal secretary spoke
owned.
of “flagrant illegalities” at
The allegations point to 17 indi-
the racecourse viduals, among them three former
mayors, Agustín Moreno, Antonio
Maldonado and Ángel Nozal.
:: IVÁN GELIBTER Meanwhile, as the court investi-
MIJAS. The management of the Mi- gates possible illegalities, on Wednes-
jas racecourse, the Hipódromo de la day Mijas town hall held a meeting
Costa del Sol, has come under fur- of its own committee set up to in-
ther scrutiny this week after the vestigate the racecourse. The mem-
public prosecutor sent allegations bers, who stressed that their com-
of criminal offences to a court for mittee is not a court and simply aims
investigation. to shed light on the racecourse’s
After studying a report filed in situation, agreed to invite Agustín
February by Costa del Sol Sí Puede Moreno and Antonio Maldonado, as
(CSSP, a Podemos-supported group) Wednesday’s special commission meeting in Mijas. :: I. GELIBTER well as the former and current sec-
councillor, Francisco Martínez, the retaries, to assist their inquiry. Their
prosecution has found sufficient evi- said judicial sources. In his allega- allegedly illegal activity in connec- other activities carried out by the findings would then be passed on to
dence to pass the case on to a court tions Martínez stated that he had re- tion with the management. council-owned firm Recursos Turís- the relevant authority, stated their
to investigate possible cases of “fraud, ceived a report from the municipal The report refers,a mong other ticos Mijas, involving municipal land. president, planning councillor, An-
embezzlement and corrupt practice”, secretary which spoke of a series of points, to the increase of capital and The secretary’s report also referred drés Ruiz.
10 NEWS May 19th to 25th 2017
SUR IN ENGLISH
Former boss of Puerto Marina ‘paid Scandal over suspicious Mijas
property auctions widens
himself extra 600 euros a month’
:: IVÁN GELIBTER cil has no accurate inventory of the
MIJAS. Irregular property auc- properties it owns. “This munici-
Investigator says that ex-
tions carried out by officials at Mi- pality has made a real mess of this,”
councillor Francisco Salido jas council could have started 37 he continued.
years ago, say investigators. The case of ‘express auctions’ in
ordered staff at the town-
The town hall commission set Mijas came to light almost a year
hall-owned port and that
up to look into ‘express auctions’, ago. Former PP mayor, Ángel Nozal,
the former mayor, who he led by Podemos’s local councillor, and his councillor for Finance, Mario
Francisco Martínez, has asked for Bravo, are being investigated over
supported in coalition,
files going back to 1980. the auction of property at below
approved the illegal action
“We have serious suspicions that market rates without following
the so-called ‘express auction’ case proper timescales. The council was
:: ALBERTO GÓMEZ is just one part of the story,” said selling the properties it had gained
BENALMÁDENA. An investigat- the councillor. He added that he be- from people that owed it local taxes.
ing judge has said that there is a case lieves that properties bought by the The investigation alleges that the
to answer against former councillors council for “the people of Mijas” two men had professional involve-
in Benalmádena for sanctioning ille- were given to others to use. ment in the property sector that
gal payments to the ex-boss of Puerto The problem arises as the coun- could have influenced the sales.
Marina, which the council owns.
According to court papers, in July
2011, former councillor of the Unión
Work starts on
Centro Benalmádena party (UCB) hind. The Diputación provincial
and deputy mayor, Francisco Salido, Head of the Benalmádena port authorised his own expenses. :: FOTOLIA hiking path to join authority is funding the work.
ordered that he should be paid 600 The path, which will also allow
euros expenses a month by the mu- The document goes on by explain- have overseen the decision. Torremolinos bikes and horses on some of the
nicipal company that runs the ing that eighteen months later, in García had entered into coalition route, will be called ‘Camino del
beach with the
Puerto Marina port, a company that December 2012, a board meeting of with Salido’s UCB to force out the Agua’ - the water route. It aims to
he was also in charge of. the Puerto Marina company alleg- ruling PSOE party about the time the mountains link the Diputación’s Senda Litoral
The investigator’s report says that edly waved through approval for ‘irregular’ extra payments to him were (long-distance coastal path) with
he had no right to do this as the de- the payments that Salido was mak- approved by the Puerto Marina board. the Gran Senda, a circular route
cision was made without the agree- ing to himself. It claims that the A PSOE councillor on the port’s through Malaga province.
ment of the shareholders of the mu- mayor of Benalmádena at the time, board at the time said in the 2012 :: ALBERTO GÓMEZ The cross-town route will be fin-
nicipal company and came on top Paloma García Gálvez, of the PP meeting that it was “totally illegal” TORREMOLINOS. Work has ished in June and the whole hike
of the 44,500 euros a month he al- party, committed an offence by al- to ratify the payment. started on opening up an 11-kilo- into the hills will take about four
ready earned as deputy mayor and lowing the payment to be approved García has said that she is “calm” metre-long path stretching from and a half hours to complete.
another 210 euros a month he al- retrospectively by the board, when about the situation, claiming it was Torremolinos’ seafront through the An outdoor exhibition in Plaza
ready claimed in expenses. a full shareholders meeting should an administrative confusion. town and into the mountains be- Costa del Sol explains the project.