Uber set to arrive on the Costa before the start of the summer

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COSTA DEL GOLF
THE NEWSPAPER FOR
The second
SOUTHERN SPAIN
coming of
Official market leader
Audited by PGD/OJD golf in Spain
in English May 11th to 17th 2018
www.surinenglish.com
The rise of the sport, the
latest from the ‘Armada’
News 2 Food & Drink 51 and local tournaments in
Comment 26 Sport 54
Lifestyle 27 My Home 59 this month’s issue
Health & Beauty 40 Classified 63 INSIDE
What To Do 45 Pastimes 70
THE FLAMINGOS
Tourism minister
stresses that the
ARE BACK
British will still
be “a priority”
Recent rainfall has brought after Brexit
a record 35,000 birds to
the Fuente de Piedra
Álvaro Nadal addressed
lagoon to nest
P13 issues from taxation for
expats to holiday lets at a
SUR forum this week
The minister stated the importance
of British people to the Costa del Sol
during a forum organised by SUR in
Marbella on Monday. He said: “We
must have a system as close as possi-
ble to what we have now.” P6
Ordeal of Spanish rescue
workers in Lesbos comes
to an end as they are
finally cleared of people
smuggling
P24
An intergalactic force for
good. Thousands in
Malaga attended the 501st
Legion’s Star Wars march in
A current image of the lagoon near Antequera. :: SUR
aid of a leukemia charity
P16
Uber set to arrive on the Costa
before the start of the summer
:: ÑITO SALAS
The ridesharing giant aims to have at least Uber’s expansion to the Costa del Sol molinos and Malaga before the start Bucking the trend. British
is imminent. The multinational ride- of the peak holiday season. “We are artist Rose Wylie, 84, came
200 vehicles in operation in towns along
sharing company, now in 600 cities very optimistic because our figures to art late in life, but has
the western Costa del Sol across the globe, hopes to have at least show that there is a great demand for
just opened her first
200 drivers operative in Marbella, Mi- our services,” said general director of
exhibition in Spain
jas, Fuengirola, Benalmádena, Torre- Uber in Spain, Juan Galiardo. P3 P45
SPORT
Down to the wire.
Marbella FC must win
and hope other results
go in their favour to be
crowned champions
P55
In pursuit of equality.
SUR has set up a
committee of Malaga
sportswomen to look at
its sports coverage
P58
222222222222222 NEWS May 11th to 17th 2018
SUR IN ENGLISH
Six towns celebrate winning 50m in EU
15 million euros to finance its ‘Sus-
tainable Town’ project, which includes
improving run-down areas in differ-
funds and explain how it will be spent ent districts. As in all cases, the town
hall will pay 20 per cent of the cost.
The remaining funds will be used on
energy efficiency, mobility and so-
cial infrastructure projects.
In Fuengirola, most of the fund-
ing will be used to improve the El
Boquetillo district of the town. “We
are carrying out several projects for
physical, economic and social regen-
JESÚS
eration of the area,” says the mayor,
HINOJOSA
Ana Mula. These include a large so-
 [email protected] cial centre and setting up training
and integration courses.
Marbella, Fuengirola,
Most of the money received by
Benalmádena, Benalmádena will be spent on its
coastal area, where the tourism sec-
Torremolinos, Cártama
tor has been calling for improvements
and Rincón de la Victoria
for years. The council plans to remodel
will now be able to carry Avenida Antonio Machado and cre-
ate a semi-pedestrian boulevard there.
out major projects
There are also plans to improve street
lighting, open the Roman remains of
MALAGA. The saying ‘third time BenalRoma to the public and create
lucky’ can now be applied to six a green corridor across the munici-
towns in Malaga which are finally pality.
to be granted European funds to
promote integrated sustainable ur- First EU funding
ban development under the EDUSI Torremolinos applied for ten million
scheme. After their two previous Marbella has been granted 15 million euros from the EDUSI funds. :: JOSELE-LANZA euros from the EDUSI funds and is
applications were turned down, to receive just over half: 6.2 million.
their modified projects have finally centre, and Alhaurín de la Torre, The mayor, José Ortiz, says this is a
received enough points to be ap- Ronda, Alhaurín el Some of the funds will be which had plans for 13 projects in- “historic occasion” because it is the
proved in the third assignment of cluding social housing and public first time Torremolinos has received
Grande and Alhaurín de used on improvements
funds, which the ministry of Fi- transport. However, they have now EU funds. “It shows support for the
nance published details of this la Torre will receive no to run-down areas and been placed on a ‘reserve list’ in case way we are transforming the town
week. It means that Marbella, Fuen- funding at present town centres more funds become available before and it means we will have considera-
girola, Benalmádena, Torremoli- the end of June 2019. bly more resources and can do much
nos, Cártama and Rincón de la Vic- Marbella will be using some of its more,” he says. The grant has come
toria will receive about 50 million
euros between them for different
projects. PROJECTS WHICH WILL BE CARRIED OUT WITH THE LATEST EDUSI FUNDS FROM THE EU
The town which is to receive the
highest amount of funding is Mar- M arbella. Urban improve- council-owned building at El ceived, will be used to regenerate the avenue to Estación de Cártama
bella, with 15 million euros, followed ments, energy efficiency, mobil- Elola. the poorest areas of the town, re- will be continued as far as the
by Fuengirola and Benalmádena, ity and social infrastructure duce carbon emissions, develop bridge over the river. Improve-
with ten million each. Torremoli- with a focus on the most run- B enalmádena. The coastal area sustainable urban mobility, im- ments are also to be carried out to
nos is to be given 6,210,041 euros, down districts. The council plans is to benefit most from this prove energy efficiency and pro- the centre of the village and in the
Cártama five million and Rincón de to spend 5.6 million euros of its funding. The council plans to re- tect historical buildings. The old- Guadalhorce area.
la Victoria 3,05,020. Three towns grant on these. model Avenida Antonio est part of the town will continue
have been disappointed, however, Machado by creating a semi-pe- to be made traffic-free and there R incón de la Victoria. T he
and will receive no funding at all: Al- F uengirola. Most of the destrian boulevard and make the are plans to build a periurban funding from Brussels will be
haurín el Grande, which applied for money will be spent in El Bo- area more attractive for tourists park, among other projects. used to develop traditional shop-
the money for sustainable tourism quetillo district, to improve in- and shoppers. ping facilities, make certain
projects and wanted to become a frastructure and social facilities. C ártama. Work is to be carried streets and avenues traffic-free
‘smart city’, Ronda, which had hoped The local authority plans to cre- T orremolinos. These EU funds, out on the archaeological site in and invest in electric and hybrid
to carry out improvements costing ate a large social centre in a the first the town has ever re- the Plaza de la Constitución and vehicles.
five million euros to its historic town
May 11th to 17th 2018 NEWS 3
SUR IN ENGLISH
Uber to land on the Costa before the
as a great relief to the town hall,
which has a debt of about 200 mil-
lion euros. The redevelopment of
summer with at least 200 vehicles
the oldest part of the town cen-
tre, which is being converted into
a pedestrian area, and the crea-
tion of a periurban park are some
of the projects for which the EU
money will be used.
The digital ridesharing
In Cártama, the council plans
to carry out work on the ar- platform is about to
chaeological site in the Plaza de
launch in Malaga,
la Constitución, continue the
Marbella, Fuengirola,
avenue to Estación de Cártama
as far as the bridge over the river Mijas, Torremolinos and
and improve the appearance of
Benalmádena
the centre of the village.
Rincón de la Victoria council
had applied for five million euros :: FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ
and has been granted 3,105,020. MALAGA. The transport sector in
It plans to develop traditional Malaga will welcome a new opera-
shopping facilities, close some tor this summer. The digital ride-
streets to traffic and invest in elec- sharing platform Uber, which now
tric and hybrid vehicles, says the boasts a presence in 600 cities
mayor, Francisco Salado. This is around the world, is finalising its
also the first time that Rincón has arrival on the Costa del Sol which
succeeded in obtaining EU funds will see the initial introduction of
to finance projects. around 200 vehicles.
Malaga city is to receive 15 mil- After first arriving in Madrid in
lion euros in EDUSI funds, while 2016, and then Barcelona last year,
the villages associated with the the company has its sights set on A so-called VTC in the pick-up bay next to taxis at Malaga train station. :: FRANCIS SILVA
Caminito del Rey will be given Malaga, despite it being the prov-
ten million and Estepona and Vé- ince with the highest ratio of VTCs Fuengirola, Mijas and Marbella but Malaga through the app last sum- holders, with 200 the benchmark.
lez-Málaga will also receive ten (vehicles with a driver) compared we hope to continue growing as new mer. “These figures make us very However, unlike principal com-
million euros each. Nerja has to taxis (one to every 4.4). licences are granted,” said the gen- optimistic because it shows that petitors in Spain, Cabify, Uber will
been granted five million euros. Although the launch date has not eral director of Uber in Spain, Juan people from other countries who only contract drivers with licences
been officially set, it is expected that Galiardo, who added that the Costa visit the Costa are demanding our for Andalucía, which they hope will
· Uber will start offering its services del Sol was chosen because of its huge services,” said Galiardo. avoid disputes with taxi drivers,
(cid:122)
 C ontributors to this in Malaga and Marbella (and the “tourist potential”. The next phase is for the com- who went on strike after VTCs from
report: Nieves Castro, Alberto towns in between) before the start This is backed up by the numbers. pany to make contact with the town other parts of Spain came to the
Gómez, Iván Gelibter, of the high season. Some 150,000 people of 138 differ- halls where it will be operative and province to take advantage of peak
Fernando Torres, Eugenio “Initially we are going to set up in ent nationalities, according to Uber try to reach agreements with the times, namely during Malaga Fair,
Cabezas and Vanessa Melgar. Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, studies, tried to order a ride in largest number possible of licence without prebooking.
4 NEWS May 11th to 17th 2018
SUR IN ENGLISH
Blue flags awarded to 25 beaches on the Benalmádena
boat trip
Costa del Sol, one more than in 2017 companies,
ready for war
Fuengirola has won the
Blue flag controversy
award for its entire ::ALBERTO GÓMEZ
in Marbella BENALMÁDENA. Businesses
coastline, while Los
running tourist boat trips from
Álamos in Torremolinos
Benalmádena marina are protest-
has gained its first flag Marbella town hall released docu- ing against the “abusive” condi-
ments yesterday that proved that tions the council wants to impose
the former Socialist-led coalition for operating their services. Fol-
:: IVÁN GELIBTER government had covered up the lowing permission from the An-
MALAGA. In 2018 Malaga province withdrawal last summer of the dalusian port authority, APPA, the
has gained one more blue flag for its blue flags previously awarded to council has put the contracts for
beaches than last year, reaching a the town’s marina and El Cable excursions out to tender. The 15
grand total of 25. The award, granted beach. The marina, said Adeac, businesses involved have called
by the Environmental and Consumer had insufficient anti-pollution for the process to be halted, com-
Association (Adeac), recognises measures in 2017 (it does comply plaining at the council’s demands
beaches and marinas which meet a this year), and El Cable couldn’t for a minimum fee of 50 cents per
series of environmental standards have a blue flag when people passenger plus 50 percent more
and offer a wide range of facilities. were living in shelters on part of in berthing fees, an amount that
Within Malaga province the most it. Councillor Manuel Cardeña would drastically reduce their
successful municipalities are Fuen- Environment care and quality of services are taken into account. :: I. G. said that the previous council, profit margins. “Other towns, such
girola, Estepona and Marbella, each ousted last year by the PP in a vote as Marbella or Estepona, charge
of which boast four flags along its of no confidence, had set out to 600 euros a year. In Malaga, it’s 14
beaches. Marbella has also recovered flags, the province has lost some and Furthermore, Torremolinos has “trick local residents”. Mean- cents per passenger. Benalmádena
its blue flag this year for its marina. gained others. Rincón de la Victoria joined the list with Los Álamos, which while Marbella town hall has ap- is demanding 50 cents per person,”
Fuengirola gained one flag more no longer has the flag it gained last has received a blue flag for the first plied to Adeac for three more said Gonzalo Medina, owner of
than last year. Mayor Ana Mula said year. Vélez-Málaga has a new flag on time in its history. Calahonda II (Mi- beaches to be included: Nueva An- CostaSol Cruceros.
that the recognition confirms the La Caleta Paseo beach, to add to the jas) has been dropped from the list. dalucía, Los Monteros and Venus- The company has operated at
town’s achievements in terms of the two the municipality already had. In Andalucía as a whole there are Bajadilla. Benalmádena marina for 37 years
quality of the environment, services Casares joins the list with Ancha now 113 coastal areas with blue flags, and employs more than 20 work-
and facilities. The awarding body of beach and Estepona will now have of which 97 are beaches –seven more ers. Medina has warned that the
the blue flags has chosen to allocate four with the addition of Arroyo Va- than last year – and 16 marinas. Sardina and Alcaidesa-El Faro in San new legislation “endangers” the
them to all four beaches in Fuengi- quero. Torrox maintains its blue flag Almost all of its provinces have in- Roque. Almeria has 29 (+2), Huelva business.
rola: El Castillo, Fuengirola, Los Boli- with Ferrara and Benalmádena keeps creased their number of blue flags; received 11, an increase of 2 on The licences awarded to firms
ches-Las Gaviotas and Carvajal. its two, Fuente de la Salud and Tor- the Cadiz coast has the most with 30 2017, and the Granada coastline re- up to now have been free of this
Regarding the rest of the 25 blue rebermeja-Santa Ana. (+1), including Torreguadiaro, Cala tains the two that it had last year. type of fee.
May 11th to 17th 2018 NEWS 5
SUR IN ENGLISH
112 REPORTS Two arrested over 12 Marijuana plants found
burglaries in Malaga after row complaint
Pilot safe after crash tice further without realising the
plane was lacking one of its three
landing at Vélez airbase
wheels. MALAGA MALAGA
Staff on the ground alerted him :: Á. F. / J. C. Two Georgian men, :: Á. F. / J. C. A marijuana planta-
VÉLEZ-MÁLAGA to the situation so he circled the 26 and 50, have been arrested in tion was discovered in the home of
:: A. PELÁEZ. A learner pilot, on his area, emptying the fuel tank, while connection with a series of burgla- a couple after police were called to
first solo flight, brought the Axar- emergency services covered the run- ries in homes across various parts investigate a possible case of domes-
quía airport near Vélez-Málaga to a way in foam. of Malaga between the end of March tic violence after arguing and loud
standstill as it anticipated a crash Eventually he brought the plane and the start of May. They were in- noises were heard from an apart-
landing after the plane in which he into land successfully without fur- tercepted in the Cortijo Alto part of ment in Malaga. When the police
was flying lost its front wheel. ther incident. the city and had stolen jewellery arrived, the woman had dissappeared
The 22-year-old, having com- He did not speak to the press af- concealed in their clothes. At their but, on her return, both she and her
pleted a landing which was some- terwards, only saying that he was homes, the scale and complexity of partner were arrested, accused of
what rough, flew out again to prac- “calm” throughout. Firefighters on alert. :: A. P. the operation was revealed. public health offences.
‘Kidnapped’ and ‘tortured’ couple Man stabs mother to
death after butchering
abandoned in a ditch off the A-7
her cats in Fuengirola
The man died from
his injuries while the A judge has said that the Isla Inca, according to sources close
woman escaped with accused must be kept to the investigation. Following the
man’s arrest, National Police offi-
under supervision in a
head trauma and cers also found two dismembered
hospital until his mental
bruising cats, presumably belonging to his
state has stabilised mother and which he killed before
killing her.
:: J. CANO / Á. FRÍAS
MALAGA. Police investigations :: IVÁN GELIBTER Motives unclear
are ongoing into the chain of FUENGIROLA. A 38-year-old Bul- The motives for the crime are still
events which led to the body of a garian man was arrested on Sunday not known but the alleged perpe-
man and a badly-injured woman afternoon in connection with the trator suffers from a mental illness
being thrown from a vehicle into death of his mother who died as a and was ordered by a judge on
a roadside ditch close to the Costa result of 13 stab wounds. It is not Wednesday to be kept in hospital
del Sol Hospital in Marbella late yet known whether she died at the under supervision until his men-
on Monday afternoon. The approach road to the A-7, near the hospital. :: JOSELE-LANZA scene or was taken to hospital first. tal state had stabilised sufficiently
The alarm was raised by the The incident occurred around for him to be questioned about what
woman who tried to flag down cars the life of the man, a 52-year-old by the woman, the couple had been 1pm in central Fuengirola on Calle happened.
on the approach road to the A-7 Croatian, who presented signs of kidnapped the day before and that
heading in the Marbella direction. torture and was found with his legs both she and her husband had been
One driver, who saw the woman bound together. tortured. Her husband died from
soaked in blood, contacted his friend, His wife, a younger Colombian the beatings he sustained while Two men injured hearing the shots, but the perpe-
an off-duty police officer, who woman, was taken to hospital and she, on admittance to hospital, was trators had fled the scene by the
after late-night
alerted the emergency services. was treated for her injuries. found to have had head trauma and time they arrived.
On arrival at the scene, ambu- According to sources close to the severe bruising. She has since been shootout in resort’s However, a few minutes later,
lance staff could do nothing to save investigation, in the account given discharged. police received reports of two men
marina
who had arrived at a private hos-
pital in the area with multiple
gunshot wounds. The men, 30 and
Drug trafficker, wanted on a from Morocco to France, Spain and :: A. F. / J. C. 36, were then transferred to the
the Netherlands, according to a po- MALAGA. The National Police Costa del Sol Hospital.
European arrest warrant, lice press release. are investigating a shootout in One man had various wounds
The organisation specialised in Fuengirola marina early on Fri- in the neck area, while the other
captured in Mijas cannabis resin which it transported day morning after two men were had injuries in his upper limbs.
inside cans in lorries driven by Mo- taken to Costa del Sol Hospital None of the injuries are consid-
roccan drivers. with various gunshot wounds, ac- ered life-threatening.
The man, whose warrant was is- cording to sources. The vehicle in which the men
:: SUR ficking offences. sued in France, was tracked down The same sources say that the had been travelling has been
MALAGA. A 36-year-old Moroc- The fugitive, born in Zerket (Mo- to an urbanisation in Mijas, where shootout occurred at around seized while investigations con-
can man, the subject of a European rocco), was part of a criminal or- he had set up home. 1.45am, following a fight in a bar tinue. The initial hypothesis is
arrest warrant, has been detained ganisation which coordinated the After being identified, he was in the area. A number of police that what occurred was a settling
in Mijas for a series of drug traf- large-scale trafficking of narcotics placed under arrest. patrols rushed to the area after of scores.
6 NEWS May 11th to 17th 2018
SUR IN ENGLISH
Tourism minister reassures Costa del Sol that
the British will still be a priority after Brexit
Álvaro Nadal was speaker at one of two forums hosted by SUR in Marbella and Malaga in the past week
Addressing invitees in from the European Union were Nadal expanded by saying that “the
Marbella on Monday, the still ongoing although they had al- 17 million British tourists that we
ready covered the areas of most greet every year are a priority in the
minister, who also has
concern to the Spanish govern- negotiation... and we want to main-
Industry and Digital ment. These include future visi- tain the status quo.”
tor entry and residency rights. He
Agenda in his brief, said
explained, “We must have a sys- Holiday lets in the spotlight
that embracing new
tem as close as possible to what we The subject of the uncontrolled
technology was crucial have now.” rise in the number of private
Nadal was speaking at a Marbella homes being rented out to tour-
for the future
business leaders’ forum, part of a ists, especially in urban centres,
series organised by the SUR news- was also raised during the forum.
:: MÓNICA PÉREZ paper group. In response to recent criticism
MARBELLA. In a packed room of Addressing the issue of taxation from the regional government that
guests at the Los Monteros Hotel for non-residents, he added, “We national government could do
on Monday, the national govern- have to be careful in the double more to regulate the increase in
ment’s minister for Tourism sought taxation agreements that those the private-home rental sector,
to reassure the Costa del Sol that people that have a second home Nadal was swift to pass the respon-
British visitors would still be a pri- [in Spain] don’t have to pay both sibility back onto the different re-
ority after Brexit. here and there for the same thing.” gions of Spain, and in the case of
Álvaro Nadal said that negotia- Continuing his message that it the Costa del Sol, on to the Junta
tions over Britain’s withdrawal will be business as usual post Brexit, Tourism minister Álvaro Nadal. :: JOSELE-LANZA de Andalucía in particular. “It’s
The head of Spanish airports tells
forum about Malaga improvements
Jaime García-Legaz, Legaz said that Aena wanted to in- being revamped and modernised,
president of Aena, said crease the capacity at the main Costa with improved air-conditioning,
del Sol gateway to 29 million passen- decoration and toilets. Much of
that there will be new
gers a year. This would be two mil- the money, 56 million euros, will
security lanes for families, lion above its current planned capac- go on next year’s planned instal-
a refreshed food and ity and 10 million more than its pre- lation of new handling equipment
sent passenger levels. for hold baggage.
drink offer and updated
He said that the long-term mas- In terms of improving custom-
baggage handling ter plan for the airport was being ers’ experience at the airport, he ex-
reviewed and he encouraged all busi- plained that the number of security
nesses and local authorities to make lanes for departing passengers would
:: IGNACIO LILLO their comments known to Aena so be increased and there would be a
MALAGA. Speaking at the forum they can take them into account. special family entrance created, cost- Jaime García-Legaz addesses the audience. :: SALVADOR SALAS
for business leaders organised by ing five million euros, to reduce the
SUR at Malaga’s AC Palacio Hotel 124m euros for Malaga length of time queuing for security. use was made of the new second The forum and talk by the head
last Friday, 5 April, the president of García-Legaz went on to say that The executive lounges and runway, García-Legaz quoted fig- of Aena also served as an opportu-
airport-operators Aena announced 124 million euros would be in- breastfeeding areas will also see ures that said last year it was in use nity to review the increase in air-
a raft of new initiatives at Malaga vested in Malaga airport up to 2021. an overhaul and food and drink 196 days. “It will be open as many lines operating. Citing the intro-
airport. This investment would improve outlets are set to get a new look. day as it’s needed,” he said. He ex- duction of Qatar and Saudi Air-
Explaining that the reason for the aspects such as runway safety plained that is wasn’t open all the ways to Malaga, García-Legaz said,
improvements was the rapid growth markings, air bridges and car parks. Second runway dilemma time as it would push up operat- “They will bring in high-quality
in passenger numbers, Jaime García- The old terminal building, T-2, is In response to criticism that little ing costs and the price of flights. visitors.”
May 11th to 17th 2018 NEWS 7
SUR IN ENGLISH
“We’d like to keep
clear that the competency [to
regulate holiday lets] lies with
the regions and locally because
every situation is different,” he the hotels on the
explained.
In terms of whether home
rentals to holidaymakers could Costa open during
be regulated as a business activ-
ity, he said that if it related to
tourism it was up to the regional low season”
governments to legislate.
Nadal went on to add that his
ministry, which also covers In-
dustry and the Digital Agenda
as well as Tourism, was work-
Sean Corte Real
ing with the national ministry
of Justice to devise changes to New manager of La Cala Resort
horizontal property legislation
which would give residents’ as-
The tourist complex has
sociations the flexibility to de- days. But there are also people who
cide their own rules on neig- changed its priorities buy their house as an investment for
bours renting out their flats or the future. The people who bought
following the arrival of a
houses to tourists. houses here some years ago came ex-
new manager
In addition, constant efforts clusively to play golf and the major-
were being made to reduce tax ity were British. Now, there is still an
evasion by forcing people who :: IVÁN GELIBTER important number of British clients,
rent out their homes to declare MALAGA. La Cala Resort announced but also other nationalities. There are
income, and so reduce unfair last week that a new manager had many people from central Europe,
competition for hotels. taken over the leisure and golf resort. who come here to retire or spend long
The minister also emphasised Sean Corte Real, a former professional periods of time. Buyers now tend to
the need to invest in digital so- golf player of Portuguese and British be more demanding, have a higher
lutions. “The future of the sec- origin, has taken on the role with the purchasing power and are looking for
tor depends on us making the aim of bringing an international di- peace and quiet. As well as the golf
best of this technological revo- mension to La Cala Resort. He will course they want good service, good
lution,” he explained. also be overseeing a new phase of col- food, a good spa. And of course they
laboration with the British company want to be near the Costa del Sol and
Taylor Wimpey. Both firms an- the beach. This is why we’re becom-
nounced several weeks ago that they ing even more demanding. The most
would invest around 200 million important thing is the experience Sean Corte Real was a professional golf player. :: I. GELIBTER
Calls for Junta to euros in a variety of local projects. they have here, whether they’re a
–Why have they chosen you to man- golf player, a client at the hotel, or if Seville or Cordoba, and you’re only it is. But it’s also true that here on
approve Alhaurín’s
age a resort that is thirty years old? they’ve just come for dinner. two and a half hours from Madrid the Costa del Sol we have more
–Well, managing this type of hotel is –You’ve said that there are more by train. You can’t say that of many than 100 golf courses, so I don’t
‘Airport City’
something that I’ve been doing my visitors from other countries. Do destinations, and that’s coming from know up to what point there is a
business park plan whole life. I’ve been lucky enough to people from different countries someone who’s lived in many parts market for more. Our competition
work in quite a few different coun- have different requirements? of the world. I feel like everything right now is Portugal, Egypt, Mo-
tries: the United States, Portugal, Bra- –Yes it changes quite a lot. British is close by and I don’t lack anything. rocco ... It’s hard to say if the an-
zil, Spain … this is what I’ve always clients want different things from swer is yes; perhaps we have arrived
Brexit won’t affect us
lived for, managing tourist complexes. Scandinavian clients. We have con- at a point where more golf courses
:: I.LILLO -Is your appointment related to La ducted research on what different –I have to ask you a question that aren’t necessary. It would be ideal
MALAGA. Opening the SUR fo- Cala’s new partnership with Taylor nationalities tend to prefer. For ex- we’ve been repeating for two years. if the hotels were open all year and
rum in Malaga last week, the Wimpey? ample, a Belgian customer wants With so many British clients, are didn’t close during the golf season.
president of the Diputación pro- -To a great extent yes. What has more refined food. A Nordic client you not worried about Brexit? There are hotels that don’t risk
vincial authority, Elias Bendodo, changed is the type of client who is wants to play a lot of golf; they want –In our housing market British cli- opening their doors in February or
used the opportunity to ask the using the facilities of La Cala. Many to be in the sun all day. For German ents are no longer the main clients. March, and this means that during
regional government to approve of our clients now come from a dif- customers, price is the most impor- International politics could produce that time there are fewer hotels,
a proposed logistics hub in f e rent type of market. They’re look- tant factor. situations to worry us every day. But so the remaining ones become more
Alhaurín de la Torre, near the ing for a different type of service, –You’ve worked in several coun- we can’t stop, we have to continue. expensive. During those months
airport. and we have to adapt to what they tries. What has the Costa del Sol got With Brexit, we’ve seen that the most there is a demand for golf, but we
The mayor of Alhaurín de la want. that allows it to compete with other worrying time was the day after the don’t need more courses, we need
Torre, who also attended the –Do your clients typically de sti na tio ns ? v ot e. F ro m then on things have im- the hotels to stay open in the low
event, has said the plan for the buy houses to live here or as an – T o start with it has the sea and proved. The British will keep coming season. In the past we’ve had to
“Airport City” is ready. How- investment? beaches; the food, which is spectacu- to the Costa del Sol; that’s not going turn away big groups of golfers be-
ever the Junta de Andalucía has –Anyone who buys a house on the lar as are the surroundings. It also to change. cause there weren’t enough hotels
said that the project is unviable Costa del Sol is just as likely to want has excellent golf courses. You have –Do you think that more golf courses open locally.
as much of the land falls on the to live in it as they are to use it as a to admit that the Costa del Sol has would make the Costa del Sol a –How do you convince a hotel owner
flood plain of the Guadalhorce holiday home. There are a lot of cli- absolutely everything. I’ve always stronger destination? to stay open during low season?
river. The local mayor is cur- ents who want to live here; but many felt that it’s like a very large, elon- –That’s a good question. The more –It needs looking at carefully but there
rently taking the Junta to court of them are only looking to buy a sec- gated city. From Mijas you’re not far golf courses there are, the more po- is business to be had on the Costa del
over the delay. ond home and come during the holi- from skiing in Granada, visiting tential a resort has and the stronger Sol all year round.
8 NEWS May 11th to 17th 2018
SUR IN ENGLISH
Plans to use Antequera rail test
track for Virgin Hyperloop train
The multinational is also
considering using the
abandoned platform
from the disused railway
line between Antequera
and Sevilla
:: I. LILLO / A. J. GUERRERO
MALAGA. Representatives from
the Ministry of Public Works and
Transport, Adif and an entity called
‘The Railway Innovation Hub’, a busi-
ness conglomerate with headquar-
ters in the Railway Technology Cen- :: SALVADOR SALAS
tre of Andalucía’s Technology Park, DEMONSTRATION BY THE GUARDIA CIVIL
met on Wednesday to discuss the
potential of Virgin Hyperloop test-
ing in Spain, according to Íñigo de la Six hundred local schoolchildren watched a demonstration by
Serna, a government minister. Among Íñigo de la Serna with Adif and Railway Innovation Hub Spain various units of the Guardia Civil on Muelle 2 at Malaga’s port.
the facilities mentioned was the An- representatives. :: EP The exhibition coincided with the 174th anniversary of the
tequera rail test track, which was due Guardia Civil and the mooring of the Río Segura, the Guardia’s
to be built as three loops of railway tatives of Hyperloop have been to way track, according to sources. patrol ship which is currently berthed at the port for technical
track totalling 35 miles in length be- Spain and visited the existing facili- The project, if it goes ahead, would checks.
fore the plans were shelved by the ties. De la Serna has highlighted lead to the creation of the first Hy-
previous minister, Ana Pastor, in 2016. the project’s potential to modern- perloop testing and maintenance
De la Serna has said that “we are ise Spanish infrastructure. centre in Europe, controlled by the
holding negotiations, meetings and Directors from the North Ameri- multinational Virgin, although con- HERE AND THERE
conferences that I have participated can company have also held meet- ceived of by the founder of Tesla,
in, but we still have to wait for a fi- ings with representatives from the Elon Musk, who plans to create a vac-
nal outcome.” He highlighted that Junta where they have discussed uum transport system that will op-
the project was an “excellent oppor- using the abandoned platform of erate at speeds of up to 1,200 km/h.
tunity” because the project is cur- the disused line between An- The mayor of Antequera, Manuel
rently the only one of its kind in the tequera and Seville, where there Barón, has declared the project “ex-
world, and explained that represen- are currently 77 kilometres of rail- cellent news” for the town.
ADVERTORIAL Dreweatts & Bloomsbury
Silvia Sánchez and García Urbano. :: C. MÁRQUEZ.
Aedas Homes invest 952 of Estepona, José María García Ur-
Dreweatts comes to
million on the Costa bano, presented Vanian Green Vil-
lage project in Torre Vigía, one of
their promotions in the town.
Andalucía this May ESTEPONA The construction company has
:: C. M. The company Aedas Homes already started on the first phase,
will be investing 952 million euros made up of 72 properties and with
in the Costa del Sol in order to ini- an investment of 18.8 million euros.
tiate the construction of 2,600 The mayor said that the pro-
dwellings. The area director, Silvia ject would “totally transform the
Auction house Dreweatts & logue and a comprehensive mar- Sánchez, together with the mayor area.”
Bloomsbury has announced that keting programme.
from May, the company will be The entire auction is on view at Marbella now has an The police animal
visiting Marbella and Malaga on Donnington Priory in the lead up
approved town plan shelter is criticised
a regular basis to provide free auc- to the sale date and highlights are
tion valuations of jewellery, silver, also exhibited at Dreweatts’ Lon-
watches and luxury accessories. don office on Pall Mall, St James’s. MARBELLA ESTEPONA
Following on from Dreweatts’ Consignors are offered access :: HÉCTOR BARBOTTA. Nearly :: C. MÁRQUEZ. Emma Molina of
long-standing and highly-success- to an international group of buy- three years ago, Marbella’s town the PSOE criticised the condition
ful client development initiatives ers and across a greater price range plan which was drawn up in 2010, of the police shelter for abandoned
in Italy, the company is now ex- than that offered by many other was declared invalid, forcing the animals as “deplorable” after vis-
tending its reach to southern Spain auction houses. local government to go back to the iting the installation recently. She
and, along with valuation services, The Dreweatts’ specialist team 1986 urban plan and stop granting said the facilities where “absolutely
will also be providing consigning is highly experienced and its cal- construction licences. unhealthy” and added that to put
and buying information to new endar of auctions allows regular Although the local government them right wouldn’t cost anything,
and existing customers. buying and consigning opportu- attempted to get a modified ver- “it was a question of being sensi-
Deputy chairman and senior nities throughout the year. sion of the plan passed on three tive” to the animals needs. How-
specialist, James Nicholson, will The first visit to Andalucía will attempts it was finally approved, ever the town hall refused to ac-
be available for home, office and The department holds three fine take place on Friday 25 May. after several corrections and adap- cept her claims and reasoned that
bank visits in Marbella, Malaga jewellery, watches and silver auc- tations, in September last year and she had visited at a time “when
and the surrounding area. tions a year, complemented by · has now come into force although one of the dogs in the shelter had
(cid:122)
Dreweatts is a leading UK auc- mid-season sales which also regu-  T o arrange an appointment it was already being used for d e s t royed a foam cushion” that
tioneer founded in 1759 and based larly feature luxury accessories, call James Roberts on (+34) consultation. formed part of its bedding and the
at Donnington Priory, Newbury, pens, objects of vertu and coins. 952 90 62 50 or email James Marbella council are hoping the conditions that day were not typi-
Berkshire, approximately one hour All auctions are accompanied Nicholson on new plan will motivate improve- cal. They added that the area was
from London by train and car. by a fully-illustrated colour cata- [email protected] ments to the town. cleaned up afterwards.
May 11th to 17th 2018 9
SUR IN ENGLISH
10 NEWS May 11th to 17th 2018
SUR IN ENGLISH
LGBT community of Torremolinos
unite against homophobia
The protest was held to
show solidarity to a
transsexual couple who
were assaulted in an
unprovoked attack in
Torremolinos last week Laverón sculpture is given a new home in Benalmádena. :: SUR
New home for abandoned
:: TONY BRYANT
TORREMOLINOS. Members of Elena Laverón sculpture
the LGBT community of Torremo-
linos came together in Plaza La
Nogalera last week in a demonstra-
tion to show their outrage over the :: TONY BRYANT He went on to say that the town
recent attack on a transsexual cou- BENALMÁDENA. Benalmádena hall decided to reinstall the sculp-
ple in Torremolinos. The protest town hall has announced that one ture as part of its efforts to recover
was organised by the LGBT associa- of its most popular sculptures, ‘Cou- the historical cultural heritage of
tion Colega-Torremolinos and was ple Sunbathing’, by Elena Laverón, Benalmádena. Elena Laverón said
attended by the councillor for equal- has been renovated and installed she was “very pleased” with the
ity, Aida Blanes, who said, “We will in the Parque de los Limones. council’s decision to relocate the
stand together to fight homopho- The limestone sculpture, carved sculpture in the park, while the
bia at all levels”. by the Malaga artist in 1972, was mayor pointed out the importance
More than 50 people joined the originally situated in the Plaza de of making it available for residents
protest, chanting ‘no a la transpho- Uniting against homophobia in light of recent assault. :: TONY BRYANT las Tres Culturas, but had been re- and locals to admire once again.
bia’ to highlight the attack of Alex moved a few years previous for “The recovery of this sculpture
and Tara, a young transsexual cou- saulted when she tried to intervene. nos, Santiago Rubio, said, “Alex restoration work. gives us great satisfaction to have it
ple who, as stated in the complaint The couple said they have suf- and Tara are in a state of stress and The inauguration was attended on display again in our town after
filed with the police, were punched fered continual homophobic abuse shock. It is terrible that we con- by the sculptor, and Victor Navas, such a long absence.” The relocation
and kicked by a neighbour. from the neighbour, who, they tinue to witness acts as reprehen- the Mayor of Benalmádena, who of the sculpture is part of the town
The accused is said to have at- claim, called them “poofters and sible as these events, because we said that the statue had remained hall’s initiative to redevelop the Par-
tacked Alex as he waited for the ele- pigs” simply because of their sex- live in a very diverse town that is “forgotten and abandoned” in a que de los Limones, which will in-
vator, and his partner, who was ual orientation. usually tolerant towards the LGBT workshop due to the “neglect” of clude the renovation of the old
alerted by his screams, was also as- President of Colega-Torremoli- community.” the former council. fountain and the water mill.