Another delay for
Nerja’s health centre
Nerja’s mayor has reacted angrily to
news that a decision on the town’s
future health centre has been delayed
until next year. Regional health
delegate Ana Isabel Gonzalez
announced last month that work was
continuing on “adapting the site,” the
fourth suggested over 15 years, so
funding would not be considered until
2019.
In February last year, the regional
government’s delegate in Málaga, José
Luis Ruiz Espejo, visited Nerja to
announce that the town’s new health
centre would be built in the area at the
eastern end of the town on open land
close to Supersol supermarket and
opposite the Nerja Club Hotel. He
indicated then that the project would
be reactivated “as soon as possible,”
and was the, “culmination of the
negotiations and working meetings in
recent months.”
Until then, it was assumed that the new
facility would be built on a site on the
east bank of the Chillar river near the
town centre which Nerja Town Hall
ceded to the Junta de Andalucía in
2010 and spent €500,000 on preparing
the land for construction. However, it
remains undeveloped and continues to
be used as a large, informal parking
area.
The deputy mayor for El Morche,
Maria Angeles Ruiz, adds that both
municipal technicians and the
Delegation of Health have
demonstrated the feasibility of
enlarging the present centre by renting
local annexes. She has explained that
the facility will be expanded by more
than 200 square metres, doubling the
The chief lieutenant of Nerja’s Guardia
Civil barracks was hospitalised with a
pelvic injury last month following an
accident involving a car driven by a
former town councillor. The vehicle’s
driver, 77-year-old Expedito Cabra,
collided with the officer at a traffic
control point on the access roundabout to
playa Burriana on avenida de Pescia. The
driver said he had been “distracted.”
Repairs planned
pic: Dave Jamieson
Possible new site for health centre
Nerja has invited tenders for a €185,000
project to make repairs to the 18th
century Ermita de Nuestra Señora de las
Angustias. The regional government is
financing 54% of the three-month
upgrade. The 1720 building houses
paintings of great artistic value, including
a portrait of Nerja’s patron saint and
frescoes of the 18th century Granada
school, but humidity has been
endangering its cultural heritage.
Carer accosted
News of yet another delay to the
project left Nerja mayor Rosa Arrabal
unamused. She claimed that the Junta
de Andalucía has previously told her
that it approved the new site and that it
would get final clearance once the
town’s urban development plan was
amended. National Police in Málaga have detained
an 86-year-old man alleged to have
sexually accosted a care assistant who
looked after his wife on a daily basis. The
worker complained to her employer that
the suspect exposed himself to her and
used obscene language. She is reported to
have required medical treatment and was
forced to leave her job.
The Junta’s health delegate, however,
argued that the regional government
was, “taking steps in the right
direction.” Ana Isabel Gonzalez added
an assurance that its commitment to
Nerja and the improvement of the
town’s health infrastructure in the
municipality is “firm.” Attacks protest
El Morche health centre
expands
Contracts were signed last month on
long-term rentals which will allow the
expansion of the health centre in El
Morche. The mayor of Torrox, Oscar
Medina, says the move is the first step
towards satisfying the demands of
residents for an improved service.
Officer hospitalised
current area, which will allow for new
services and, “significantly improve
health care to patients.”
Mayor Medina says that the new El
Morche health centre will have, in
addition to primary care consultations,
nursing and paediatrics, including
facilities for group health education in
preparation for childbirth, as well
improved reception functions. The
centre, serving an area which doubles
its population during the summer
holiday period, will now be renovated
in two phases: the new space will be
prepared first, with the existing
facilities upgraded later.
9
Unions in Iznalloz, north of Granada, held
a protest last month following attacks on
health professionals in the municipality. A
doctor was assaulted on March 7 and a
suspect who allegedly threatened and
attacked another doctor at the town’s
health centre has been detained. The
regional health service said only 23
convictions were obtained from the 76
attacks recorded in Granada last year.
Couple reunited
Málaga taxi drivers helped a Brazilian
man find his wife who suffers from
Alzheimer’s disease and went missing on
a visit to the city. The couple, who arrived
on a cruise, were separated while visiting
the Alcazaba. With only an hour to go
before their liner left, the woman’s
description was broadcast to all drivers
and she was quickly found.
Dangerous selfie
A 14-year-old girl, rescued from the
eighth floor of an apartment block in
Barcelona, had been hanging from a
concrete beam so h