M&S Málaga
Top British retailer Marks & Spencer has
announced the opening of a new outlet in
the city of Málaga before the end of the
year. It is to be on the site of a former shoe
shop in the city centre at calle Nueva, 36.
M&S presently has two shops on the
peninsula: one at the La Cañada Centre in
Marbella and the other in Gibraltar.
School expansion
Planning is underway to expand the
Enrique Ginés school in Frigiliana which
presently has a capacity of 300 pupils.
However, population growth in the area
suggests that it will soon have to cater for
400 children. Representatives from the
town hall met the regional education
department last month to discuss the
provision of new classrooms.
Driving offences
Illegal use of mobile phones has exceeded
excess alcohol or drugs in the number of
driving offences recorded in Málaga, while
speeding remains in first place. Between
January and August this year, 10,268
drivers of the 19,000 sanctioned in the
province were fined for speeding, followed
by 3,334 for using a phone which is not
hands-free. Tráfico wants it to be made
mandatory for drivers to switch their
phones into airplane mode before driving.
5G arrives
The first international video call using new
5G telecoms technology was made between
Málaga and London last month. Telefónica
worked with handset manufacturer
Huawei to make the historic link. The 5G
protocol, which is presently in a testing
phase, allows data transfer of at least ten
gigabytes per second, which is ten times
faster than the present 4G technology.
Circus slammed
An animal protection group has accused
the touring Roma Dola Circus of keeping
animals in “devastating” conditions. The
Granada Federation of Animal Protection
Associations said the creatures were
suffering from physical, mental and health
abuses. In September, Granada declared
the province to be “free of animal abuse”
but only four regions nationwide
(Cataluñya, the Balearic Islands, Galicia
and Murcia) operate an outright ban on
animal circuses.
Cleansing dispute
Workers for the municipal cleansing
company in Torrox have held a series of
demonstrations in the town. Employees of
Livitemsa are angered that their collective
employment agreement expired in 2015
and that a new one is being blocked. They
are demanding a pay increase of 6% and
two days off each week.
Nutri-Score arrives
in Spain
A new label has started to
appear on packaged food items
sold in Spain with the object of
helping to fight against the
increases recorded in
cardiovascular disease, obesity
and diabetes. The Nutri-Score
symbol aims to promote the
choice of healthier products by
shoppers.
The guide has been introduced at the
request of major food producers and
has been in use on a voluntary basis in
France since last year, while Belgium
adopted it four months ago. The system
uses algorithms to balance “good”
nutrients against “bad” nutrients per
100 grams, and gives each product a
rating on a five-point scale from A to E.
A product showing the dark green A
rating indicates it has the “best
nutritional quality,” with the least
sugar, saturated fats and salt, while the
dark orange E rating indicates high
levels of these ingredients. The A rating
also implies the product includes high
quantities of favourable ingredients,
such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, oil
seeds, fibre and proteins.
The label began appearing in Spanish
shops during November and the
Health Ministry in Madrid says it will
take a year to roll out fully, but will
become compulsory during next year.
However, a number of major
producers, including Coca-Cola, Nestlé
and Unilever are reported to be
opposing the Nutri-Score system in
favour of a competing system
developed by a French consumer
group, although critics claim it is based
on “unrealistic” portion sizes.
Gang warfare continues
along the coast
A settling of accounts between rival
gangs has been cited as the reason
behind another killing on the Costa
del Sol last month. The attack took
place on November 20 at around
8.20pm in the luxury Nagueles
residential area of Marbella and was
the latest in a string of violent
incidents in recent months. A recent report by the Interior
Ministry noted that gang-related
killings in the province of Málaga
almost doubled in the first nine
months of the year to a total of 15,
compared with eight last year. Police
say most of the activity is centred on
the coastal strip between Fuengirola
and Estepona.
The victim, described simply as a
“middle-aged foreigner,” was hit by
several burst of gunfire as he arrived at
the garage of his home in calle Pizarra.
An individual was then seen fleeing
from the scene on a motorcycle. In October, a 29-year-old man was
abducted in Estepona and was later
found dead with a bullet wound in
Algeciras. Two weeks later, explosive
devices detonated almost
simultaneously at a house in Benahavis
and in a car-wash in San Pedro de
Alcantara, both of which belong to the
same person, but no-one was injured.
Later in the month, a Dutch national,
who had been detained previously in
connection with a bomb planted in
Marbella which was defused by Tedax,
was shot dead as he dined at a
restaurant in Torremolinos.
Police who arrived on the scene found
the victim lying dead in a pool of blood
and alerted the unit which specialises
in fighting organised crime. First
indications suggested that the gunman
had followed the victim home and
attacked him in a quiet, unlit area,
using an AK-47 assault rifle.
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