Fake doctor
A man who practiced as a
physiotherapist and rehabilitative
physician in Málaga city centre for 15
years has been jailed for three years. His
qualifications, including a dozen
certificates on his surgery wall and
framed articles about his work for sports
clubs including Atlético de Madrid, have
all been found to be fakes. Last month, a
court ordered the reduction of his
original sentence of over six years for
his offences.
Fake goods
Over 1,700 articles seized from a
warehouse in Málaga’s Guadalhorce
industrial estate have been found to be
fakes. Police say all were copies of well-
known goods advertised on television
following complaints from a North
American company. Officers arrested
five Chinese nationals, a Moroccan and a
Spanish man of Pakistani origin.
Police claims
Unions representing local police officers
have denounced the situation the force
finds itself in in Vélez-Málaga. They
claim 103 officers have to share a dozen
bullet-proof jackets, patrol vehicles are
old and regularly break down, and
communications systems are
inadequate. They say that old demands
remaining unresolved affect the safety
of officers.
Raisin day
The town council in Almachar is
considering declaring April 19 as the
“International Day of the Axarquía
Raisin.” PSOE councillor Antonio Yuste
says the cultivation of muscatel grapes,
“is essential in maintaining the
landscape, prevents erosion and
desertification, and is an example of
how to inform people about the region’s
territory and cultural traditions.”
Axarquía raisins were recently
recognised by the UN as “agricultural
heritage.”
Self testing
Málaga Town Hall wants city bars to
install vending machines for dispensing
tests for so-called “date rape” drugs. The
Council has a budget of €40,000 for the
project which will allow drinkers to test
their own drinks using a drinking straw
which changes colour when it detects
suspect drugs. Bar owners will be given
subsidies for installing or buying the
machines.
Demand for end to
water restrictions
Farmers and growers in the Axarquía
are calling on the regional government
to lift the restrictions on irrigation
which it imposed to save water. The
reservoir at La Viñuela is reported to
be 45% full with 74.62 cubic
hectometres of water, compared with
63.9 hm3 in May last year, thanks to
heavy spring rains.
A reduction of 60% in water for
irrigation was relaxed in December and
volumes available for April and May
were agreed. The Junta agreed to meet
later to re-evaluate the situation with a
view to increasing the water available.
At present, a 25% cut is in force for
irrigation and users believe that the
this should now be relaxed further.
The management committee says it
La Viñuela reservoir
would ask the regional Ministry of
Environment and Planning to restore
supplies to the same level as in
previous years. A decision was
expected before the end of May.
Vélez parking row
over fines
A row broke out in Vélez-Málaga
during May after police issued parking
fines to the owners of around 30
vehicles. Three trades unions who
represent almost all staff at the town
hall denounced the “double standards”
displayed by the town’s PSOE mayor,
Antonio Moreno Ferrer. The parking
tickets were issued overnight in areas
with narrow streets, many without
pavements, and where no formal
parking areas exist. These include La
Mata, the La Villa and Viña Málaga in
Torre del Mar.
According to the unions, mayor Ferrer,
who lives in La Mata, was angered and
began an investigation into the action
of the local police officers. Residents
say that the following day, police
patrols took no action against vehicles
which were parked illegally.
The town hall says that residents must
abide by traffic and parking rules.
However, it admits there are parking
problems in some areas and says
technicians are working on providing
18
new official parking areas.
Rail records
High-speed AVE trains between Málaga
and Madrid carried a record 2.4 million
passengers last year. However, data
from rail operator Renfe also show
there were a record number of delays
with 67 services arriving 30 minutes or
more late, although these represent
under 1% of all trains operated.
Experts say that one act of vandalism,
such as the theft of cabling, can cause
delays to several trains.
Slow high-speed
High-speed trains between Antequera
and Granada will not exceed 200kph in
their first months of operation. Higher
speeds will only be permitted when
installation of the European Rail Traffic
Management system has been
completed. This means an increase of
about ten minutes on journey times
along the new AVE line when it opens to
passenger traffic in a few weeks time.