News
“ Train ” incident
An enquiry opened in Antequera last month after a worker was left clinging to a balcony . The town ’ s tourist “ train ” suffered a problem , resulting in the second car skidding and knocking away his ladder . The worker was reported to have been rescued uninjured .
Body found
The body of a 49-year-old man was found close to Málaga ’ s cathedral last month . The grim discovery was made in calle Císter within the cathedral gardens and police opened an investigation , but revealed that the body showed no evidence of violence . The dead man is understood to have been living rough in the area .
Beach bag
Local police in Torrox say so far this summer they have removed 250 items left unattended on the town ’ s beaches with the object of reserving space for their owners . In 2014 , Torrox became the first resort in Málaga to ban such practice and objects removed this year include sunshades , chairs , towels , mats and even children ’ s pushchairs . Owners must pay € 30 to reclaim their goods .
Festival success
Last month ’ s Oktoberfest in Torrox beat all records , according to tourism councillor Sandra Extremera . She said the numbers attending were estimated at 40,000 , up 5,000 on the 2016 event . During the weekend , local restaurant owner Ferdinand Teuffel Von Birkensee became the first recipient of a new honour , “ German of the year ,” for his work in helping organise the last three annual beer festivals .
Ambassador out
North Korea ’ s ambassador to Spain has been ordered to leave the country by September 30 . Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said last month the move was in response to the nuclear tests and missiles of the Kim Jong-un regime . He explained that the Spanish government regarded these as a , “ serious threat to international peace and security .”
Language debate
Spain ’ s airline pilots want an exception to be made to a new EU regulation coming into force on October 12 which requires all communications between aircraft and control towers to be made in English . Their union is pressing the government to allow Spanish to be used whenever possible . A meeting on the issue last month was described as “ very positive .”
Fire causes Málaga airport chaos
A major fire at a recycling plant in Málaga last month caused traffic chaos near the airport after thick , black smoke forced the MA-23 access road to be closed . The elevated 1.5 kilometres of roadway remained out of use until 3.30pm the following day while technical checks were made on the integrity of the support pillars following the blaze .
The outbreak began at the premises of Recisur , an integrated waste management business on the Villa Rosa industrial estate which lies adjacent to the MA-23 . After the alarm was raised at about 2.55pm , Málaga fire crews were joined by colleagues from Torremolinos and Benalmádena with around 50 fire-fighters on site at the height of the emergency . A neighbouring car hire firm was forced to move 60 of its vehicles out of
Waiting lists for surgery in public hospitals in both Málaga and Granada have lengthened in the last 12 months , according to SAS , the Andalucía health service . New data released last month show that patients in both provinces suffered waiting times for non-urgent surgery in excess of the average for the region .
In the year to June 30 , the wait in Málaga averaged 72 days compared 67 days in the previous year , while in Granada it was an average 88 days , compared with 74 days , 12 months earlier . Both were longer than the regional average of 66 days which was seven days longer than a year earlier . The number of patients on non-urgent waiting lists at the end of the year totalled 9,626 in Málaga and 7,735 in Granada .
Waiting times in Granada are the second longest in the region after Huelva ( 102 days ), while the province has the third largest number of patients waiting for surgery after Sevilla danger while a parking lot storing private cars left by travellers who had flown out of Málaga was also hastily cleared . Fire crews also prevented the flames reaching flammable alcohol deposits in a cellar of the nearby Bodega Quitapenas .
Although no-one has been reported injured , many motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles to escape the smoke which seriously reduced visibility on the MA-23 and were in danger of missing their flights .
A similar fire previously caused damage to the MA-23 which was then under construction , since when neighbouring businesses have been expressing concern about the amount of flammable material which is stored at the recycling plant awaiting processing .
Waiting lists lengthen in 12 months
( 16,639 ) and Málaga . All provinces have also recorded longer delays for those awaiting a first consultation with a medical specialist .
Despite the lengthening of waiting lists , the SAS says the figures are positive because they are better than the national figures published by the Health Ministry . It stressed that only one region , the Basque Country , had shorter waiting times than Andalucía despite the fact that this region has the largest population of all Spain ’ s 17 autonomous communities .
Beach complaint
The Málaga prosecutor has referred a complaint about Nerja ’ s playa Burriana to the courts in Torrox . A local businessman claims waste water is being discharged into a water course which runs past his restaurant into the sea , causing bad smells and the presence of insects in the summer months . He says the nuisance is affecting his business by deterring clients from staying .
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