News
Bathing restricted after pipe breaks
Around 200 metres of Nerja ’ s biggest beach was closed to bathers last month after a fractured pipe began discharging raw sewage into the sea . The western end of Playa Burriana was cordoned off by local police until the pipe was mended .
The problem was first discovered on September 20 and the town hall acted swiftly to prevent anyone getting into the nearby area as a precaution . It is believed that recent heavy rain resulted in some land movement which in turn caused the pipe to break .
Nerja ’ s mayor , Rosa Arrabal of the PSOE , said such problems with the pipe had happened before , and she regretted the “ inconvenience ” caused by the partial closure of the beach . However , she added that an € 87,000 project to protect the area had been shelved as the socialists , who govern in a minority , did not have the support of other groups at the town hall . In response , the opposition Partido Popular immediately blamed the “ irresponsibility ” of mayor Arrabal
The regional government is to take control of three new wells constructed in the upper reaches of the Chillar river near Nerja . However , there are claims that the resource was originally intended to be managed by local provider Axaragua .
The Junta considers the wells to be a “ structural ” resource and as such will be managed by the Environment Ministry . It says it has invested € 3 million in the last year to ensure adequate drinking water supplies and it expects the new wells to be ceded to them by the Mancomunidad , the association of east coast municipalities .
It adds that the wells could generate between five and seven hectares of water a year , and will be brought into use when necessary and when resources held in the La Viñuela reservoir are falling low . The reservoir
Burriana closed 21 September 2018
and her inability to manage .
Meanwhile , at the other end of Playa Burriana , work is progressing well on the construction of the station which will pump the town ’ s sewage up to the new water treatment plant on the N- 340 between Nerja and Maro . First tests are expected early next year , and once fully operational , the new facility will render the old infrastructure , including last month ’ s broken pipe , redundant .
Regional control for Nerja ’ s new wells
is presently at around 36 per cent capacity .
Water from the wells will be sold to Axargua , the Junta says , as happens with water from the reservoir . However , it remains unclear when the new wells will be put into use or whether this would require a drought being formally declared .
Nerja ’ s business association AEN , along with a number of farmers in Nerja and Frigiliana , claim that the draft agreement on the wells submitted by Nerja Town Hall stated that they would be managed by Axargua ,
Illegal arrivals
Police in Nerja were alerted shortly after 10.00am on September 13 when a boat carrying illegal immigrants arrived at a rocky outcrop near La Torrecilla beach . About a dozen individuals are reported to have leapt into the sea and run across the sand amongst holidaymakers into Plaza Los Cangrejos . The boat was left adrift with the engine running . Apparently they were all eventually apprehended by the authorities .
Fall injury
A 63-year-old man was injured in Torrox last month after falling from a height of four metres . The emergency services were alerted to the incident at a country property on the inland road to Frigiliana and found the victim lying in a field . He was taken to the Axarquía Hospital in Vélez-Málaga but is not believed to have suffered serious injuries .
Running again
A former socialist mayor of Vélez- Málaga has confirmed he will run again for the office in next year ’ s municipal elections , but not as a PSOE candidate . Antonio Souvirón was the town ’ s leader from 1996 to 2007 , but has switched allegiance to the group Por Mi Pueblo ( For my town ) founded in 2015 by the mayor of Benamocarra , Abdeslam Lucena . Souvirón said he had left the socialist PSOE party which he joined in 1981 because he was , “ tired of justifying the unjustifiable .”
Campsite death
A 70-year-old British man has been found dead at a campsite in La Zubía , south of Granada . The alert was raised by another British visitor at 7.00am when he found the victim to be unresponsive . While police activated the usual protocol in such circumstances , it was being reported that the victim had suffered a heart attack .
Caught twice
A 55-year-old Málaga man has been stopped twice in ten days for driving while five times over the alcohol limit . Police in the city first caught him riding his moped erratically after being alerted by a member of the public to his dangerous driving . On the second occasion he was found late at night travelling abnormally slowly and has already been banned from driving with further charges to follow .
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