Torrox Costa – Moped Party

Dozens of mopeds are expected to gather in Torrox Costa on Sunday as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Vespa brand. Lambretta owners will join specially organised groups riding from the centre of Málaga and Vélez-Málaga and congregating close to the Riu Ferrara Hotel from 11.00 h. Torrox's office of tourism will supply riders with a lunch of migas and sardines, followed by live entertainment through the afternoon and an awards ceremony for the outstanding scooters and their owners.

Alhaurín de la Torre – New Fire Station

Alhaurín de la Torre's new fire station is scheduled to open this week, at premises on the industrial estate, which have been ceded by the council for this purpose. However, the local authority hopes these will only be temporary premises, as it is hoping to receive funds from the Junta de Andalucía to build a large fire station in the Viñagrande area.

Roquetas de Mar – Award For Cleanliness

The town of Roquetas de Mar has been awarded the ’Silver Broom’ Award, in recognition of its cleanliness and concern about the environment. The award was presented to a Town Hall delegation at the Town Planning and Environmental Fair in Madrid last week.

Pedro Antonio López Gómez, the councillor responsible for waste disposal in Roquetas, says the town plans to compete for the ‘Golden Broom’ Award at the next fair in two years’ time.

Editors’ note: Maybe Benalmádena could learn something from them!

Málaga – New High Occupancy Road Lane

The Ministry for Development is going ahead with plans to make a new parallel road on the A-7 into Málaga only for buses and cars with three or more occupants. The restricted section of the road will have two 3.5m wide lanes and is expected to take 1,436 vehicles an hour at peak times. It will run the 11 kms from La Colina to the Avenida de Andalucía and will cost 45 million €. The lanes will be known as the VAO – Vehicles with High Occupation – and will mean a widening of the A7 by 9.5 metres along the route. Construction is expected to take ten months, and a study claims it will solve the daily peak time traffic problems on the access to Málaga.

Benalmádena – Time to Modernise

Benalmádena council is planning to change the image of the Plaza Solymar and increase its commercial activity. A recent council meeting approved the changed regulations last week, and the mayor, Enrique Bolín, says this means that shops can be opened in premises beneath the apartments in Avenida Antonio Machado, between the boundary with Torremolinos and Las Gaviotas building. El Puerto hotel is also to be demolished, and a four-storey building with underground car parking will be built in its place. This will have shops on the ground floor as discotheques and bars will not be permitted, and apartments above.

Changes to the Urban Plan will also mean obsolete buildings can be updated to create new pedestrian areas and parking spaces. The council's intention is that the bars currently in the Plaza Solymar will be converted into commercial premises, and that buildings such as the Hotel España and the Granada will be modernised.

Editors’ note: A clean and tidy up would not go amiss either!

Almería - Skyscraper Project

A meeting of Almería City Hall on Tuesday is likely to give the go ahead to a project to build a 30 storey building on Avenida del Mediterráneo.

City Hall plan to build a bus depot on the 9,000 square metres of land in El Puche that they will receive from the promoter, Joigca, in return for ceding the municipally-owned part of the site.

The Council also gets one floor of the 30-storey building, destined for municipal use, as well as a payment of around 925,000 €.

Murcia & Almería – Leapt in Popularity with British Home-Buyers

A report, prepared by Barclay's Bank and the IESE business school at Navarra University, shows that the number of Britons resident in Murcia has risen by 46 per cent in the last year. This makes it the fastest growing such community in Spain, although it still lags behind Alicante, Málaga and the Balearics in terms of numbers.
The study predicts that property prices in Almería will not peak until 2008, making it presently an attractive proposition for those considering investing in a second home. The province's population increased by 32,000 last year, mainly, it says, as a result of the buoyant housing market.

Nationally, the number of British subjects registered at Town Halls across Spain was 270,000 at the start of this year, a rise of more than 28 per cent on 12 months earlier. However, while Spain remains the choice of about two-thirds of Britons who decide to buy abroad, it is coming under increasing pressure from competitors. France is the third most popular country with those who have retired; Florida does not present a language barrier while some of the newer EU countries are regarded as potential expansion areas for the future.

Ronda – Golf Project in Jeopardy

Ecologists are warning that properties on a planned golf course development in Ronda should not be offered for sale because, they say, the project will never come to fruition. According to Silvema-Ecologistas en Acción, the golf course and residential complex at Los Merinos Norte cannot go ahead because it is legally unviable, and anybody who is considering buying a property there should be aware that they could face problems.

The environmentalists have been battling against this project for the past 14 years, and insist that they have no intention of giving up the fight even though the developers claim the project has been approved. According to Silvema-Ecologistas en Acción, public officials and water experts advise against the construction because it could affect the quality and the supply of water to the villages of Cuevas del Becerro and Arriate. The group also claims that the report into the environmental impact of the project, which was drawn up by the Junta de Andalucía in 1994, does not permit more than 25% of the land being transformed, but says the developers intend to carry out works that would affect the whole site. The project includes two golf courses, three hotels, 442 villas on plots of between 4,500 and 20,000 square metres, and a further 341 homes, and its construction would create 1,000 jobs.

The mayor of Ronda has approved the project by decree, but the water authorities have refused permission for water to be taken from Los Merinos aquifers and the council will now have to decide how town water could be transferred to the site, which is 12 kilometres from the centre of Ronda, and who would pay for it. In the meantime, work has already begun to fence off the land and create accesses to it, but the many people who are opposed to the project say they will not be put off by this, and they are determined that it will be stopped.

Vistas del Lago – New Development

This new development is located in los Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz and consists of 51 lovely apartments and penthouses with 2 beds and 2 baths, fully fitted kitchen, tennis court, children’s play area, fully installed Air Conditioning and pre-installation of alarm, satellite system, and under floor heating.

Prices start from €174,815.

Payment Terms are: 6.000€ Deposit, 10% PPC, 20% During Construction, and 70% on Completion.

Alhambra los Granados – New Development

Alhambra los Granados - This luxurious development is located in Sotogrande and consists of 49 lovely apartments and penthouses with 2 to 4 bedrooms, fully fitted kitchen, security entry door, smoke detectors connected to security control centre, anti-intruder sensors and emergency buttons, Satellite TV antennas compatible with digital channels, private heated swimming pools in all penthouses, safe in master bedroom and more.

This development has stunning views, close to all amenities and its only 200 metres from the beach and 100 metres from the shops.

Prices start from €535,000.

Payment Terms are: 20% PPC, 20% During Construction, and 60% on Completion.

Algeciras – Feria

Algeciras' major feria is under way, an event that is deemed of national tourist interest. The town hall has produced a special brochure showing all the attractions and it has also organised a free bus service that will operate over three lines covering most of the municipality. Free buses will run between 22.00 and 02.00 to and from the feria ground. The National Police is employing special security measures for the events including the use of a helicopter so that all zones of the fair can be kept under surveillance plus a special unit of 40 officers that will work with the local police and Guardia Civil.

Fuengirola – New Green Zone

Plans to remodel the central España park in Fuengirola will mean that the area gains 300 square metres of green zone. The new styled park will form the entrance and surrounds to the town's new town hall that is also being constructed on an adjacent site. The new park will have five distinct zones, the latest lighting techniques and a budget of 534,000 euros.

Málaga – Schools To Open Over Summer

100 colleges in Málaga province are to open their doors over the summer to some 20,000 children. The regional government are making the premises available and paying for their security, while the local town halls are taking charge of the activities being made on offer. Teaching and psychology experts are advising parents that it is better for their children to maintain some form of education during the long summer holiday break. The school year for 200,000 infant, primary and secondary pupils ended last Friday

Málaga – New Building Includes 40 Storey Skyscraper

Málaga City Hall will collect 106 million € in income thanks to the reclassifications of two building plots in the city, making them open for development.

The Málaga town planners will today approve three plans to reclassify what were the old Repsol, Telefónica and Cofecciones Sur factories in the city.

On these sites 2,400 homes are to be built, 641 of them council housing. There are also plans for a 40 storey skyscraper on the Repsol site!

The opposition in the City Hall have criticised the changes in the current PGOU Urban Plan when the initial approval of the new PGOU is just over a month away.

El Alquián– Coastal Authorities Invest 4 Million €

The El Alquián area of Almería will start to undergo a dramatic change over coming months, with 4 million € of investment from central government in a project which will reclaim 4.7 kilometres of coastline for public use.

It affects the area between Perdigal and el Toyo beaches, and includes building recreation areas, car parks, look-out points, and a footpath and bicycle lane along the entire length of the coast. The beaches will be made more accessible, with lighting and new green areas.

The project has been designed by the Coastal Authorities, which comes under the Environment Ministry in Madrid.

It will take a year to complete once the contract has been awarded.

Benalmádena – Urban Plan Revision

The Junta de Andalucía's Public Works Department in Málaga has welcomed the news that Benalmádena council is to start revising its Urban Plan to make sure it complies with the new Andalucian Land Law. In April the mayor of Benalmádena, Enrique Bolín, announced that he was not going to revise the Plan, which was drawn up in 2003, because he considered that it already complied with the 'Ley del Suelo de Andalucía', but last week he said it had not been done before because the opportune moment had not arisen. He also pointed out that the local authorities have until 2007 to carry out the revision.

Costa del Sol – Boost in Singapore

Taking advantage of its presence at the AIME Fair in Australia, representatives of the Tourist Board’s Convention Bureau made a presentation of the Costa del Sol in Singapore, with special emphasis on its offer related to meetings and incentive tourism. This promotion, the result of a joint effort between the Convention Bureau and the Spanish Tourism Office in Singapore, was made up of informative courses for the employees of three big agencies, a presentation made in the Qatar Airways office for its most select clients, and a series of Open Days in the Spanish Tourism Office.

For the rest of the year, a group has confirmed a visit to Marbella through the Travelgolf agency. Most of those coming to the Costa del Sol are opinion-makers, although the majority of the requests to bring groups to this country will be made in 2007, owing to the growing reputation of the Costa del Sol as a prime destination in this valuable market. New for this year is the direct flight by Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Barcelona, which will be scheduled for three days per week beginning in July. There will also be a Qatar Airways flight uniting Singapore with Doha and Madrid, also three times a week. Other viable connections through European cities are also available.

Ardales – 400 New Homes

Ardales council has approved a new project to build 400 new homes, a 200-bedroom hotel and commercial premises in the municipality. The development will be built on a 580,000 square metre site in the Moronta area, and will also include an equestrian centre and social club. Under the terms of the agreement 30% of the properties will be social housing, and it is possible that these may be built on a different site, nearer the village. This is the third development project approved by Ardales council recently, as 2,000 homes have been authorised in La Laja area and another 1,500 are to be built at Cortijo San Miguel.

Mijas – Huge Real Estate Investment

Lar Sol and Morgan Stanley are investing 600 million € in what is being described as ‘Europe’s largest golfing resort.’ Desarrollos Lar Sol MS SL, jointly owned by the real estate funds which Morgan Stanley manages, and by Lar Sol, is buying almost one million square metres of land in La Cala Resort, in Mijas. Their project includes more than 2,000 homes, a five-star hotel, restaurants, and leisure and commercial premises.

They have started two other projects in Málaga province since their alliance for investment and development of the housing sector on the Spanish coastline was formed just over a year ago. Those projects are in Estepona and Casares. They have other ongoing projects in Alicante and Murcia.

Benalmádena – The New Marbella?

The cases of town planning irregularities have been multiplying in the provinces of Cádiz, Jaén, Málaga and Seville, according to Network of Environmental Prosecutors, TSJA. At a meeting in Granada on Friday, their coordinator, Luis Carlos Rodríguez, said the increase in cases did not necessarily mean more crime was taking place, only that more was being detected. The report from the group described Benalmádena in danger of becoming ‘the new Marbella’ because of the town planning irregularities taking place there.

Meanwhile the Partido Popular have invited the current independent Mayor of Benalmádena, Enrique Bolín, to return to the fold and lead their candidate list in the town in the next municipal elections in May 2007. Bolín used to be a PP Mayor and Senator, but was expelled from the party after he was arrested in Gibraltar with 28 grams of Cocaine and pornographic videos. An initial four month prison sentence was finally reduced to a 150,000 pound fine.

La Manga Beach Club – New Development

La Manga Beach Club is an exclusive beachfront development of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom luxury apartments and duplex penthouses, located in one of the most sought-after areas in the Murcia region.

Situated right on the golden sands and comprising just four west-facing blocks, the project’s modern glass architecture is as unique as its location. Designed to maximize views across the Mar Menor, the geometric shapes and reflective qualities of the glass echo the sea, sunlight and natural beauty of the area.

The apartments enjoy a high specification and quality finish throughout and each comes with a private car parking space. In-house facilities include a gym, sports areas, pool and beach bar.

The development is well-served by a superb range of local amenities including a supermarket, café, pharmacy and 9-hole golf course and driving range right on your doorstep, whilst the elegant Puerto Tomás Maestre nearby offers a wide range of banks, shops eateries and bars, as well as a selection of berths for yachting enthusiasts.

The location is a sporting enthusiast’s dream, providing easy access to all manner of water sports within the calm waters of the Mar Menor and some of the very best golf courses in Spain nearby. And for those who prefer a slower pace of life, Murcia’s rich cultural heritage just begs to be discovered.

Brisas del Golf – New Phase

Brisas del Golf A new phase of Brisas del Golf consisting of 37 lovely apartments has been recently launched. This urbanisation is situated in the mountains of Sierra de Mijas a mere 30 minutes from Malaga airport, 15 min from the beach and a few minutes away from Mijas and Alhaurín el Grande.

It is surrounded by wide open spaces in a unique natural environment just in front of the Natural Park and World Reserve of the Biosphere, Sierra de las Nieves. This is living at its best in the mountains and close to the sea.

The apartments have large terraces, communal swimming pool, ample gardens, and parking spaces. These units will enjoy fantastic views into the Golf Course, lakes and mountains.

Prices start from €216,000.