THE OLDEST BREED OF HORSE IN EUROPE

The Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) has said that the wild horses known as retuertas which live in the Doñana Nature Reserve are the oldest breed of horse in Europe. The authors of the CSIC's genetic study said the 60-strong herd of retuertas which are found nowhere else but Doñana is the last wild horse population in Europe to live in complete isolation from other breeds. They said their study is drumming up support for the retuertas horse to be recognised as a breed native to Andalusia.

SPAIN HAS THE MOST BLUE FLAGS

Despite the fact that the European Commission has suspended the water quality of 14 beaches in Spain - five of them on the Costa del Sol - the country continues to have the most blue flags in the world, a total of 499 this year, or one in seven beaches. A total of 77 marinas have also been awarded the flag. Galicia, which has fully recovered from the Prestige oil tanker disaster of Novemeber 2002, is now the region with the most blue flags for beach quality - 127 - followed by Cataluña with 108, Valencia with 107 and Andalucia with 72. Of the islands the Balearics have 80 and the Canaries 30.

40 MEGAWATT SOLAR PLANT PLANNED

Ronda could have a huge solar electricity site in the future, if a project by a Catalán company is approved by the authorities. The 40 megawatt plant would be the biggest in Andalucía and acting mayor of Ronda Antonio Marín Lara says it would provide clean energy to the Campo de Gibraltar as well as the local area. The project would cost 300 million euros and the plant would probably be sited in the countryside near Ronda La Vieja or Serrato, in a location where it would have no environmental effect. This type of plant, which generates electricity through solar panels or modules, produces so-called clean energy because there are no CO2 or contaminatory gas emissions, no residual waste is generated, and the supply is unlimited. The mayor says the plant would be highly beneficial to Ronda, not only in terms of jobs and the local economy, but also because the town's street lighting could be supplied free of charge.

MALAGA AIRPORT PROJECTS OUT TO TENDER

The Airports Authority has just invited offers from companies interested in carrying out three major projects related to the expansion of Málaga Airport. One of these is the new airport railway station, which will be much closer to the airport than the existing one, and will be designed so that in future it will not only be used for trains on the suburban line but also for high speed trains and the Málaga metro. The station, which will cost 23 million euros, could be ready within a year. The other two projects which were put to tender last week are the multi-service network which supports the transmission of data, voice and video throughout the new terminal and the two existing passenger areas, and which will cost 21.3 million euros, and the integration system which will provide real-time information about the electrical system, luggage transportation and climatization, among other facilities. This will cost 3.2 million euros.

LAS PEDRIZAS ROAD WORKS

Resurfacing works are to be carried out on Las Pedrizas motorway in the near future, at a cost of 15.9 million euros to the Ministry of Public Works. The project will be carried out on 44.4 kilometres of the A-45 between Antequera and Málaga, from kilometres 122 and 166.4. Several layers of tarmac will be needed in some places where the road condition is particularly bad. This road is used by more than 50,000 vehicles a day, many of them lorries and buses, and the last time such works were carried out was in 2003.

NEW AVENUE BETWEEN CARTAMA AND ESTACION DE CARTAMA

The contract has now been awarded for the first phase of the construction of an avenue between Cártama village and Estación de Cártama, at a cost of 3.5 million euros. The works will consist of transforming the existing road into a wide avenue with pavements, a bicycle lane and garden areas, and this first phase will be carried out on the stretch between the Jarifa school in Cártama village and the roundabout at the intersection with the A-7057 Churriana road. It should take 17 months to complete. The new road will be twice the width of the existing one, which will ease traffic flow, and five roundabouts will be built along it to provide better access to residential areas and other roads.

AGREEMENT REACHED OVER NEW MIJAS BUSINESS PARK

The mayor of Mijas, Agustín Moreno, who has just been re-elected, announced last week that agreement has been reached in principle between the Town Hall, the Junta de Andalucía and those responsible for creating the Parque Empresarial business park. The council and the developers have decided to accept the land proposed under the terms of the POT land law, and the mayor says the new location will resolve the problem of the dwellings at La Alberquilla, will create a huge green zone and regenerate the area at the side of the river. It will also mean more land will be available for industrial and commercial use. The developers of the business park will also be able to recoup their original investment in the million and a half square metre site beside the Fuengirola-Alhaurín el Grande road. That site was declared of interest for protection under the POT, which came as a blow to those involved in the project, but Sr. Moreno says that after due consideration it has been decided that the new location has many advantages for the municipality and he believes definitive agreement will be reached in the near future. The business park will then be built to the north of La Alberquilla, and will consist of four million square metres of land, of which at least half will be for industrial use. The remainer will be residential and commercial, and will include a large green zone.

MARBELLA URBAN PLAN

Marbella's future Urban Plan includes the construction of about 30,000 homes, of which 30% will be social housing in accordance with the law. The Plan has been drawn up by the Junta de Andalucía, and does not include any new building north of the motorway apart from in areas which are already consolidated such as Los Altos de Marbella and La Cañada. The areas in which the new growth is planned are on the peripheries of existing urban areas in order to avoid creating isolated residential districts, and 51% of Marbella's land will be zoned as not suitable for building. The regional government is also concerned about the amount of traffic in Marbella, which, with a ratio of 670 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, is higher than Madrid and Sevilla. The Plan suggests pedestrianising some coastal areas, giving preference to public transport on the old N340 highway, and abolishing toll charges on the motorway in order that it can be used as a bypass. The regional government also had some other good news for the new mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, last week, as it announced that town planning powers would be returned to the council as soon as she has been sworn in as mayor on June 16th.

40 MEGAWAIT SOLAR PLANT PLANNED

Ronda could have a huge solar electricity site in the future, if a project by a Catalán company is approved by the authorities. The 40 megawatt plant would be the biggest in Andalucía and acting mayor of Ronda Antonio Marín Lara says it would provide clean energy to the Campo de Gibraltar as well as the local area. The project would cost 300 million euros and the plant would probably be sited in the countryside near Ronda La Vieja or Serrato, in a location where it would have no environmental effect. This type of plant, which generates electricity through solar panels or modules, produces so-called clean energy because there are no CO2 or contaminatory gas emissions, no residual waste is generated, and the supply is unlimited. The mayor says the plant would be highly beneficial to Ronda, not only in terms of jobs and the local economy, but also because the town's street lighting could be supplied free of charge.

4000 FINE MAY FORCE SANCTUARY TO CLOSE

A donkey sanctuary in Nerja will have to close if the council insists that it pays a 4,320 euro fine because it doesn't have the funds to do so. The voluntary organisation, which also rescues other types of animal, says the fine is unjust because it asked permission from the Town Hall when it needed to build a shelter to protect the animals and food supplies in bad weather, and was told that permission wasn't needed because this would only be a temporary structure without concrete walls, built in an agricultural area by a non profit-making organisation. Now, two and a half years later, it has been notified that it is being fined for a town planning offence. The organisation relies on donations and is run by volunteers. It works closely with the Guardia Civil's environmental squad, Seprona, and with the Local Police and has rescued about 1,000 animals and found homes for more than 600 horses and donkeys and 300 dogs and cats since 2004. The sanctuary has more than 4,000 members in the Axarquía district, and was visited by 60,000 people last year.

TRANSPORTER FIRE CLOSED TOLL ROAD

The AP-7 toll motorway near Estepona was closed in both directions for an hour on Thursday morning, after a car transporter caught fire. The vehicle was loaded with cars when part of the engine caught fire at 7.30 a.m., at kilometre 145. The fire brigade extinguished the blaze quickly, but by then a five-kilometre traffic jam had built up in the Cádiz direction, and vehicles had to be diverted along the A-7 dual carriageway. The traffic lanes were open again by 9 a.m., but there was then an accident on the A-7 at Cancelada at 10 o'clock, when two cars crashed as they were travelling towards Cádiz. Nobody was injured but the accident caused two-kilometre tailbacks.

WIND GENERATORS A HAZARD FOR GRIFFON VULTURES

Nine griffon vultures are known to have been killed or injured after colliding with the wind generators at Casares, and the Federation of Associations for the Defence of Nature (FAADN) is calling for the Junta de Andalucía's Environmental Department to do more to protect such birds. The vultures are not in danger of extinction but they are a protected species throughout Spain. The first wind generators were installed in 2002 and in April the same year they claimed their first victim, a griffon vulture who lost a wing after hitting one of the propellors. Since then, eight more of the birds have had wings amputated or ribs crushed in similar accidents, and in the latest case, which was in March, the Federation says the vulture died of starvation some time after hitting the generator and could have been saved if the authorities were more vigilant. FAADN is also opposing the installation of four wind energy parks at Cañete La Real, as a large colony of vultures is settled in the area and the death toll could be even higher than at Casares.

PROTEST BLOCKED MALAGA CITY CENTRE

The centre of Málaga was blocked for three hours on Tuesday because of a protest by residents of the Pinosol district, who are demanding a better access road. About 1500 people live in Pinosol, and only 100 or so of them took part in the demonstration but by blocking Calle Victoria, outside the Jardín de los Monos, they caused absolute chaos. The protestors wanted to illustrate the difficulties they face because their existing road is so narrow that two cars cannot pass, and by ensuring that traffic couldn't drive down Calle Victoria they certainly made their point. By 11.30 a.m . the main road through the area was completely closed off, as was the Alcazaba tunnel, while vehicles coming from the Paseo de Reding had to detour towards El Parque and those heading north were diverted down the Camino Nuevo. The traffic congestion stretched as far as the Carretería-Álamos link road and the Alameda. In 2001 a solution was thought to have been found to the access problem at Pinosol, by creating an exit via Calle Barcenillas, but this would have meant using privately owned land and the conflict between the local authority and the owners has still not been resolved. In the meantime, taxi drivers, gas bottle delivery staff and even the fire brigade are reluctant to visit the area because of the difficulties of access, and elderly people are isolated because it is too far for them to walk to public transport.

ECOLOGISTS STEP UP THEIR CAMPAIGN

The Spanish NGO Ecologistas en Acción (Ecologists in Action) went on the offensive last week with the publication of their book on eight areas in Malaga province endangered by urban growth, in which they name the developers responsible. Several of the cases mentioned in the book Paisajes amenazadas de Malaga are already in the courts. -Antequera: The group says the greatest risk here is that the town's General Urban Plan (PGOU) envisages a tripling of the population in the next five years thanks to six new urbanisations, seven golf courses and ten industrial estates. The construction of a planned airport would destroy Herrera lagoon and the streams that feed it. The anticipated growth of Antequera would also adversely affect the nearby towns of Archidona, Villanueva del Rosario and Mollina. -Axarquía: The NGO alleges that the countryside in this area is being eaten up by developers who offer small farmers astronomical prices for their land. Ecologists in Action say 65% of the area has already been urbanised and all the PGOUs of the costal towns will cement over the few green spaces left. -Malaga Hills: The biggest threat here is the Las Pedrazas highway because 24 kilometres of it will eliminate this natural barrier against floods. The NGO says the 30,000 dwellings planned in Puerto de la Torre will wreak similar damage before the highway is even built. -Sierra de la Utrera: Two quarries have been working illegally for the past 30 years in the area which is already damaged by the "biggest urban nightmare" along the coast - the Doña Julia project consisting of 6,400 houses and three golf courses on 500 hectares of land near Casares. -Coín: The NGO notes that residents' protests have blocked the Rio Grande project but denounce plan to build the Los Llanos de Matagallar urbanisation and a golf course above the aquifer that supplies the town. -Ronda: The NGO says the controversial Los Merinos urbanisation consisting of two hotels, golf courses and nearly a thousand houses on land that is part of the Sierra de las Nieves Biosphere Reserve. It notes that an illegal Formula 1 circuit has already been built. -Valle del Genal: The NGO warns that plans to pipe water from the Genal river to the coast will adversely affect the 15 towns in the area that it currently supplies. It also denounces plans to urbanise a cork tree forest near the river although it notes that none of these development plans are underway yet. -Sierra de Mijas and Alh. el Grande: Apart from the quarries which the NGO has denounced in the past, there are plans to build six golf courses and 71,000 houses on the Mijas plain (vega) and 1,500 houses and two golf courses in Barranco Blanco, a relatively untouched valley where people still hunt the wild boars.

NO MORE CAGED ANIMALS

Three young men and four girls cooped themselves up in cages in Barcelona's famous Ramblas last week to protest cruelty to animals. In addition to the many book stalls located there, Las Ramblas - which runs from the city centre down to the port area - is also home to kiosks that sells poultry, a variety of rodents and tortoises. The protesters, who belong to AnimaNaturalis, also complained that the kiosk owners ignore municipal regulations for the protection of animals that are on sale to the public, especially the one dealing with the size of the cages in which they are kept. The protest had quite a high impact because Las Ramblas is one of the busiest thoroughfares in Spain. The broad central walkway is always crowded by locals and tourists alike, attracted by the books stalls and the Barrio Chino (red light district) that it passes near the port.

HEAVY RAIN WREAKS HAVOC

The Government on Friday approved a package of emergency measures,including a 300 million euro fund,aimed at alleviating the enormous damage caused across the country by last week´s heavy rains. Most of Madrid's road tunnels were flooded and the capital's train connections with the east of the country were cut off. The rains flooded several towns in central Spain and wiped out crops worth millions of euros. The Castilla-La Mancha vineyards, which play a major economic role in the region, were destroyed and wine growers said it would take at least two years to recover the vines. Alcazar de San Juan in Ciudad Real province was particularly badly hit. Located in the heart of La Mancha, the town's 30,000 inhabitants are more used to drought but in 24 hours last week it rained more than it normally does for a whole year. Some 240 litres per square metre of rain fell in just one hour, turning the streets into rivers with the water reaching the ceilings of the houses in the worst-hit areas. Over 100 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Further north, in Alava province in the Basque country, fog caused a multiple pile-up on the N-1 in San Millán, in which one man died and 19 were injured, four of them seriously. In the south, rain has damaged about 80% of the olive groves in Jaen province, while 25 centimetres of snow fell on the Sierra Nevada in Granada, trapping two busloads of senior citizens on an excursion to Monachil for several hours. The Cabinet approved emergency measures to alleviate damage caused in Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-Leon, Andalucia, Murcia, Madrid and Extremadura.

MALAGA RECEIVES AWARD

Málaga's Palacio de Ferias y Congresos has been awarded the title of Spain's most outstanding building by the Institute for Tubular Steel Construction. The award is given annually and the congress hall was chosen for its unusual design, which was the work of architect Ángel Asenjo in cooperation with the Esteyco engineering firm. The building, which opened in 2003, is 60,000 square metres in size and is divided into two areas, one for exhibitions and fairs and the other, which is seven storeys high, contains offices.

RADAR PREVENTS ACCIDENTS

The number of traffic accidents in the areas of Málaga province where radar machines have been installed has dropped by almost half since the machines came into use. A report into the accident rate issued by the Traffic Department shows that the number of crashes in these areas has dropped from an average of 5.8 a month in the second half of 2005 to 3.6 a month so far this year. The number of people injured has also dropped, as there were 12 cases of serious injury in the second half of 2005 and 13 in the whole of 2006. There has also been a reduction in the number of fines issued for speeding. The radar machines were installed in Málaga province in July 2005, and they are at km. 246 on the A-7 at Pinares de San Antón (El Palo), in the Málaga direction; At km. 165.7 on the A-45 Las Pedrizas road in the Málaga direction and close to the Ciudad Jardín exit; at kilometre 127.5 of the A-45 travelling north, on a long and dangerous downhill stretch; at kilometre 39 on the A-357 at the Zalea crossroads, at km 200.4 of the A-7 at La Butibamba in Mijas Costa; at kilometre 204.8 on the A-7 in Fuengirola in the Málaga direction, and at km. 154.2 of the A-7 in the Málaga direction at Parque Antena (between Benahavís and Estepona). Five more radar machines are also to be installed on Málaga's roads this year.

QUARRIES TO BE REFORESTED

Work has now begun to restore the quarries at Alhaurín de la Torre after decades of use. The project includes the four quarries of Taralpe, Troconal, Retamero and Pinos de Alhaurín, which will be the first to be reforested. According to the plans for the Pinos quarry, the 34 hectare site will be converted into 27 terraces with approximately 10,000 trees and more than 13,000 shrubs and plants, and an extensive irrigation system.

HEAT HITS MALAGA

After it looked as if the winter would never end, Malaga city had its hottest day of the year so far last week - 33ºC last Friday. The weathermen say the heat is here to stay, which will please residents and tourists - but there is down side. Estepona suffered its first forest fire of the year last Friday, when flames destroyed 15 hectares of pine forest. The blaze started at a visitors' spot overlooking the Guadalmansa river. On the wider European scene, meteorologists are predicting that this summer will be even hotter than 2003 thanks to the El Niño current. Despite the fact that it is located in the Pacific, when it is active El Niño affects weather worldwide. And it has active longer than usual this year.