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OCTOBER 5th - OCTOBER 11th

BENALMÀDENA SCORES WITH SPORTING TOURISM

Following the news that Torremolinos earned 500 million pesetas from sporting tourism last year, neighbouring Benalmádena has announced plans for its own state-of the-art residential sports complex.

It is to be sited at Arroyo de la Miel on 3,300 square metres of land and should be operational by 2002. The budget for the project by Ceintur SL is 1,100 million pesetas.

The complex will have 121 high quality residential units. There will be an indoor hall for basketball, volleyball, badminton, aerobics, karate, gymnastics and other sports. Also to be included is a gymnasium, a rehab and physio centre plus lecture halls.

Many of the participants in the Sydney Olympics from central Europe used the Torremolinos facilities to prepare for the event. Benalmádena hopes its can be as successful in attracting future stars to its new complex.

A VIEW TO A KILL

Rough conditions during the last stages of the Gibraltar Powerboat Festival tested the skills and tenacity of competitors as they raced towards the National titles last Friday.

Spectators enjoyed a bird's eye view of the action and saw James Bond stunt girl Sarah Donohue and Ricky Hill take the lead in "Apex Colormet" as favourites Peter Little and David Arthur were forced to retire with engine problems.

Donohue and Hill won the race but the National 2-Litre Powerboat title went to Little and Arthur, who had collected the most points throughout the season.

The National Offshore Circuit Racing title went to Derek Basham and John Cooke. The Salcombe duo in "Still No Worries" ran neck and neck in a nail biting battle against Ian Stirling and Ady Dickinson in "Famsworth" just beating them to the line to win their first National Championship title.

BAGS OF GREEN

For the one-off cost of 10 pesetas, supermarket chain Consum is supplying its customers with recyclable plastic shopping bags that can be exchanged free of charge at the checkout when they show signs of wear and tear.

The bags are made of tough, recyclable plastic in place of the flimsy give-aways that ecologists claim have become a blot on the landscape in today's throwaway consumer society.

A Consum spokesman said. "This is an ecological solution to a difficult problem and one that, with everyone's help, will make for a cleaner environment whilst saving our natural resources.

PICASSO FOUNDATION'S PRIZE CATALOGUE PURCHASE

The Pablo Ruiz Picasso foundation of Málaga has purchased a catalogue of the Málaga born artist's work, compiled by art critic Christian Zervos. It comes after a 15-year search for the catalogue, which is considered to be one of the most complete in existence. Made up into a total of 34 leather bound volumes, all in perfect condition, it has cost the foundation nine million pesetas. It will now become part of the foundation's library on the artist ahead of the opening of the dedicated Picasso museum in Málaga next year.

BALLET MARVELLOUS

Fuengirola has inaugurated its new cultural centre, the Palacio de la Paz, with a spectacular performance of "El Sombrero de tres picos" by the Ballet Clásico de Madrid. It was the first of many major events planned for the town's new performing showpiece.

Around 1,200 people attended the opening night presided over by Mayoress Esperanza Oña. The building has taken 30 months to build at a cost of 628 million pesetas. Situated in the town's feria ground, it will be at the centre of the celebrations in the town's forthcoming feria.

CONTROLS FOR THE KING'S WALKWAY

Regional and provincial governments and Ardales council has come up with a new safety plan for the King's Walkway in the Gaitanes Nature Park, near the El Chorro Reservoir. It follows a series of accidents; some of them fatal, on the 60-year-old structure, which critics say is in a lamentable state of repair. It has not been decided if the new plan will fence off the access to the walkway or look for funding to create a new safe access.

FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON

The first snow of the season fell last Friday in the Sierra Nevada in a sure sign that summer is over and autumn is here. The snow settled on the Veleta mountain above 2,800 metres and prompted the press spokesman of the Cetursa Company which runs the ski resort to say this heralded a good start to the ski season. For good pistes to form, more rain and low temperatures are needed to continue for several days - with current daytime temperatures on the mountain at about three degrees.

112,000 FLU INJECTIONS

A total of 112,000 injections against the flu virus will be given in Málaga this year in an attempt to stop a serious outbreak this winter- 12,000 more than last year. The campaign started last week and is aimed mainly at the over 65's, those with heart conditions and health workers who come into contract with the public. The vaccine is considered to be effective in 70 per cent of cases and in the remaining 30 per cent the sufferer has milder symptoms.

THE AIR THAT YOU BREATHE

Torremolinos Town Hall is spending 45 million pesetas on installing air-conditioning in the town's Principe de Asturias auditorium. The work will take two months and is expected to be completed by January.

GOING WILD

Benalmádena's Mayor, Enrique Bolin, announced that meetings are to be held to discuss the handing over of 20,000 square metres for a Wildlife Park beside Parque La Paloma in Arroyo de la Miel. The project, scheduled to open in spring 2002, will be divided up in to the Arctic¸ desert, tropics and an organic farm and will cost up to 1,200 million pesetas.

COIN DEL GOLF

Plans have been presented for two 18 hole golf courses plus a luxury hotel to be built at Matagaller. Some 2,000 million pesetas will be invested in the project, which if approved, will commence next year.

GOING UNDERGROUND

Fuengirola Town Hall is looking into the possibility of constructing underground parking for 1,200 vehicles below the Avenida Condes de San Isidro. The project would stretch from the bus station to the Plaza de España and cost 1,400 million pesetas.

CAJA MADRID BANKS ON ASPANDEM

Caja Madrid has donated five million pesetas to Aspandem, the Marbella association for the mentally and physically handicapped. The money is to go towards funding a project to provide work opportunities for handicapped people.

LET'S PARTY

Marbella Town Hall has approved a budget of 30 million pesetas for this year's San Pedro de Alcántara feria. The feria starts on Tuesday October 17 and runs until Sunday October 22.

RISING AGAIN

The old buildings of el Trapiche de Guadaiza, which dated from the 19th Century when San Pedro de Alcántara started as a farming colony, are to be restored. They have been damaged by fire and Marbella Town Hall is to spend 88.9 million pesetas turning them into a cultural centre with workshops, a museum, library and theatre.

TORREMOLINOS IS TOPS

As Torremolinos celebrated the 12th anniversary of its independence from Málaga comes the news that it was Spain's busiest resort in August. Hotel occupancy in the town reached 96.77 per cent. Second was Calvia in Majorca with 96.22 per cent followed by Benidorm, Llloret de Mar, Ibiza-Formentera and Palma de Mallorca.

NEW HOTEL BOOST

While Torremolinos is Spain's top resort there was good news for Benalmádena and Fuengirola too.

The Hotel Sirocco in Benalmádena is to invest 500 million pesetas in building 120 new bedrooms. They will be constructed next to the existing hotel and will involve rebuilding of the kitchen and restaurant areas.

In Fuengirola, work should begin in January on building a four star hotel on the site of the old Hotel Mare Nostrum. The start date has been put back due to bureaucratic delays, but in three months the 3,500 million pesetas project will be underway. It will be in the form of six buildings and have 300 bedrooms in total.

N340 GREEN LIGHT

Estepona Town Hall has agreed to revoke the decision taken on April 24 to halt the forced expropriation of land for work on widening the town and Guadiaro. The decision had been taken because the Town Hall's experts considered the proposed link to the Malaga-Estepona toll motorway dangerous. However, now that their alternative plans have been accepted, the embargo can be lifted.

The planned underpass at the San Pedro de Alcántara bottleneck has been delayed yet again. It is intended to build a tunnel 525 metres long, which will cost 4,000 million pesetas. The government has allocated just 50 million of the total and the project could now be put back to the year 2004.

SKIING TO PROFIT IN GRANADA

Cetursa, the majority state-owned company which runs the Sierra Nevada ski resort, has announced a turnover for last season of 3,019 million pesetas - an increase of 386 million on the previous season. The company also announced skiers using lifts at the site this year would have to pay 200 pesetas more at 4,100 pesetas for a day pass.

Mayor of Granada José Moratalla has called on regional government to invest 2,500 million pesetas on improvements to the ski slopes on the resort, and to finance the construction of a covered ice rink. The appeal was made at a meeting in Sevilla on Wednesday.

Latest figures have revealed Granada to be the fourth most visited city by tourists in Spain with 1,166,000 tourist so far this year to August. It is estimated the service sector generates 20 per cent of the gross domestic product for the province and creates a total of 10,000 jobs.

MÁLAGA HYPERMARKET FOR SALE

The French owned hypermarket chain Carrefour has announced it will sell the Pyrca-Alameda in Málaga. The group, formed by the merger of Pryca and Continente, will still have two other hypermarkets in the city. Rival group Alcampo is one of those interested in the purchase.

Union CCOO is keeping a close eye on how the sale of the store is carried out with reference to the workforce, who could be transferred to the company's other stores in the city.

NEW SHOPS IN STORE

Carrefour has announced it will be keeping the forma Pryca hypermarket in La Linea and the former Continente in Los Barrios will be selling off Continente in Las Palomas, Algeciras. The group has to dispose of a number of stores as part of the conditions for its merger. Several major groups are interested in Las Palomas store. El Corte Inglés is planning a new store in Algeciras and do-it-yourself giants Leroy Merlin also intend to open in the area.

NEW TOWER PROPOSED AT MÁLAGA PORT

The Partido Popular in Málaga is to present plans to its provincial congress for the construction of 240 metre high communications tower at the entrance to Málaga port. The tower would be placed on the eastern sea wall and is being referred to as the lighthouse of the 21st century" in party circles.