THE Urban Development department in Almeria has classified 423 buildings in the city as being abandoned and in ruins.

THE fire at the Ejido Medio Ambiente rubbish plant is still burning, meaning residents in the area are breathing contaminated air.

ALMOST 730 people in Almeria carry the ‘Heart Card’ – a card given to those who have suffered a heart attack – in order that they receive rapid medical attention in an emergency.

Police in Almeria prevented robbers from robbing a cash machine at a Cajamar bank in El Alquian.

Thieves used a butane gas bottle which exploded and firemen were required to put out the fire.

RESIDENTS of the village of Benitachell (Alicante) are said to be ‘shocked’ after one of its inhabitants was arrested for suspected links to Islamic terrorism.

Guardia Civil arrested unemployed 26-year-old Moroccan builder, Errai Faical, at his rented accommodation in Benitachell last Friday.

Benitachell’s Mayor, Maria Josefa Ronda, told press Faical man had lived in the small community for seven years and the neighbours were ‘shocked’ at his detention, given that the man was always “cordial and polite” and was “very integrated” in the community, to the extent even that he was a Civil Protection Volunteer. She said he spoke fluent Spanish and Valencian.

It is not the first time that such an arrest has taken place in the vicinity. In 2003 another Moroccan, Sardik Merizak, was arrested by National Police for similar reasons in the municipality following the ‘Operation Datil’ campaign in which an Islamic fundamental terrorist cell was dismantled by Spanish anti-terrorist police.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior have confirmed that Faisal is accused of actively supporting Jihadist movements via the internet, organising  travel for suspected terrorists to conflict zones in Waziristan(Pakistan), Chechnya and Afghanistan; raising funds for known terrorist organisations and of being the domain owner of a website that promoted terrorist activities which “disseminated Jihadist content”,  and was aimed at “the recruitment and indoctrination of supporters with the ultimate aim of encouraging radical and violent interpretation of the Jihad.”

‘Jihad’  being the Arabic word for struggle, and in Koranic context means one’s obligations and duty to support the faith (Islam), but which has been warped in recent decades to its present common interpretation as meaning “Holy War.”

Following the arrest, a further two houses and a finca were raided by Guardia Civil and potential evidence seized in the form of computers and data. The entire operation was co-ordinated with police forces from Belgium, the USA, France, Jordan and Morocco.

Benitachell is a very multicultural town. With 3,798 of its 5,399 residents being foreign – of which the vast majority (2,166) are British. However, only 83 Moroccans are registered in the town, the National Statistics Institute shows.

FOR years, El Ejido has suffered from a lack of offers for tourism. When accommodation dropped in the town, protests began, and were placated with the promise of two projects: a spa between Guardias Viejas and Almerimar, and a luxury Sheraton hotel in Ensenada de San Miguel. It would hoped that this would attract tourists to the town.

Talk of the spa started in 2001, the project was completed, and some years later, the SFR Hotel Group announced it on its website. However, not a stone of the €18m project has been laid.

Then, the Sheraton hotel was announced four years back and an agreement was signed between the hotel chain and the owners of the plot. Three hundred rooms, spa, fitness centre, games room, beauty salon, hairdressers, gardens… these are just some of the services which were planned, none of which have yet materialized.

Other hotel groups have also expressed their interest in the area, but the fact remains that El Ejido has the same accommodation on offer now as it did a decade ago.

DRUGS squads in Almeria and Ceuta, and customs officers have arrested 15 people in Almeria, Malaga, Ceuta and Barcelona as part of an operation codenamed ‘Pincel’. During the operation, which began in February, 1.9 tonnes of hashish were seized and the detainees have been charged with crimes against public health and illegal association. The leader of the network is believed to be amongst them. The drugs were brought from Morocco to the coasts of Almeria, Malaga and Granada, and were later distributed to Italy and Holland amongst other countries in Europe. Thirteen people have been sent to prison on remand. Also seized were 14 mobile phones, two boats and two luxury vehicles. This was one of the largest networks operating in Europe.

BY the time this article is printed Mohamed Ahmed Sel-Lam, a butcher in Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclave, may be dead. Known as El Vasco (the Basque), a nickname earned from his years in the Basque region His shop is in the Principe district, where violence is an everyday occurrence although the four policemen inside are not investigating a crime. Nor is the police car outside nor the three officers a couple of streets away. They protect El Vasco 24 hours a day and escort him to a safe house each day where he now lives with his wife Fatima because his shop has been set fire to three times in the last year, he has been ambushed twice and his family threatened. Trouble began when El Vasco’s nephew Mohamed Larbi, a conflictive young man with a prison record, fell out with others in Principe and the butcher warned them not to harm one hair of his head. “They kill when they want, they cut off people’s hands when they feel like it and they torture. No-one says anything. Just me. I’ve never been afraid,” El Vasco said. “I defended my nephew because they wanted to kill him. But it could cost me my life.” El Vasco claims that 36-year-old Tafa Sodia, Ceuta’s most notorious criminal with whom he has clashed in the past, is behind his problems. Sodia is banned from entering Ceuta until 2013 but El Vasco insists that Ahmed Abdela Ahmed, nicknamed Dumbo, torched his shop on Sodia’s orders in April last year and shot him twice in the legs a month later. Dumbo was arrested soon after and barred from approaching El Vasco but although the butcher watched his back he was ambushed in his car and shot at 12 times by a masked gunman. The shooting was a warning, El Vasco believes, not an attempted killing but despite a judicial gagging order, it is no secret that another of Sodia’s men – Abdil Ahmed Abdesellan, alias Super - is accused of firing the shots. Jose Manuel Caamaño, head of Ceuta’s provincial plainclothes unit, said El Vasco’s case was “tremendously difficult” but he was confident it would be solved. El Vasco disagrees. “At least they’ve given me protection but for a year I was defenceless. And you know why? Because this is a quarrel between “moros” and nobody cares.”

IN total, 40,564 people have been fined in Almeria Province since 2006. Speed was a decisive factor in 31 per cent of accidents with fatalities last year, data from the Traffic Department (DGT) shows.

Since 2006, 8,938 people lost points off their license in Almeria for driving at inadequate speeds.

Fines for inadequate speed, both too fast and too slow, are the second most frequent in the province, beaten only by failure to wear a seatbelt.

Speeds related offences can be fined between 100 and 600 euros, and in some cases, with prison sentences of between three and six months, six to 12 months fines, or one to 90 days of community service. Offenders may also have their license taken away between one and four years, or lose between two and six points.

POLICE arrested four people wearing gloves and balaclavas charged with attempted robbery in a cafeteria in the Almeria area of Los Molinos.

TWO Dutch men in their sixties who were on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela had to be rescued by Guardia Civil after they got lost in the mountains of Sevilla province.

A FATHER of quadruplets whose wife needs treatment for multiple sclerosis climbed up a 20 metre crane in Sant Adria del Besos in Barcelona to draw awareness to his situation and seek help.

ALMERIA Sea Rescue services are searching for a boat from Morocco with 30 illegal immigrants aboard, which was seen north of the Mar de Alboran Island.

A man died and his four-year-old son was seriously injured in a motorbike accident in Macael.

A MAN had to be rescued after his sailing boat caught fire three miles of the coast of El Toyo (Almeria).

A 25-Year-Old man was arrested and charged with copper wire robberies in two greenhouses in La Mojonera (Almeria).

ACCORDING to Adra Mayor, Carmen Crespo, the town has one of the lowest crime rates in the Poniente Area.

THE regional government is carrying out 105 courses for farmers which will teach them energy-efficient techniques.

SEVEN people have died in Andalucia from the heat this summer.

The first was a 40-year-old Almeria man who passed away in the first week of June.

The latest was a 38-year-old man who died in Sevilla last Sunday

THE Almanzora ‘Green Way’, which will use the old railway tracks between Alcontar and Zurgena, is hoped to become a tourist and leisure attraction. The 60-kilometre track will be ideal for cyclists and walkers of all ages.

ALMERIA is the Andalucian province where least people are registered as being disabled. There are 35,600 people who are more than 33 per cent disabled. In Andalucia there are 518,202.

TWELVE North African immigrants were rescued from a boat which was spotted 25 miles of the Islote de San Pedro, northeast of Cabo de Gata. There was a woman and two minors amongst them.

POLICE in Almeria arrested two people who offered cocaine and hashish to plain clothes officers. They attempted to flee and two officers were injured in the high-speed car chase and arrest.

THE EU has provided €135,000 and the Junta de Andalucia €15,000 to modernize five fishing boats in Almeria province.

WORK on the new health centre in Cabañuelas in Vicar is due to begin in September. It will have 12 consultation offices, as well as a paediatric area, rehabilitation, radiology and a dental service.

A 75-YEAR-OLD Pulpi man died when the tractor – weighing several tons – he was using his almond grove in Velez Blanco flipped over crushing him.

His wife, who was at their nearby farmhouse, was taken to a health centre after she suffered a nervous breakdown.

GARRUCHA - On Friday October 8, seven pupils from The Julie Bruce Dancing Academy, Garrucha are travelling to Disneyland Paris to compete in an international dance competition. They girls are:Tamara Coffey 13, Hannah Brown 11, Rebecca Brown 13, Shannyn Fenwick 14, Chandler Dodd 12 , Lauren Cross 14 and 6-year-old Lillie Mae Stewart have been busy training throughout the summer for this exciting event.

The girls are in ballet, tap, disco, musical theatre ,gymnastics, solo and duet competitions which will last the whole day.

After the medals have been awarded there is going to be a party where the girls get to meet stars from the movie Streetdance 3D and the dance troupe Flawless and may get picked to dance live on stage with them.

They are hoping to find a sponsor who will provide T-Shirts for everyone to wear at Disney as a lot of money has already been spent out on flights, costumes ,make up etc.

There will be a dress rehearsal for this event to be held in the cultural centre in Garrucha on Sunday September 26 at 6 pm.

Everyone is welcome to come and support the girls.

If you feel you can help out with this in any way please contact Julie on 697 861 071.

SORBAS - ALBOX is not the only town in the Levante Almeriense with water supply problems. Residents in Sorbas are demanding that the town hall find a solution to the water supply problems they have been enduring for several years. They have collected more than 80 signatures amongst the affected residents which they have taken to the Municipal Register.

They were accompanied by Francisco Sanchez Ramirez, the socialist spokesman, who, in the name of his party, backed their demands.

Sanchez said “residents in certain parts of Sorbas have been suffering water shortages for years because the Partido Popular hasn’t lifted a finger to put an end to the problem, showing a lack of interest in the problems which affect local residents.”

He also said that the mayor is aware of the problem and that the socialist party has brought up the subject at several plenary meetings in an attempt to stop this occurring throughout the summer.

The main neighbourhoods affected by the water problems are: Mizala, El Campico, La Rondeña, La Herradura and Gafarillos.

The Municipal Socialist Group has backed their protest with another letter to the council.

They are affected by continuous interruptions in the water supply and in some cases have spent up to 27 days without water.

“Residents have contacted the mayor several times to demand solutions but so far, nothing has been done”, said Sanchez.

As of 2009 Sorbas’ population stood at 2,854 people, of which 235 registered were British.

By Jennifer Leighfield

OLULA DEL RIO - VISITS to the Casa Ibañez Museum, in Olula del Rio, have increased this summer, greatly thanks to the exhibition of the work of Sorolla which has been opened there. The museum, in collaboration with the Junta de Andalucia’s Council for Culture, has published a book called ‘Gines Parra.

Works of Jose Manuel Marin and other Almeria collections’. The Pedro Gilabert Museum in Arboleas has also provided financing for the book, and the exhibition of the same name, which is currently at Casa Ibañez, will be on show there in November. Both have been created to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Gines Parra, and include 40 works of art.

 

It will be open at the Casa Ibañez until the end of October, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 7pm to 9pm.

 

ALMERIA - THE Guardia Civil Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) has investigated 1,358 environmental crimes in the first six months of this year in Almeria. Six people have been arrested and 29 more charged. Most of the reports have been regarding illegal hunting and fishing, as well as capturing protected species. More than 200 reports have been due to rubbish and residue dumped in inappropriate areas.

Other reports have been for camping in illegal areas, owning unregistered pets, disobeying health and safety laws and causing fires, amongst other crimes.

There are seven divisions of SEPRONA in Almeria, located in Adra, Gador, Cabo de Gata, Garrucha, Albox, Chirivel and Almeria city.