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02 February 2008

Foreign Population in Malaga Doubles in Five Years

The number of foreigners living in Malaga province has doubled between 2002 and 2007. Over half of the newcomers are from EU countries while the remainder are principally from South America and Morocco. In 48 towns and villages, (half those in the province) the figures have increased 5 fold. In total the province has gained 187,513 new residents in that period, many are in popular places such as Torremolinos, Marbella, etc but also in many inland towns including Coin, the Alhaurins, Cartama and Alora. Many now have populations with 25% foreigners, however in one small town, Benahavis, the Spanish are now outnumbered by the newcomers of 73 different nationalities.

Almost a Million Foreigners Granted Residence Permits in 2007

Almost a million foreigners were granted residencies in 2007, bringing the total of legalised foreigners in Spain up to 3,979,074. The most numerous are Moroccans, 650,000 followed by Rumanians, 604,000, Ecuadorians, 396,000, Colombians, 254,000 and British 199,000. EU citizens make up 39% of the total foreign population followed by South Americans 30% and Africans 21%.

Tiffany to Open New Store in Madrid

Tiffany & Co., the famous American jewellery store is to open a branch in Madrid. The store will occupy two levels of a building on the city's premier luxury shopping street, Calle Jose Ortega y Gasset. Tiffany & Co plan to open the store in autumn 2008.

Free Bikes in 17 Andalucian Municipalities

Free bikes are to be provided in certain areas of 17 municipalities throughout Andalucia. There will be 100 bikes in each city or town placed in busy areas such as universities, commercial centres, and densely populated localities. The system is already working in Jerez and will be gradually extended to other cities in the next few months, starting with Algeciras, Malaga, Cordoba and Almeria.

The Super-slick Ave Train

This S103 model has a 200 metre long aluminium chassis carrying up to 404 passengers, it even has reclining seats that swivel to face the direction of travel, and these seats even have video and music players.

The aim of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to have 10,000km of high- speed track in Spain by 2020, meaning that 90% of the population will be no more than 30 miles from a station through which the train passes.

December saw the opening of lines connecting Madrid to Valladolid and to Malaga, which have slashed journey times and proved hugely popular. Carrillo describes the success of these two lines as "unprecedented and well ahead of what we expected. Traffic has doubled on the Malaga line, and grown by 75% on the Valladolid line."

What the AVE offers is unavailable in the rest of Europe in terms of comfort, speed and punctuality. Do not read on if you are a British commuter used to delays, if an Ave train arrives more than five minutes late, passengers are reimbursed the full price of their ticket, the main problem for those hoping to get their money back is that the trains are almost 98% reliable.

New Rail Link Between Seville and Barcelona Announced

Plans were announced last week for a new high speed train route for Andalucia, to connect Seville with Barcelona and also Malaga with Barcelona without having to go to Madrid. A date has not been set, but the plan is to provide a link south of Madrid which connect the existing AVE lines from Barcelona and Andalucia.

FITUR Opens in Madrid

The major shop window for tourism, FITUR, opened yesterday at the Ifema Exhibition Centre in Madrid. This is the 28th edition of the event, lasting five days, and will include representatives from Andalucia, the Costa del Sol, Malaga, Alora, etc.

Telefonica Launch New ADSL Package

The Spanish telecommunications company, Telefonica, has just launched a new ADSL package which should cost less than 20 euros per month. The service, ADSL Mini, includes 1 Mbps speed with a download limit of 2GB and a call plan.

Millions of Seats

The Seat car company produced its 16 millionth car at the company's Martorell plant in Barcelona last week. The car was a silver Leon model. Seat has been producing cars in Spain for 55 years.

Another Award for Javier Bardem

The Spanish actor, Javier Bardem, has received another award on his way to next month’s Oscars ceremony, this time from the Screen Actors Guild. The award was for best actor, again for his part in the Coen Brothers’ film No Country for Old men. Bardem stands to become the first Spanish actor ever to win an Academy Award.

Pre-Lent Carnivals Finish

The increasingly popular pre-Lent carnivals (Carnavales in Spanish) have finished this weekend (3rd February). These originally pagan festivals, taken over by Christianity, were largely banned during the Franco era but have become popular again in subsequent years. The biggest are those of Cadiz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Malaga closed its version on Sunday with fireworks and the Entierro del Boqueron (funeral of the Anchovy) which this year was constructed to resemble the new AVE train. The organisers of the carnivals will now immediately begin to plan themes, floats, costumes etc. for next year.

Adopt a Dog and Get Free Training

Responsible people who want to adopt a dog from the Alhaurin de la Torre animal reception centre will be entitled to receive a free dog training course from February. The only cost involved will be for vaccination and micro chipping. At the moment, the centre has over 550 dogs. For more information telephone 952 417 129.

Lowest Rainfall for Eight Years in Malaga Province

In 2007, 39% less rain fell on the province than the 30 year average. Local Guadalhorce Valley growers are worried that if the drought and the spread of urbanisations continue, it could spell the end of agriculture in the area.

Big Euro Millions Lottery Win in Granada Village

A Euro Millions lottery ticket holder won 76.6 million euros in last Friday's draw (25th January). The ticket holder remains anonymous at the moment, but it is known that ticket was purchased at a lottery office in Montefrio, Granada. Local rumours say that the winning ticket holder is away harvesting olives and unaware of his good fortune. It is the biggest ever lottery win in Spain and the second largest in Europe.

Granada Wine Producers Push for Product Denomination

Wine producers in Granada province are trying to obtain Denominacion de Origen (DO) status for their products. At the moment, their wines are classified as ‘vino de la tierra’ (country wines) but with support from Brussels they are hoping to obtain DO status like other wine producing areas of Spain such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

New Service Window for Alora Town Hall

The Town Hall of Alora is to have a new service window for enquiries and attention for local people. The work has not yet been put out to tender but is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The reform involves the whole of the lower floor of the building and will include a lift and facilities for disabled users and a waiting room.

Malaga Football

Malaga drew 0-0 at Salamanca on Sunday 27th January in a game of few scoring opportunities. They followed this up with a 1-0 victory over Alaves at the Rosaleda on the 6th February to regain top spot in Liga 2, above Numancia on goal difference and nine points clear of third placed Sporting.

Spain v France Friendly

Next Wednesday, 6th February, Spain will play France in a friendly match at Malaga’s football stadium, La Rosaleda. Kick off is a 9.00 pm.

Alonso Not Confident of Winning F1 Championship this Season

Fernando Alonso thinks that the new Renault R-28 car will not match the Ferraris or McLarens this season and that a championship win is most unlikely. He did say he thought there was still time to improve the car and maybe be able to match the others for speed.

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