ISSUE NO. 1608
28 April - 4 May 2016
AXARQUÍA - COSTA TROPICAL YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Good riddance
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Gone at last THE view has improved in Salobreña as the unsightly crane which had been beside the castle for two years has finally been dismantled and removed. Now work can start to improve the surrounding area, and people can begin to appreciate this gorgeous tourist treasure in all of its glory once again. See page 2
People power FOLLOWING a meeting with locals, Nerja Council has backtracked on a number of matters concerning a central street in the coastal town. Closing times will be bounced back, unloading space will be reduced, and the streets will be shining bright with new lampposts. See page 5
Fruity weekend AVOCADOS and fruit from Almuñecar and La Herradura made a trip to the snow for a promotional event in Sierra Nevada. Lovers
of snowboarding and skiing dined on avocados, loquats, and custard apples while the fresh mountain winds brought colour to their skin. See page 6
Flood of applications By Matthew Elliott Axarquia has purged itself of a loathsome arms dealer who supplied the weapons involved in a murderous terrorist attack in Paris. Antoine Denevi was captured hiding in Rincon de la Victoria earlier this month and was finally handed over to face French justice on April 27. The 27-year-old Frenchman is suspected of arming Amedy Coulibaly, a violent jihadist who shot dead a policewoman and killed four people in a Jewish supermarket in January 2015. Coulibaly was an accomplice of the Kouachi brothers who slaughtered 12 people at the
Charlie Hebdo offices two days before. Denevi was arrested in Rincon on April 12, after more than one year on the run from a European arrest warrant issued by Paris police. He fled France just two days after the attacks and settled in Malaga Province among new neighbours clueless as to his wanted status. Although he successfully crept under the radar it is thought that Denevi continued his illicit arms dealing activities in Axarquia, building up a complex underground alliance with gunrunning Balkan gangsters. When armed National Police officers searched his Rincon
home, together with specialist French forces, they found falsified documents, and a valid European passport belonging to another individual. Personal items and computers were confiscated. The news of Denevi’s extradition will allow residents and families in Nerja, Torrox, Frigiliana, and, of course Rincon de la Victoria, to breathe a sigh of relief. It is alarming and highly unsettling to realise that the murky world of terrorism and arms dealing extends even into the tranquillity of Axarquia, but unfortunately this reflects the precarious new world we live in. On the other hand we are fortunate in that the Spanish police
appear to have a firm grip of the situation and its seriousness and have secured a number of crucial arrests this year. If Axarquia is to become embroiled in these times of terror then it is surely to be welcomed that our role is in bringing suspects to justice in accordance with our laws.
RINCON DE LA VICTORIA Council was inundated with applications to join its new job bank, with more than 2,000 peo-
ple signing up in just a week. Employment representatives have explained new opportunities may be available on the horizon. See page 7
Second in region IN a strike for equality and progressive policy, Velez-Malaga’s Youth Centre has become the first in Malaga Province and the
second in Andalucia to open an information point for the LGBTI community. See page 7