ISSUE NO. 1644
5 - 11 January 2017
AXARQUÍA - COSTA TROPICAL YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Diddlers detained
Coastal crisis Photo Credit Salvamento Maritimo.
Thousands willing to risk death at sea
DOZENS of people have been arrested over their alleged complicity in a social security scam defrauding the taxman of more than half a million euros. National Police swooped on members of the syndicate in a highly coordinated effort across Malaga Province. A total of 47 people, both Spanish and foreign citizens were apprehended. See page 4
Yobs for the boys POLICE have arrested several youths who were responsible for vandalising the pedestal and bust of Pepe Matias in the Pepe Matias el Pozuelo park in Almuñecar. The incident was reported at 10.47pm when police
received a call stating that a number of young boys on bicycles, one of whom was wearing a red jacket, were hitting the statue and trying to pull it down. See page 5
Fuel to the fire POLITICIANS are calling for better security and more police patrols in Benamocarra after five cars were set alight, two of them on New Year’s Eve. Three vehicles burned earlier
AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS: The latest rescues off Motril.
By Matthew Elliott Detention centres are bursting at the seams as more African immigrants arrive on the shores of Malaga Province than ever before. Some police stations have become makeshift migrant camps after more than 100 people were rescued in the first few days of 2017. Coastguards rescued 102 people in Malaga waters from January 1-3, with 64 taken to safety from two boats off the Costa Tropical and transported to the Port of Motril. During 2016 a total of 773 immigrants made it to Malaga, more than triple the 207 who
landed in 2015. At the height of the crisis in 2013 just 16 people made it. Across Andalucia coastguards rescued an unprecedented 258 people in just the first 72 hours of 2017. In 2016, a record 6,099 immigrants docked across Andalucia, more than all the other Spanish regions combined. Many of the immigrants who have landed in recent days will simply be released. Strict Spanish laws mean it is illegal to hold people without cause for more than 72 hours. The ‘Foreigner’s Centres’ cannot take any more pressure, meaning many are let go
without much more than a cursory paperwork check. Spain promised to make room for 18,000 people but in reality there is little space left and the Costa will have to bear the brunt. Due to large scale surveillance and the tourist population, Malaga has typically been avoided by human traffickers who favour the quieter Cadiz and Almeria coastlines. But wars and turmoil south of the Sahara desert, plus growing greed among the various mafia-like gangs, has led to a devil-may-care-attitude. Thousands of people, chiefly young men looking for
work, are willing to pay their life savings to make the perilous journey. Joining the more than 4,000 people who drowned sailing the Mediterranean last year is a risk they are willing to take, even knowing full well that they will probably be caught upon arrival.
in December were joined on the last night of the year by two parked outside the Usos Multiples municipal building in the early hours. See page 10
Hanging on AN elderly man remains in a serious but stable condition at Malaga’s Regional hospital after being run over in Torrox, hospital sources reported. Although the village council initially reported that the 86-year-old had died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, this was later put down to an error on the part of the Local Police force. See page 11