ISSUE NO. 1673
27 July - 2 August 2017
Blue flag bin anger WHILE Mojacar, Cuevas del Almanzora and other coastal hotspots celebrated the arrival of their blue flags, the Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park has been left red-faced as it was denied the international symbol of beach excellence. Now the reason for the decision has become clear. The park’s beaches were considered unfit for the prestigious award because they had no easily identifiable bins, or signs pointing towards them. PSOE Socialist councillor Ines Plaza has reacted with fury to the revelation from the Foundation for Environmental Education, which doles out the flags. The conservative Popular Party, which governs Almeria, had suggested that Nijar’s loss of its blue flags was due to a spillage from the waste treatment plant. But an analysis of the water from Aqualia has confirmed that it is perfectly clean, and completely ruled out a leakage.
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Fire killers locked up
Dead to rights By Matthew Elliott Four men convicted of a brutal murder which saw them set the victim’s body on fire in Vicar, have been jailed. Each man received a four-year sentence for the killing in addition to 18 months for related crimes. The ruling by an Almeria court refers to the barbaric murder in Albacete. The four men and the victim crawled around the local bars before moving to an abandoned house. Once there they grabbed the victim and tied him to a chair with a cable. They savagely beat him, inflicting a serious head injury which ultimately killed the man. The defendants believed that he had stolen €35,000 from them a few days previously in Madrid, money that they had secured for a future drug deal. After realising they had killed their target, the gang removed his body from the chair and tied it to stair railings connecting the basement with the living room. They then set the house on fire and
ALBACETE: The four men and the victim had crawled around the local bars. fled the scene. Hours later a fifth man appeared and removed the personal effects of the victim, including clothing. He packed them into a car, which was later torched in the campo near Vicar in 2014. He was sentenced to two years in
prison for his role. The court acquitted the four men of kidnapping charges and convicted them of a lesser murder charge with no element of premeditation. Four women suspected of helping in a cover up of the crime were found innocent.
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Locker thief pinched JUDGES released a well-known thief on bail after he was charged with committing a prodigious spate of robberies across Almeria. The 30year-old male from Barcelona is accused of 24 thefts from two Almeria gyms committed in the space of a few days. Gym users have reported 11 stolen mobile phones, alongside missing wallets, car keys and €850 in cash. Police were alerted to the first theft on July 8, then were shocked to discover another six locker robberies committed at the same gym just 48 hours later. On July 11, 12 and 14 another dozen thefts took place, with the suspect splitting his energy between two gyms in the capital, eluding both police and additional gym security. It took a total of 10 days for police to finally arrest the man, finding him with plyers used to crack open the gym lockers. He faces a lengthy jail sentence when he returns to the Almeria court.