ISSUE NO. 1676
17 - 23 August 2017
Hefty fine for laser criminals A BRITISH father and his son, aged 41 and 15, face a multi-thousand euro fine for allegedly dazzling pilots at Malaga airport with laser pointers. If found guilty, the men could be handed fines of between €30,000 and €600,000 for breaching the Citizen Security Law, according to the Provincial Commissary. The accused were identified by an off-duty National Police officer who was staying at the same hotel, the Don Pablo de Torremolinos. The policeman allegedly saw two people on a sixth-floor terrace pointing lasers ‘indiscriminately’ in the air and at three planes, as well as vehicles driving in the area at around 11pm. The National Police officer called 091, telling his colleagues about the incident. A patrol car was sent to the hotel, where staff helped the police locate the room of the accused, where officers found small, green laser pointers. Police confiscated the pens and took statements from the two, who apparently accepted their guilt, according to reports. At the same time, several pilots alerted Malaga Airport’s air traffic control tower that they had been dazzled by lasers.
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All eyes on water levels THE fight to preserve the limited summer water supplies is ongoing. Though supplies are not in the main as low as from 2005 - 2008 when the l a s t o ff i c i a l d r o u g h t w a s registered, the authorities in various parts of Spain are constantly monitoring the situation to the backdrop of an ongoing rise in summer tourist arrivals. In some resorts record figures are being logged. This automatically daily increases demands on water stocks even though providing a fillip for the national and local economies. In Malaga Province the peak tourist season in August means demand soars as it does in the Axarquia region where levels of around 54 square hectometres in the Vinuela reservoir continue to cause concern, with the stark fact that should they fall to 45 square hectometres, a drought will be declared. Local agriculture will be badly hit by any drought declaration, the last one in Axarquia being in Novembeer 2008. Meanwhile a stark warn-
DROUGHT DREAD: Vinuela reservoir where low water levels are causing concern. ing has been made in a study that the whole of southern Spain could be desert by the end of this century. If the fight against global warming is not won and current trends are reversed then in 80 years the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean area will be non-reversible!
This is the alert spelled out in a study on the topic for this region by
Joel Guiot from the National Centre of Scientific Research in France.
53 migrants saved SIX of the 53 people rescued from a small boat near Benajarafe have been taken to hospital for “mild injuries,” according to media reports. Of the six, three were pregnant and have been transferred to the Mother and Child Hospital in Malaga, while the other three were taken to the Hospital Civil de Malaga. Another 10 young people were taken to hospital for tests to ascertain their age. The fishing boat was rescued 14 miles off the coast of Benajarafe after attempting to cross from North Africa. The vessel, holding 10 women and 43 men, was spotted by a rescue plane, before a ship from the maritime rescue service was despatched.