A XARQUÍA - C OSTA T ROPICAL
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Grand theft avocado A GROUP of Axarquia farmers has demanded action following a raft of robberies. It comes after the current high price of avocados sparked a sudden rise in raids on local growers, with tonnes of the fruit having been stolen in recent weeks. One producer has been targeted three times in the last month alone, while another lost 1,000 kilos worth around €3,000. And young farmers’ association ASAJA claim that better coordination between the various security forces plus local, provincial and regional authorities is needed to solve the problem.
Back to black SHOPPERS are expected to hit the high streets across the region tomorrow as the annual Black Friday sales weekend kicks off. Although the concept is still relatively new to Spain, retailers have welcomed the event with open arms and most major stores offer discounts across a range of their products. Black Friday only became legally possible in Spain in 2012 when the government scrapped regulations deciding when sales could be held.
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Not just for Xmas Photo by Policia Nacional
23 - 29 Nov 2017
Photo by Sally Underwood/EWNMG
ISSUE NO. 1690
JANET HAYDEN: Faces losing her house.
New nightmare Expat’s home woe goes on EXCLUSIVE By Sally Underwood A British pensioner has been told she has six months before she must leave her home. Janet Hayden, 70, has been advised that her bank is seeking offers on her home even though she claims a friend is willing to stump up the cash. The expatriate bought a plot of land in La Viñuela in 2003 and says she was advised by her legal representative that although the land was not designated for housing, she could secure the appropriate licence by paying a small fine. Janet says she never received a licence, however, and later discovered her home had been built on dangerous ‘walking’ land with serious structural problems. She claims she had been told to by her solicitor to take out increasingly high mortgages to cover building costs only for her property to become almost worthless when it was discovered to be illegal and unsafe. Janet explained the building’s collapse is now “inevitable” without the installation of 17 metre steel rod piling. Threatened with eviction on
various occasions and suffering from a health condition, Janet has been trying to reach an agreement with her bank for several years, but has now learned they plan to sell her home from under her. The news comes after she was offered hope earlier this year when her bank said they would delay her eviction in the wake of a hunger strike campaign. The news follows campaign groups Save Our Homes Axarquia’s (SOHA) announcement that around 20,000 homes are at risk of being demolished after they were unwittingly built on non-urban land. The organisation, which has been running since 2008, is asking Velez-Malaga Council to change its criteria to spare some homeowners the hardship of losing their property. Philip Smalley, the group’s president, said some owners “believe because they have all their paperwork and no action has been taken against them to date they are legal.” He said only 200 property owners have contacted him so far and is calling on anyone with doubts over their home’s legality to get in touch president@soha.es.
FLASH BACK
Our story in March
CANDELA: Is looking for a new home. AN abandoned dog has been rescued by workers in Almuñecar. The Rottweiler named Candela is now waiting for a new home after she was found when a resident told the authorities she had been neglected and was in bad health. The National Police have since arrested a woman for animal cruelty after they claimed she locked the dog on her roof. Rescue workers found Candela was malnourished and ill and immediately transferred her to a veterinary clinic where she was treated. She is now slowly recovering in the care of a shelter in the town while she waits for a family to adopt her.