25 - 31 January 2018
COSTA DEL SOL
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
BIG PLANS: The A-7 at La Cala de Mijas and (inset) Jose Fiscal.
One for the road Unloved stretch to become main attraction? by Matt Ford The A-7 Costa del Sol motorway could become a ‘metropolitan boulevard’ within years. It comes as the Junta de Andalucia regional government draws up a new Territorial Or-
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Polar blast
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ISSUE NO. 1699
dinance Plan (POT) for the Costa del Sol, with the document set to lay out new foundations for urban development in the area. And chief among the proposals is a scheme to divert ‘the majority’ of traffic via the existing AP-7 toll road, which would become free to use. The move would permit conversion of the coastal A-7 - formerly the N-340 - into a 75kilometre avenue for slow traffic and public transport connecting Fuengirola to San Luis de Sabinillas.
The much-criticised road currently suffers from regular tailbacks and delays, particularly in summer. Six new junctions would be built on the AP-7 including access to Benahavis and Ojén, according to regional Environment and Town Planning councillor José Fiscal. Other projects included in the updated POT include increasing the capacity of the A-397 between San Pedro de Alcántara and Ronda, the A355 between Cártama and Málaga.
THE COSTA DEL SOL is set to shiver as a new cold snap descends on Spain. An icy blast of Artic air will sweep the country and see the mercury plummet after the recent mild spell. Scattered rain and snowfall is
expected to hit inland parts of Malaga Province as daytime temperatures plunge by 5-10°C later today (Thursday), with the wintry conditions forecast to persist until at least tomorrow, according to national weather office AEMET.
Prime mover SPANISH Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is to visit the Costa del Sol. Scheduled for mid-March, the leader will head to Malaga ahead of his conservative Popular Party’s national conference, which is due to take place in regional capital Sevilla at the beginning of April. While details of his appearance remain unconfirmed, a government official said that it would involve “a major event” attended by “1,500 to 2,000 people.”
Rock and a hard place THE European Union’s leading Brexit negotiator believes that Spain’s demand for a say on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status is ‘legitimate.’ Speaking in Spanish capital Madrid, Michel Barnier said: “What the Spanish government has asked for, and the other 26 countries have understood as a legitimate petition, is that a condition be imposed on the United Kingdom before any agreement in the transition period is also applied to Gibraltar. And that condition is that there should be a bilateral discussion between the Spanish government and the United Kingdom government.”