1 - 7 February 2018
A XARQUÍA - C OSTA T ROPICAL
Credit: SOHA.ES
Neglect claims probed OFFICIALS are investigating why a three-yearold was locked inside on a school bus for five hours. The Andalucian Ombudsman for Children is expected to publish a report into how the girl was left behind unnoticed on the bus sparking uproar throughout Spain. According to one publication, the child fell asleep on the way to the Maria del Mar Romera school in Rincon de la Victoria last December and failed to get off the bus when it stopped, despite two monitors being present. The girl’s father said the bus then parked next to the Mercadona de Chilches supermarket where it was left locked until its driver returned five hours later. The Ombudsman explained it had opened the investigation to ‘know more accurately and precisely how the events occurred as well as to consider adopting measures to prevent similar events happening in the future.’ The Ministry of Education has also started an investigation and is looking into the transport company which manages the school bus. The Junta de Andalucia commented, “from the moment we became aware of the facts the appropriate measures w ere t a k e n t o i m p o s e the relevant measures on th e c o m p a n i e s responsible.”
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION Photo by SOHA/Facebook
ISSUE NO. 1700
HOMES WRECKED: SOHA strives to save livelihoods.
PHILIP SMALLEY: Speaking at SOHA’s 2018 AGM.
10 years on SOHA continues fight for justice EXCLUSIVE by Sally Underwood Save Our Homes Axarquia (SOHA) has been fighting for homeowners’ rights for 10 years. The association, which aims to protect houses from demolition, has recently achieved one of its biggest long-term aims, bringing more than 25,000 homes onto the list of legallybuilt properties and preventing them from being demolished. SOHA’s president, Philip Smalley, explained the change had come about through years of “hard work,” adding it was a result “that many non-members of the association, Spanish and foreign, have benefited
from being able to sell their properties.” Speaking exclusively to the Euro Weekly News, he explained the organisation’s 10th anniversary was no cause for celebration though, instead saying, “the authorities should hang their heads in shame that we are even now still in existence.” Smalley explained one of the group’s largest achievements was to reform part of the Code to ensure any homes subject to a demolition order could not be destroyed more than five years after the property was deemed illegal. This means after October 2020 councils will no longer be able to destroy any properties judged to be illegal prior to Oc-
tober 2015. Smalley added, “After that period, the owner will be able to benefit from the Out-of-Order Assimilate.” The president told the Euro Weekly News homeowners were often unaware of the legal situation surrounding their home, explaining, “They believe that because they have all their paperwork and no action has been taken against them to date they are legal.”
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Animal abuser jailed A 65-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested for allegedly mistreating his three horses and one donkey. The animals have been temporarily housed in shelters in Alhaurin el Grande and Fuente de Piedra after the Velez-Malaga resident voluntarily handed them over to police. The accused is alleged to have neglected the animals, keeping them in unsanitary conditions without access to sufficient food and water and failing to give them veterinary attention. Police say all the animals showed symptoms of malnutrition, while some of them also suffered from chron-
ic disease which required urgent care. One horse is said to have been extremely thin and suffering from several melanomas and a large neck wound. The al l eged cr i m e was discovered after police received a tip-off from a representative of a local animal shelter. Earlier this month, a total of 38 dogs were rescued from abuse in Axarquia in one week, 30 of which were found at a farmhouse in Torrox. Elsewhere in the town officers found a further seven dogs at another farmhouse, five of which are claimed to have been locked in a fenced enclosure surrounded by their own excrement.