ISSUE NO. 1701
8 - 14 February 2018
COSTA DE ALMERÍA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION Photo by Ayuntamiento de el Ejido
Earthquakes rock Almeria TWO earthquakes have hit Almeria in the Almanzora Valley and Lubrin. The first tremor, which registered 3.1 on the Richter scale, struck with its epicentre near the town of Arboleas 12 kilometres below ground at around dawn on Tuesday. Albox, Zurgena, Cantoria and Olula del Rio all felt the earthquake within five minutes, according to Spain’s National Geographic Institute. No damage is reported to have occurred. A second earthquake then hit north of Lubrin around four minutes later. It was less severe, registering at around 1.9 on the Richter scale, according to reports. Almeria experienced an earthquake of a similar magnitude in December last year when a tremor of 3.7 registered south-east of Pechina. A 3.4 magnitude earthquake was also registered in the Mediterranean Sea off Carboneras two days before. The province lies near the tectonic plate boundary between Eurasia and Africa. This tends to cause mild tremors when compared to earthquakes generally although Almeria has experienced large quakes in the past.
SWEPT AWAY: Farms in Almeria were hit by storms in early January.
Hard hit 250 greenhouses damaged by freak weather Almost 175 hectares of land and 250 greenhouses were damaged by storms in Almeria. El Ejido was the hardest hit by the tornados that swept through the province, with 188 greenhouses covering nearly 141 hectares of farmland affected. The figures come from 250 files for aid sent to the Junta de Andalucia’s agricultural office. The Junta made funds available for farmers whose land and property had been damaged, which ranged from €3,000 to the full value of the farmland affected. The Junta has made more than €1,730,000 available for disaster relief following the storms in early January. Those seeking aid have until March 6 to apply. The aid covers the costs
resulting from the damage to land and property as well as the resulting losses in crop harvesting. Damage to farmland and equipment in El Ejido made up more than 80 per cent of the total for Almeria, according to Junta figures. La Mojonera was the second hardest hit with 39 greenhouses reported damaged and an area of more than 26 hectares of land affected. The town was followed by Adra at 12 greenhouses and around 3.4 hectares of land hit. Vicar was next at six and
2.4, then Roquetas de Mar at two and 1.3 and Balanegra at one and a third of a hectare. The Junta also announced a total of €100 million in aid to farmers to help them modernise outdated greenhouses. Susana Diaz, president of the Junta, said the money would be available to farms which had greenhouses over 20 years old and that were vulnerable to damage. Aid was also available to make covered farmland more productive and weather resistant, she said in January.
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Man held in child porn bust AN Almerian man accused of being part of a 40-strong national child pornography ring has been arrested by police. Officers seized laptops, CDs, DVDs and more than 100 hard drives in raids on over 40 homes that formed part of the operation co-ordinated by National Police. Teachers, engineers and public employees were among those arrested, according to reports. Members of the ring allegedly used the ‘dark web’ to avoid being traced by police. The dark web refers to parts of the internet where illegal material is often exchanged through browsers that prevent authorities identifying users. Police specialists are currently analysing the material seized. One of those arrested in Alicante in the operation is accused of harassing children in order to get some of the material shared with the ring.