News
The people’s paper
GOOD NEWS
ISSUE NO. 1856
28 Jan - 3 Feb 2021
FINALLY some good news in Andalucia, as the Ministry of Health has reached an agreement with the Associa tion of private hospitals to refer patients with different pathologies, including those from Covid, to these cen tres. This means that patients with other illnesses that have been put back will hopefully be able to get any outstand ing treatments sooner rather than later and there will be no cost to them as the Servi cio Andaluz de Salud (SAS) will pay direct and the cost will be calculated based on the prices that exist and are
COSTA DEL SOL • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
JUANMA MORENO: Visited the Virgen del Rocío children’s hospital.
TIVOLI WORLD VIABLE
IT was in 1972 that the Costa del Sol saw the opening of its first and only amusement park, Tivoli World in Benalmadena in response to the ever-growing demand for tourist entertainment. It opened with a flourish and was a popular attraction on the Costa del Sol, but like so many other attractions worldwide, new rides and innovations cost a great deal of money to install and it was eventually sold in 2004. Its popularity has been waning for several years and with falling numbers of visitors, increasing overheads and then the pandemic, Administrators were called in and the park was closed for much of 2020. It’s not just an amusement park but was a great place to enjoy a meal before taking a seat in the 2,200-capacity auditorium to enjoy shows by such international stars as Julio Iglesias, James Brown and Boney M.
To the council in Benalmadena, it is considered not just an icon of entertainment but also a site to be proud of as well as a source of employment for many, so it is determined that it will arise from the ashes. Mayor of Benalmadena, Victor Navas has said that he has now had access to the administrator’s financial report and is encouraged by the fact
that debts of €11 million need to be settled, but that figure is much less than he originally expected and Navas believes that Tivoli could be a viable concern. He has taken it upon himself to try to find investors to settle the debts and modernise the park otherwise he fears that the large expanse of land could be snapped up by developers who would knock
it down in order to build new properties. To try to stop this, he will, with the assistance of the University of Malaga, prepare a document to send to the Junta de Andalucia asking them to protect the area from building. With this in place, the council hopes that investors will see a good long-term opportunity to take over and reopen Tivoli World in the future.
already applied when refer ring, for example, diagnostic tests or interventions to the private sector. President of the Board, Juanma Moreno, made the positive announcement yes terday (Wednesday, January 27) during a visit to the Vir gen del Rocío children’s hos pital in Sevilla, where he ex plained that he wants to put “all the resources of health, public and private, at the ser vice of Andalucians.” Recently, they revealed that there is ‘a Covid piggy bank’ for unforeseen events worth €450 million included in the 2021 Budget, meaning
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these funds could be used. Moreno also said that An dalucia is already preparing for a foreseeable scenario of an increase of Covid patients and has approved plans that would enable 15,384 conven tional beds and 2,622 ICU beds throughout the commu nity which would be achieved by suspending in terventions to other types of patients hence the need for the private sector to help. The aim is for no patient to have to wait in the corridors in order to be allocated a bed in a public hospital or to find that there is no place for them in the ICU.