FREE COPY BREXIT THE NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHERN SPAIN Costa Brits join Spaniards for Official market leader Audited by PGD/OJD London march March 29th to April 4th 2019 www.surinenglish.com As the UK’s exit from the EU remains unclear, News 2 Health & Beauty 42 Comment 20 Sport 48 residents support calls Lifestyle 22 My Home 53 What To Do 34 Classified 56 for a people’s vote P18 in English Food & Drink 39 Time Out 62 The historic Willow steamboat partially sank Coín has dumped in Benalmádena marina this week due to the enough sewage to rough sea. :: SUR fill a reservoir, says investigation The inquiry into the disposal of polluted water in Nerja and Coín throws up eye-watering figures P6 A third of colon cancer deaths could have been prevented. Residents are urged to take up health service’s screening offer P46 Under the spell of San Miguel de Allende. Andrew Forbes travels to Mexico for this month’s Travel Special P22-25 SPORT Malaga return to league THE COAST FALLS VICTIM TO THE WAVES action tonight after a 1-0 victory over Nàstic brought smiles back to the fans’ Beaches have been battered just two weeks before tourists flock in for Easter P2&3 faces at the weekend P48&49 Phone-tapping revelations shock Mijas mayor and council :: AGENCIA LOF Events in the minority Ciudadanos count, after the director of the coun- It’s not yet known who is council of Mijas took a surprising cil-owned broadcaster was removed, turn this week when it emerged that recently raised the alarm. Davidovich reaches the behind the suspected spying an internal investigation is under On Thursday there were signs the way into the bugging of phone calls bugging may have affected other quarterfinals of the which was discovered in the and WhatsApp chats of the mayor, departments in the town hall when Casino Admiral Trophy Juan Carlos Maldonado, and some the head of the key Treasury depart- which continues at Puente municipal TV and radio station opposition councillors. ment froze all activity, to the an- Romano until Sunday P51 A check on a blocked email ac- noyance of the mayor. P13 22222222 March 29th to April 4th 2019 NEWS SUR IN ENGLISH Axarquía. The sea touched the N-340 in Vélez-Málaga. :: EUGENIO CABEZAS Malaga. Waves crash against rocks on Tuesday in the Sacaba district. :: SALVADOR. SALAS Benalmádena. The bar at Maracas Beach was flooded. :: JUAN SOTO new pedestrian walkway and in Las Chapas rows of wooden posts set up to control the movement of the Wave-battered beaches need dunes have disappeared, with some of the dunes being washed away. Benalmádena and Torremolinos fast action to be ready for Easter Chiringuito flooded Numerous beaches between Torre- quebrada and La Carihuela suffered This week’s rough seas damage. Water flooded beach bars Malaga Port recorded a height of until next week, however, as the The province’s fishing fleet, made such as Maracas Beach, near the Cas- left serious damage to 5.96 metres. The mean or “signifi- yellow weather warning was still in up of around 250 boats, stayed in tillo Bil Bil, on Tuesday night. beaches along the length cant” wave height, the value used place for Thursday and Friday. port on Tuesday and Wednesday. In La Carihuela the area near the of the Costa del Sol and to measure the waves’ destructive Meanwhile the owners of busi- Ferry company Trasmediterránea Playa Miguel beach bar bore the potential, was set by the weather nesses on the affected beaches have cancelled services across the Strait brunt of the rough seas as the wa- Costa Tropical office at four metres, meaning that called for immediate action, espe- on Tuesday, but the 3pm ferry from ter crossed the promenade, reach- the damage caused to beaches was cially with the Easter holiday pe- Malaga to Melilla sailed as planned ing even some of the businesses fur- :: IGNACIO LILLO not as great as originally predicted. riod just around the corner. on Wednesday. ther away from the shore. The fore- MALAGA. Waves of a height of Nevertheless a preliminary re- “We’re asking Costas to replace warning from the met office and nearly six metres battered the Costa port issued by the central govern- the lost sand as soon as possible [...] Marbella the business association prevented del Sol on Tuesday and Wednesday ment’s Coasts department, known and to take action on the most dam- Waves expose infrastructure further damage. “When we left [on this week, leaving the beaches worse as Costas, said that beaches in Fuen- aged beaches in time for Easter,” said The rough seas took their toll on Tuesday night] we piled up 75 sand- for wear, just two weeks before the girola town centre and parts of San Manuel Villafaina, president of the beaches in Marbella, San Pedro and bags,” said one employee. peak Easter holiday season. Pedro and Estepona had suffered Association of Beach Business Own- Estepona. In Lindavista, San Pedro, The Levant wind caused the state the worst battering from the waves. ers. Villafaina said on Wednesday the sand was washed away to ex- Fuengirola meteorology office to issue a yel- No serious structural damage had that the impact was not as bad as it pose sewage pipes. The town hall Already damaged in autumn low weather warning for rough seas been caused, said the report, al- could have been as business own- has been announcing plans to move At the beginning of March, the town earlier in the week, which it up- though the beaches had suffered ers had been forewarned in an email these pipes for years, but there are hall sent a request to the Coasts graded to amber for Tuesday eve- significant erosion, losing breadth from the association. Sunbeds had archaeological remains in the area authority warning that the central ning and much of Wednesday. in many areas. been piled up near the promenades and authorisation is needed from Fuengirola beach had been damaged At six o’clock on Wednesday The authority’s final assessment and business owners had put up the Junta de Andalucía. In Ventura by the weather in autumn and win- morning the weather buoy in of the damage will not be released sandbag barriers. del Mar the waves invaded the brand ter and was not wide enough to in- March 29th to April 4th 2019 3 SUR IN ENGLISH NEWS chinery onboard but in any case the Benalmádena’s Mississippi port has been asked to put up an anti- pollution barrier as a precaution. steamboat sinks The Willow has been in disuse for some time and the town hall had reached an agreement with the owner to pay the debt run up for its berth in :: ALBERTO GÓMEZ The Willow, which has been the port in installments. The local BENALMÁDENA. The rough sea moored in Benalmádena for decades, authorities and the owner had previ- claimed another victim, this week, was built at the beginning of the last ously been advised of the boat’s poor the old steamboat moored in century to sail on the Mississippi. Af- state of repair in recent months due Benalmádena marina, which had ter being brought to Benalmádena it to a lack of maintenance. partially sunk by Thursday. was used for some time as a floating The Willow, which was refurbished With the help of divers, the Wil- nightclub, as well as a restaurant and in Liverpool before coming to the low was stabilised to prevent it tip- even a secret brothel. Costa, is one of the few Mississippi Guadalmar. The waves left sand and stones on the prom. :: S. SALAS ping over until further measures could The authorities have said that the steam boats to be found in European be taken. boat no longer has any fuel or ma- ports. Water entered the main dining room, The sea came up as far as the main the Granada coastline that suffered despite the attempts by employees N-340 coast road, stripping the the effects of the rough sea this to keep the place dry by putting up beaches of their sand. The Levant week. Especially hit was Velilla wooden barriers and sand bags the wind caused general damage on beach, where sand has receded sig- day before. beaches from Nerja to La Cala del nificantly. Along a 200-metre strip Other city beaches affected were Moral. Sand has been washed away of beach all that could be seen on Huelin, Guadalmar and El Dedo (El from La Torrecilla and El Chucho Thursday were large rocks uncov- Palo) where council workers were beaches in Nerja; from several ered by the waves. brought in on Wednesday to remove stretches of the El Peñoncillo, Fer- What is most worrying however sand that had been deposited by the rara and El Morche beaches in Tor- is the damage caused to the Velilla waves on the promenades. rox; in Lagos and Mezquitilla in Vé- breakwater near the Aquatropic Malaga councillor Teresa Porras lez-Málaga; and Los Rubios and La waterpark. said, however, that the beaches would Cala del Moral, in Rincón de la Cotobro, Marina del Este and Marbella. The state of El Fuerte beach on Wednesday. :: JOSELE-LANZA be in optimum condition by the start Victoria. Peña Parda beaches have also suf- of the Easter holiday period, when Experts from the different affected fered from the waves as well as Ve- Malaga city thousands flock to the city to watch town councils started to assess the lilla, said councillor Luis Aragón stall the summer facilities.