Mojacar Post Office to move to new premises

The Post Office in Mojacar, currently on the Paseo Maritimo in front of the Red Cross, has bought new premises in the Montemar shopping centre 100 metres up the hill from the main roundabout where the beach road meets the road up to Mojacar pueblo. The new premises have an area of 326 square metres and one of the main reasons for the move is the need for more space, not only for attending to the public but also for the sorting office. Work on the new offices will begin at the end of the summer and should be finished before the end of the year. There is also a possibility that the Garrucha sorting office will also move to theses new premises, leaving the office in Garrucha solely for attention to the public.

The timetable of the post office in the Montemar centre will be from 8.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. Saturdays.

The Montemar centre is also home to the Euro Weekly News, Costa Almeria edition offices so can pop in to see us when you visit the new post office.

Gas company pays off fishermen in Garrucha and carboneras

Medgaz, the company currently laying a pipeline from Beni Saf in Algeria to Almeria at a cost of 900 million euros, has come to an agreement with representatives of fishermen from Almeria, Roquetas, Carboneras and Garrucha. The company has agreed to pay a total of 3 million euros as compensation for the effects of the pipeline on fishing grounds it passes through. The talks were mediated by Miguel Corpas, the governments sub-delegate in Almeria, and the compensation to be paid is roughly equivalent to what the fishermen receive for the month long 'biological break' they are obliged to take occasionally to allow the prawn population to recover its numbers. Concern has been voiced over the environmental impact of the pipeline which will reach a maximum depth of 2,160 metres and is due to be in service by 2009.

Six of Andalucia’s eighteen environmental black spots are in Almeria

The new Greenpeace España report, 'Destruccion a Toda Costa' (Destruction at all Co(a)st), lists eighteen coastal black spots in all of Andalucia a third of which are in Almeria. Andalucia has 817 km. of coast of which 200 are Almerian. The six black spots are; the Cabo de Gata natural park listed for the apparently uncontrolled construction in an area protected due to its being a habitat unique in Europe, Carboneras listed for being home to a coal powered fire station responsible for a third of all of Andalucia's CO2 emissions as well as other pollutants, Carboneras again for the enormous EL Agarrobico hotel built right on the beach, Mojacar for the Playa Macenas development which has destroyed a virgin beach and the valley behind it, Garrucha for the construction of the Marina which, according to Greepeace, will cause the disappearance of the Vera beach and finally Villaricos for the contamination from the DSM-Deretil chemical factory.

The DSM-Deretil plant in Villaricos, which mainly produces antibiotics, releases into the sea every year 231,000 kg. of organic carbon compounds, 6,440 kg. of halogenated carbon compounds, 57,900 kg. of phosphorous, 527,000 kg. of nitrogen and 416kg. of zinc and related compounds. They have also released 37 tonnes of trichloromethane (commonly known as chloroform) into the atmosphere in the last three years, 7.5 per cent of the total emissions of this substance in the whole of Europe. Trichloromethane has been determined by the American Environmental Protection Agency to be 'probably' carcinogenic in humans. All of these emissions are legal and declared by the company. These figures are matched and in some cases surpassed by the emissions of the power generating plant next to the factory which adds benzene, toluene, and xylene to the cocktail pumped into the sea. But not to worry as the company has plans to move to China where the environmental legislation is less strict.

Works for new gas pipe reach Los Gallardos

Works preparing the land for the laying of the gas pipe which will go from Almeria to Chinchilla in the province of Albacete have begun and have reached Los Gallardos. The pipe will pass through the municipalities of Nijar, Sorbas, Los Gallardos, Antas and Huercal Overa on its way to Lorca and from there on to Chinchilla. It is being laid to transport the gas which will arrive in Almeria from Algeria via the undersea pipeline currently being laid and due to be completed in 2009 and which will have the capacity to transport 8 million cubic metres per year.

The work being carried out at the moment is preparatory clearance before the digging machinery moves in. The pipeline will be 294 kilometres long when completed, corresponding to 123 km. in Almeria, 100 km. in Murcia and 71 km. in Albacete. It is to be laid at a minimum depth of one metre and the pipe will be welded steel protected by polythene. The gas transported will be at a maximum pressure of 80 bar (about 1,160 pounds per square inch). The total cost of the project is just under 300 million euros and it will take three years to complete.

Albox children need Paediatrician in town now

Representatives of the Albox Association of Businesspeople and Professionals (AEPA) recently met with Gracia Fernandez Moya, the new director of the Huercal Overa hospital, to communicate the concerns of many of their members about the lack of a paediatrician in their town and ask the director to rectify the situation the local medical centre finds itself in.

The hospital director's response was one of resignation, telling those at the meeting that there are no specialists available in Spain at the moment, with vacancies for specialists and general practitioners being filled by foreigners whose qualifications are inferior to those taught in Spanish universities. Ms. Fernandez told them that there are only two paediatricians left in the area, one in Seron and the other in Olula de Rio, with vacancies in this speciality being filled by experienced G.P.s.

Ms. Fernandez added that she was presently meeting the staff of all the medical centres in the catchment area of the hospital in order to help them improve the organisation of their on-call system and that they had also introduced a scheme allowing people with chronic illnesses to get their prescriptions filled directly in the pharmacy without having to see the doctor, something which should free uo the doctors' time for other patients.

Garrucha beaches fail to meet quality standards

The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to over 3200 beaches and marinas in 37 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Canada and the Caribbean and is the best known qualification for beaches amongst the public. Here in Spain those beaches that don't obtain a blue flag can try for the 'Q de Calidad' (Q for Quality) flag, a Spanish scheme with similar standards but seen by many as a fallback for those beaches that can't get the Blue Flag.

This year Garrucha is the only important tourist destination on the Levante coast to have neither of these awards in a year when spending is down and the tourist industry is feeling the pinch. Vera and Carboneras both have beaches with the Q de Calidad flag and Mojacar has two beaches with the Blue Flag classification (despite the fact that there are still no lifeguards).

One of the biggest problems the beaches in the Mojacar, Garrucha and Vera area have faced over the last few years has been the sewage treatment in the area which does not have the capacity to deal with the extra waste produced due to the number of visitors in summer months. This means that faecal material is regularly dumped into the sea through outfall pipes reaching one kilometre out to sea. Investment is being made to solve the problem, but according Salvemos Mojacar, an environmental pressure group that has instigated several court proceedings against local ayuntamientos for not meeting EU regulations for sewage disposal, the projected spending falls well short of what is needed to conform to European legislation.

Tortoises released into the wild

The Junta de Andalucia has recently released more than one hundred animals on the protected species list into the wild in Sierra Cabrera, Turre. The majority of the animals released were tortuga mora, with 95 being freed. Six kestrels were also released and one example of a Eurasian Stone-curlew.

Almeria and Murcia are home to the largest populations of tortuga mora in Europe as they have an ideal climate for these animals. They are on the list of vulnerable species published by the International Nature Conservation Union. The examples released were all donated by individuals living in the area.

Turre gets new post office

After seven months of having their post office based in a van parked near the Fuente the residents of Turre now have a permanent post office. The new premises are at number six in the Plaza de la Constitucion and its opening times are daily from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The new post office will deal with normal mail, certified mail, telegrams, parcels and burofaxes.

The reason for the situation Turre found itself in is that it is the postman who has to provide the premises for the post office. Spanish legislation states that in rural areas the post office personnel have the obligation to provide premises and transport for the delivery of mail. Turre has two postmen, one who delivers the post in the town and another who takes the post out to those who live in the countryside around the town. The new post office has opened thanks to one of the postmen who has offered premises for this use.

The previous postman, Gines Visiedo, who is now retired, ran the post office in his own premises for more than thirty years, but his retirement meant the loss of the office.

According to the UGT (Union General de Trabajadores) the province's post office personnel working in rural areas are in an unsustainable situation, having to pay out of their own pockets for the fuel they need to make deliveries, with the corresponding recent rise in fuel prices, and the rental of premises for offices.

New road near Partaloa causes tension

The residents of Partaloa, more than 50 per cent of whom are British, are up in arms over the works related to the new motorway to be built near their homes.

Unfortunately it was not until a few weeks ago, when the process of compulsory purchase of the land affected by the works started, that many residents of the town realised just where the road was to go. Alejandro Lopez, mayor of the town, said "The majority of our residents are elderly people who were not interested in this matter until they saw the pegs that mark out the expropriations and the route the road is to take. That is why now many of them are not in agreement. (with the planned route)"

The project involves the enlarging of the A-399 road to Oria along the stretch where it intersects with the A-334 and was approved by the previous town council. It is projected to cross an area known as La Loma de las Piedras, an area of mudstone boulders with a slope where many locals have fruit trees and is used for horse riding and other leisure activities.

One suggestion that has been made is that of moving the new road 100 metres to one side of the proposed route where it can be built over an existing road, meaning there will be less necessity for expropriation of property. This new idea has now been presented to the Public Works Delegate, Alejandra Rueda, whose response so far has been positive.

Mojacar Parador to re-open soon

The Parador in Mojacar which has been closed for the last eighteen months is due to reopen its doors on July 25. The renovation works carried out have cost a total of 8,2 million euros, with half of the rooms, specifically those without sea views, having been remodelled and all of the communal areas having been given a facelift.

There is a new patio, decorated with local marble, which leads on to the new reception area, which is decorated with ceramic and wooden relieves, a theme continued in the communal areas.