POTALA – A plan for the next ten tears

    The POTALA is the Plan de Ordenacion del Territorio del Area de Levante Almeriense (Territorial Planning for the Almerian Levante Area). It includes plans for all infrastructures (transport, water, electricity and gas), urban planning and economic development in the area stretching from Carboneras in the South to San Juan de los Terreros in the North-East and Santa Maria de Nieva and the surrounding mountains in the North-West. The area includes the municipalities of; Antas, Bedar, Carboneras, Cuevas del Almanzora, Garrucha, Huercal-Overa, Los Gallardos, Mojacar, Pulpi, Turre and Vera. The plan affects a population of almost 78 thousand people and the total area included in the plan comes to just over 426 square miles (the same area as Hong Kong) and has 23 miles of beaches.

    The plan is now in its final stages after having been approved by a majority vote from the ayuntamientos affected by it with the exceptions of Mojacar which voted against it and Antas which abstained. The reason for their dissension was that both towns wanted more of the land which is currently protected against development to be freed from urban restrictions.

    The plan projects an investment in the area over the next ten years of a thousand million euros, seventy per cent of which will come from public funds and the other thirty from private investors.

 

Transport

    The POTLA integrates all of the plans for new roads, road improvements and rail connections for the next ten years. The most important investment in the area will be the AVE high speed train with a station planned in the Vera Playa area. The AVE will cut the journey time from Madrid down from five and a half hours to two and a half hours, making a relaxing weekend at the beach here a definite possibility for residents of the capital.

    There are several new roads anticipated with bypasses for Turre, Carboneras, Pulpi and Santa Maria de las Nievas. There is also a new road behind Mojacar from the roundabout by the Cepsa petrol station to the end of Mojacar Playa, another coming directly from the A7 motorway to Garrucha and another connecting the Los Lobos exit on the new Aguilas motorway to the back of Mojacar. Major improvements are also planned for many other roads in the area.

 

Water, Electricity and Gas

    The plan foresees the zones needs for water and energy, with water to come from the Carboneras desalination plant, electricity principally from the Carboneras power station with new power lines and sub-stations planned in strategic areas, and gas from the gas line being laid from Almeria to Algeria.

 

Urban Planning

    The POTLA in theory will regulate the planning confusion that has reigned in the area over the last couple of years, defining the areas which are to be provided with street level infrastructure and made 'urbanisable' land, with large areas specified in Vera, San Juan de los Terreros and Sierra Cabrera. The plan leaves the power for legalising those properties currently illegal or unregulated in the hands of the ayuntamientos, meaning that only those in precarious situations such as in ramblas or near reservoirs will have problems with legalisation. Of the approximately six thousand illegal properties in the area it is estimated that only about a hundred will remain that way.

 

Economic Development

    Perhaps the most far reaching part of the POTLA is the designation of special areas for the production and tourism industries. There are four areas reserved for production industry the largest of which surrounds the intersection of the A7 Almeria-Murcia motorway and the AP-7 Cartagena motorway, there is another slightly smaller one on the intersection between the A7 and the new motorway to Purchena and another between Pulpi and the AP-7 toll motorway. The fourth area is reserved for heavy industry and is behind the Carboneras power station.

     The other area which will be the heart of the tourist industry in the Almerian Levante is the Llano Central, an area of over 13,000 acres which is for the development of tourist attractions in the area. The area is in the centre of, and includes land in, the municipalities of Antas, Bedar, Garrucha, Los Gallardos, Mojacar, Turre and Vera, and a project with detailed ideas for its use is being drawn up at a cost of 60,000 euros.

 

The POTLA is a detailed and exhaustive plan which can be found on the internet and downloaded in zip format from the following link.

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/obraspublicasytransportes/www/estaticas/ordenacion_territorio/levante_almeria/levante_almeria.zip

Worst watermelon harvest for 25 years

This year has been a terrible year for watermelon farmers with fifty per cent less reaching the market than last year. The reason for this decline has been due to a lack of water in many areas, the high salt content of the irrigation water and the transport strike in June. The lack of water and poor quality of what there is has resulted in the watermelons cultivated not reaching a suitable size for the market meaning that many haven't even been picked, being left in the fields to rot or be eaten by goats and sheep. As if this weren't enough the transport strike came at a time of peak production, affecting 20 per cent of the watermelon production in the Levante area. This also caused a steep drop in the price which has not recovered since then. Producers are now getting 12 to 20 cents a kilo on a product which sells for about one euro a kilo in the supermarkets.

600 thousand euros for small towns

The provincial government in Almeria has announced July 21 as the deadline for submission of applications for a share of 600 thousand euros. The money is destined for investment in 15 projects; 400,000 for a total of ten projects in towns with less than 2,000 inhabitants and the other 200,000 for five projects in towns with between 2,001 and 5,000 inhabitants. The maximum for any single project will be 50,000 euros. The qualifying ayuntamientos have been notified of the offer. The money is intended to be used for improving infrastructures for the development of public services and for improving the towns' productive and economic frameworks.

Every dog must have his day

Every dog must have his day and if one thing would make a dog's day it must be the pampering and loving attention that Anita gives to all her canine clients.

Anita has worked with animals for twenty years now, spending eight years as a veterinary nurse before training in animal grooming. She works out of Veravet in Vera and K9 Kennels between Vera and Garrucha, and has worked for the last two years with Costa Indalo vets in the Mojacar Centro Comercial but now the vet is moving and the clinic there is closing.

Anita will still work at Veravet and K9 Kennels, but for those unable to get their dogs to either of those places she is offering a mobile service. Doggy heaven is just a phone call away.

The VIP treatment she gives starts with a good brushing, which gives Anita a chance to check for ticks, fleas, burrs, grass seeds and any types of skin ailments. Then a bath and a trim; when Anita arrives at your home she not only brings her clippers, brushes and grooming table, but a whole range of specialised shampoos and even doggy perfume, the shampoos include flea shampoo, shampoo for dark hair, light hair, even dry shampoo in case your dog really doesn't like getting wet. Anita also clips their nails, checking their paws for foreign bodies that can get caught between their toes and cleans their ears, which helps prevent ear infections.

All of this of course leaves your dog feeling cooler and, Anita assures, looking younger, it helps keep their fur in good condition and on more than one occasion Anita has been the first to spot symptoms that have led to the early discovery of tumours, heart conditions and other illnesses that could otherwise have gone undiscovered.

You can call Anita on 662 344 734 at any time, all you need is a bath or a space in the garden or on the terrace with a hosepipe. If you prefer to drop your dog off at Veravet or K9 kennels and pick it up refreshed and rejuvenated give her a call and make an appointment. And remember as Franz Kafka once said; "All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers is contained in the dog", so treat them well.

Anita is qualified and fully legal here in Spain. She can be contacted seven days a week on 662 344 734.

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.

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.

Guardia Civil seize fake clothing worth 180 thousand euros

Guardia Civil in Roquetas de Mar have seized 2,300 articles of counterfeit designer clothes after a spending a month watching a private home in the El Parador del Asuncion area of Roquetas. The officers watching the house observed how a large number of people entered and left the dwelling, leaving carrying plastic bags containing articles of clothing.

The decision to search the dwelling came after the Guardia Civil stopped a car which had left the house under suspicion after being loaded with several boxes. The car was stopped and searched and the occupants identified. Inside the car were boxes containing clothing. A judicial expert in counterfeit goods was called to the scene to certify that that the clothing was fake and with this evidence the Guardia Civil was able to obtain a search warrant for the house. Inside the house the Guardia Civil discovered shelves full of shoes, trousers, jeans, shirts, polo shirts, jackets, towels t-shirts, and bags, all copies of well known, high prestige designs and all for sale for below the normal market value. A married couple was arrested in the house.

The merchandise found all came from outside the country, being introduced into Spain through Galicia.

One dead in road accident near Olula del Rio

One person was killed and four were injured in a head on collision on the AL-334. The accident happened at 8 a.m. when a car with one occupant was involved in a head on collision with a van carrying seven people. The driver of the car was killed on impact and four of the passengers in the van were injured, one seriously. The accident occurred on the main road that connects the A7 motorway to Albox, Purchena and Baza, at a time when the traffic is particularly heavy.

The accident was attended by the Guardia Civil, the Albox fire brigade, medical teams from the Macael and Olula de Rio medical centres and a helicopter based in Granada. The most seriously injured of the four people hurt, who suffered severe abdominal injuries, was the last to be evacuated due to the time needed by the firefighters to cut them from the remains of the van. The rescue operation took more than two hours to complete.

The driver of the car, who lived in Urracal, was not removed from the scene of the accident until death was confirmed and permission given to move the body by a judge. Not until then could the firefighters cut them from the wreckage of the car. The town of Urracal has announced four days of official mourning.

The cause of the accident is being investigated by the Guardia Civil accident investigation section.

Water bills to go up nearly eleven per cent

Galasa will be increasing their charges for water supply and sewage disposal by 10.9 per cent, to be applied immediately. This rise will affect residents of Antas, Arboleas, Bedar, Carboneras, Cuevas del Almanzora, Garrucha, Huercal Overa, Los Gallardos, Mojacar, Pulpi, Taberno, Turre, Vera and Zurgena. The increase was approved in a meeting of the Diputacion de Almeria where it was hotly debated by the opposition Popular Party who accused the Socialist PSOE/Andalucia Party coalition of not looking for an alternative to what they described as a disproportionate rise. The socialist's spokesperson responded that 6.91% of the increase corresponded to the official inflation rate for 2006 and 2007 and pointed out that the change of customers to CODEUR in the Vera Playa area meant a loss of more than a million euros for Galasa. She went on to add that the rise would mean only an extra 1.50 euros on the average bill.