Tourism chiefs on the Costa del Sol are taking the high occupancy levels over the May Day bank holiday as a prelude to a good summer. The Association of Hoteliers on the Costa AEHCOS has said that the Puente saw 85% occupancy levels in local hotels, and that the weekend has removed the memory of the poor Easter this year. Occupancy levels were also high in inland areas such as Ronda and Antequera, and far better than seen at Easter. Most of the inland tourists are from elsewhere in Spain.

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Apr 19, 2008 Nine tourists from Finland lost their lives in the dramatic accident on the A7 near Arroyo de la Miel, and 22 more have been seriously injured, including the bus driver and two tourist guides. An emergency number has been set up for those wanting more information - It is (+34) 955041861. Nine people died, one of them a seven year old girl, and 22 more have been seriously injured in a coach crash on the A7 Benalmádena bypass on Saturday evening. It happened at 1950 at the 224 km point above Arroyo de la Miel, when the coach, carrying a group of 47 Finnish tourists, driver and co-driver, came into a side contact with a KIA four wheel drive vehicle. It is a very fast downhill stretch of road and it had been raining in the area for most of the day. Eyewitnesses said the four by four tried to overtake the coach on the inside, and hit the side crash barrier when doing so. He rebounded from there to hit the bus side on which led to the bus driver losing control with the bus ending up overturned moving down the central reservation until coming to a standstill. It’s understood that one of the uprights on the central reservation crash barriers sliced right through the overturned coach. The driver of the four wheel drive vehicle tested 0.50 milligrams of alcohol in his breath, double the legal maximum and is being blamed for the accident. This was confirmed by the Government Sub Delegate for the province, Hilario López Luna, who also said the KIA driver has been arrested. He is a 27 year old man from Málaga and is now in the Clínico hospital with slight injuries. His father was with him in the vehicle and he was also only slightly hurt. The 47 tourists, driver, and two TUI guides, were all then trapped inside the wreckage of the bus, and despite the efforts of other drivers who witnessed the accident, had to wait some two hours before the emergency workers could gain access by cutting a hole in the roof of the vehicle. Later heavy lifting gear was brought in to right the vehicle. The coach driver and the guides are among the injured. The bus driver has been named as 53 year old José Jiménez. His daughter told the Diario Sur newspaper that only that morning he had been talking to the family about the responsibility of transporting so many people. His wife and children spoke of his ‘professionalism and prudence’ at the wheel. The Andalucian Health Service set up a mobile hospital at the scene, where a number of the passengers were attended to as soon as possible. The injured were then taken to different hospitals in the province – One youngster is in the Materno Infantil Hosptial where another woman has been admitted to the gynaecological ward, five injured are in the Carlos Haya hospital in Málaga, one of whom is said to be in a critical condition, five more were taken to the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella and the rest, some seven to the Civil Hospital in Málaga. Other people were attended to in health centres in both Benalmádena and Torremolinos. The tourists were on their way back to Málaga airport from Marbella at the end of their holiday on the Costa del Sol. The coach was from the Tui España company, and had left from Marbella, picking up tourists en route in their return to the airport. The road was closed direction Málaga for a time, leading to considerable delays in both directions on a busy Saturday night. It is being described as the worst road accident in recent years in the province of Málaga and is the most serious coach crash seen in Spain since November 2001 when 20 pensioners lost their lives in Huelva. Meanwhile three people were seriously hurt in another accident at 0330am on Sunday morning on the other side of the same A7 road just 14 kms away at the 238 km point. Here a bus was in collision with a car which is reported to have jumped across the central reservation into oncoming traffic.

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I have had to receive a course on injections recently and just found out about a service that locals who were unaware and visitors may find useful. After getting the prescription from the doctor who seemed to find it perfectly reasonable that I should inject my self, I went off to the farmacia where the assistant did not seem to impressed when I also asked for the syringes and instructions She sent me off to the nurse who it turns out is just up the road and for 5 euros she supplies the syringe and the does the deed. She also syringes ears, removes stitches, changes dressings and a sundry of other services for what I think is a very reasonable fee. She can be found in the building between the greengrocers and the bar "El Reloj" on the Calle Blas Infante. ( the pedestrianised street opposite the railway station and church in the heart of Arroyo) She also speaks good English

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Last week they closed the Oficina de Correos (post office) in Calle del flores in Arroyo de la Miel and opened a new one without very clear directions on where to find it. I have now included it on the interactive map click here then click on the green tick to open the drop down menus - click on "Attractions and Landmarks" then click "Correos (new post office)" It is up the hill from the health centre. They have also introduced a fancy electronic "su turno" machine that lets you select which service you require and prints you a ticket, and there is a TV screen displaying the progress of the numbers and which counter to go to when it is your turn. It is certainly no quicker than the old system and if you want to collect a parcel and post a letter you will need a ticket for each and try not miss your turn. Isn't progress wonderful

Link

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I have picked this up from the forum, who says crime is all bad? LOCAL POLICE officers from Alhaurin el Grande recently spent an entire night chasing a lone criminal who appears to have embarked on a one-man crime spree. Local Police sources say that a patrol had approached the man, who is a well-known criminal with several previous arrests for robbery, as he was driving errati-cally onAvenida Gerald Brenan. The suspect then repeatedly rammed the police vehicle. A car chase then ensued through Alhaurin el Grande’s central streets, until, cornered in Calle Cruz, the suspect reversed into the police car in an attempt to escape.A short time later, he was again located in a parking area where he attempted to run over another two Local Police officers who had arrived at the scene. Both officers suffered injuries as they tried to avoid the car. One of the officers then tried to stop the driver by shooting at one of the car’s wheels; unfortunately the bullet ricocheted off the ground and hit another officer in the leg. The injured policeman, a veteran of the Alhaurin el Grande police force, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery but is reported to be making a good recovery. In the ensuing: confusion, the suspect escaped from the scene but, some hours later on the same night. Local Police received calls from a number of residents reporting a burglary in progress at business premises on Avenida Gerald Brenan. Officers who attended the scene found the same man emerging from a hole in the wall of a supermarket on the Cartama road, carrying two hams. As he attempted to get into a Ford Escort, Guardia Civil and Local Police officers from nearby villages once again tried to detain him, unsuccessfully. He managed to get into the car, which has since been discovered to have been stolen, and began driving towards Malaga. Another car chase followed during which the suspect drove through a Guardia Civil checkpoint in Campanillas. He was finally apprehended after he crashed in-to another car in Los Asperones. It has been ascertained that this was his second arrest in two days, the previous one being for the attempted burglary of a house in Alhaurin el Grande. He has since been charged but released from police custody.

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Journey time on the new route from Malaga to Madrid has been long awaited and has been set at two hours 30 minutes for non stop services and 25 minutes more for trains which stop en route. 11 trains will cover the line in each direction daily, a number which is increased to 13 on Fridays and reduced to ten on Sundays and nine on Saturdays. Ticket price is 76 € single, but there are discounts for advance internet booking which can take the price down to as low as 30 € 50 cents. It came the day after the Zapatero also officially opened the other new AVE high speed train line from Madrid to Valladolid. After the photos in Málaga the Prime Minister made his way to the airport and flew back to Madrid in an official plane, while the rest of the politicians returned on the train. A statement from the Moncloa said Zapatero had a ‘private meal’ to return for. The 7:10 AVE service from Málaga to Madrid on December 26th arrived 40 minutes late as the train stopped short of Córdoba when it failed to correctly read the signalling system on the Sevilla to Madrid stretch of the line. This older track uses a different signalling method that the Córdoba to Málaga link. It meant that RENFE were obliged to return the ticket price to the 281 passengers on the train. El Mundo has reported that the delay to the 2pm AVE from Málaga on Boxing Day was even greater, with the train arriving in Madrid one hour 40 minutes late. Travellers have told the paper that the train stopped and started on the Málaga – Córdoba stretch, the TV’s did not work, there was no water in the bathroom taps, and the oven in the cafeteria had broken. Currently on the new lines to Málaga and Valladolid RENFE returns half the ticket price for a 15 minute delay and all the ticket price for delays of more than 30 minutes. On established AVE lines a full refund is given if trains are more than 5 minutes late on arrival.

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We were very fortunate and had a dry sunny and generally very pleasant Christmas day after the foul weather of the previous week however heavy rain has brought flooding to the Western Costa del Sol with several estates in Estepona among the hardest hit. The main A-7 road was closed to traffic direction Málaga in Saladillo for three hours on Sunday. Estepona saw 45 litres of rain fall per square metre, with flooding affecting basements, shops and several roads. Some people were trapped in their cars by the water for a time when a stream burst its banks in the area of Playa Bella. The local fire service were called out more than 100 times. In Marbella the local fire service was called out 55 times as the rain also caused problems for some, mostly the flooding of garages and homes in the Guadalmina-Casasola, Los Naranjos and Jardines de Marbella urbanisations. In Mijas a wall collapsed because of the rain, the Paseo Marítimo flooded in Carvajal, Fuengirola, and some 20 vehicles had to be abandoned in the water of a restaurant car park in Churriana. There was far less rain on the Eastern Costa del Sol, but the Paseo Maritímo on the Ferrara beach in Torrox was at the mercy of the waves after the sand was washed away. Christmas Eve saw a spectacular hail storm in parts of the Axarquia, causing traffic problems and damage to crops in the area. Algarrobo was particularly affected and also suffered a power cut from the start of the storm until 3 in the morning. The local council has called for the area to be declared a catastrophic zone.

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