Carboneras beaches criticised by the PSOE

MUNICIPAL spokesman for the PSOE in Carboneras, Antonio Fernandez, has criticised the current administration for the management of the town’s beaches.

Fernandez responded to a statement by mayor of Carboneras, Jesus Caicedo, in which he suggested the beaches did not need blue flags because they were already full of holidaymakers and residents who were not swayed by distinctions.

Fernandez said: “What Jesus Caicedo seems not to know, despite having a travel agent, is the crowd of bathers at a beach with a blue flag or other distinguishing quality is a result of having these distinctions not vice versa.”

The possession of the distinctions, Fernandez continued, “implies beaches that are able to certify a correct state in areas such as health, cleanliness, safety and environmental management carried out in those places.”

Ministry’s advice sets off Twitter storm

THE Ministry of the Interior’s advice to women on how to avoid rape has created a storm on Twitter.

Users of the social media website have denounced the advice as chauvinistic and laying the blame on the victims.

Among other things the advice recommends that women should buy a whistle to call for help and avoid using lifts if there is a stranger in them as well as sitting near the driver on a deserted bus and always closing their curtains when at home.

People have taken to the site to send messages back to the Ministry of the Interior like “Let’s see if we can all finally understand that the crime is not the victim’s fault” and “It is unacceptable that a public ministry should be giving such out of touch advice!”

Several PSOE delegates have also shown their disgust at the advice saying that it further victimises the victims by making it seem as though they could have avoided the crime if only they had had a whistle.

The PSOE secretary for equality, Carmen Monton, commented that the attitude of the government was outdated and would get them nowhere in the modern world and agreed with a tweet which had come in stating “Instead of teaching women how not to be raped, why don’t we teach men not to rape?”

Nine out of 10 inmates are men

THE number of inmates serving prison sentences in Spain has decreased.

While in 2009 there were 76,079 convicts in Spanish prisons, their number has decreased by 12.24 per cent in five years, currently adding up to 66,765. In fact, there was a 2.67 per cent drop in Spain’s prison population between 2012 and 2013 alone.

The data corresponds to both Spanish and foreign nationals, according to the Ministry of the Interior. However, the number of foreign convicts has registered the sharpest decrease from 27,162 in 2009 to 21,116 in 2014 (-22.2 per cent), while the number of Spanish inmates has merely dropped by 6.6 per cent in the same period from 48,917 to 45,649.

This means that one in every three convicts serving prison sentences in Spain comes from abroad. As many as 5,773 are Moroccan nationals, 2,275 from Romania, 2,257 from Colombia and 1,555 from Ecuador, said the Spanish Government.

Data shows that the average inmate in Spanish prisons is 39 and has been convicted of theft or drug trafficking, though other common crimes include homicide and murder with 3,707 inmates, crimes against sexual freedom with 3,087 convicts and as many as 3,937 for domestic violence.

Data also shows that nine out of every 10 convicts behind bars in Spain are men - 92.4 per cent - and that as many as 494 people are in prison for terrorism (61 women).

Building kills young man

A YOUNG man of 28 who was wounded when a chunk of balcony fell on him while he was having a drink on a street bar terrace in Madrid has died.

He was immediately taken to the Gregorio Marañon hospital, unconscious, and died later of his wounds.

The victim was having a drink with another young man, 27, on a bar’s terrace when several lumps of concrete fell on both of them, from the eighth floor of the building, in the Arguelles area of the capital at around 8pm.

The victim’s friend suffered only light cuts and bruises to his left arm while he was hit directly on the head and had a severe, open gash on his scalp, he was stabilised at the scene of the accident and taken to the hospital, unconscious, in a critical condition.

The Madrid fire brigade has been inspecting the building, an office block with no residents, and making sure that none of the other balconies might be in danger of having the outer skin of the building flake off and fall to the street.

The building had passed its last technical inspections in 2001 and 2011 with no problems at all according to the office of technical inspections and urban development of Madrid Council.

Building inspectors and the fire brigade continue to investigate the cause of the accident.

Rincon reinforces recycling efforts

RINCON DE LA VICTORIA Council collects nearly 300 tons of plastic containers.

The Environment Department amassed 260 tons of plastic containers in the first half of 2014. Environment Councillor Sergio Diaz reported that there were 220 recycling bins throughout the municipality. The council is currently replacing the 1,000-litre bins with new 2,400-litre bins to increase and promote recycling, said Diaz.

Interim Rincon de la Victoria Mayor Antonio Manuel Rando thanked local residents for co-operating with environmentally-friendly initiatives and recycling efforts. “It is important to keep collecting and classifying urban waste before it is actually recycled,” said Rando.

In the first half of 2014, Rincon de la Victoria has recycled 232,280 kilograms of cardboard and 186,193 kilograms of glass, and collected 28,440 kilograms of clothes, shoes and toys for humanitarian purposes.

“We need to care for the environment and stop using pollutants that are detrimental to nature,” commented Diaz.

Overhead cables to come down

VELEZ-MALAGA Council is to remove overhead cables from the historic city centre.

The local authority has stated that the project will start in the next few days in La Villa and Arroyo de San Sebastian, specifically on Calle Real, Calle Murallas Altas, San Francisco and near Fuente de Fernando VI.

“This will not only solve an aesthetic but also a safety problem. Cables in areas with the largest number of problems are to be moved under-ground,” said Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Services Councillor Concepcion Labao.

The total cost of the project is estimated at €80,000 and is to be funded by the Urban Initiative De Toda La Villa.

Murcia debt under fire

FUENSANTA MAXIMO, the regional head of the UPyD political party in Murcia, has criticised the PP regional government for raising the regional debt “to a rate well above the average of other regions.”

Maximo referred to data from Banco España and the Instituto de Credito y Finanzas (Institute of Credit and Finance). He explained that while national annual growth of public debt between 2008 and 2013 hovered at about 30 per cent, it was almost double in Murcia, surpassing 50 per cent. He said: “The bad management and policies of the PP in Murcia have swollen the public debt at a rate that makes it unsustainable in no time.”

Maximo pointed out that the debt to annual budget ratio now exceeds 150 per cent. He concluded: “The PP decisions, like borrowing against a closed airport, an unnecessary desalination plant and autonomous television operating as a propaganda tool of the regional government, have condemned the present and future of the region.”