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The Malaga branch of HappyBox, a company which specialises in express deliveries for businesses, including food, will take part in a pilot scheme this spring which involves using robots.

At least five of these autonomous robots will arrive in Malaga from the Estonian company Starship Technologies accompanied by an engineer who will help "teach" them to do their job.

Malaga will be the fourth city in the world to take part, with the scheme already set up in Tallinn, San Francisco and London.

 
When the order reaches its destination the customer is sent an unlock code to retrieve the parcel
The robots will operate in the pedestrian zone of the city's historic centre, with a delivery time of between 15 and 20 minutes.

Typically weighing around 18 kilogrammes, they will be able to deliver parcels as heavy as ten kilogrammes, and although they have the capacity to move at a speed of 16 kilometres per hour, that will be reduced to ten during the experimental period so that they can keep pace with pedestrians. Their operating range is around ten kilometres and their batteries last around five hours.

The robots will also be fitted with GPS systems, optical cameras, accelerometers and ultrasonic sensors, which will allow them eventually to move about autonomously in a designated area of the city.

However, the first step will involve an engineer helping them create a map of the area, which they will need before they are able to move around without any help. In Malaga, therefore, the engineer will be accompanying the machines during their first few deliveries.

The robots will be connected to the platform HappyBox uses to manage all of its deliveries, with a few slight changes.

When an order from a customer comes through, the address and the time it has to arrive at its destination is transmitted to the robot. Once the machine has arrived at its destination, the customer will be sent an unlock code which will allow them to open the compartment where the parcel has been placed.

The managing director of HappyBox, Chris Orejuela, stated that the next version of these robots will be able to communicate with humans through an application similar to Siri, the programme used by Apple.

Orejuela added that the robots will be accurately tracked at all times when they are out delivering parcels, while there will always be a human being monitoring closeby, to avoid them being stolen.source surinenglish

The UK has started divorce proceedings with the EU. On Tuesday night the prime minister Theresa May signed a six-page letter that was hand delivered on Wednesday morning by Tim Barrow, Britain's ambassador to the European Union, to the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk.

During the last Prime Minister's Questions before the letter was handed over, Mrs May promised to "represent every person in the whole United Kingdom" during the negotiations, adding, "It is my fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country."source svm

Benalmádena became an international venue for World Poetry Day on Tuesday. A 120-metre-long piece of paper was rolled out along Calle Blas Infante in the Arroyo de la Miel area and different associations and schools were asked to write a poem.

Some 120 nationalities were invited to the Unesco-backed initiative.source surinenglish

Flight schedules are always a good way of measuring tourism prospects for the Costa del Sol, and 2017 looks like being another record year as the airlines which operate to and from Malaga have put 15.5 million seats on sale for flights from now until the end of October. This is two million more than last year.

Salvador Moreno, the director of Malaga Airport, says the forecasts are excellent. He also points out that the number of seats available last year were already 15 per cent more than in 2015.

A total of 52 airlines operate to and from Malaga, and by the end of last year 16.6 million passengers had used the airport. In 2015 there were 13.7 million, which gives an indication of the growth in activity. This summer there will be 89,500 flights, 11.5 per cent more than last year, linking the province with 126 destinations worldwide. This year four more destinations have been added, including Tel Aviv, and in total the companies are operating 242 routes.

 
Salvador Merino was reluctant to predict whether more than 18 million passengers were likely to use the airport this year, because there are many factors which can influence demand. Generally, however, 2017 is expected to be another record year for Malaga airport, and it has got off to a flying start: 1,782,303 people have already travelled on 14,650 flights in January and February.

Of the 242 routes this year, 210 are in Europe, although there is also a rapidly increasing demand for the USA and Canada.source surinenglish

"The feeling of being surrounded by nature at such a height is unexplainable," said Rosa García, who lost her vision many years ago. She was describing her experience this week as a participant in the Caminito del Rey's pilot tour customised for the visually impaired.

The project, which uses touch and smell to offer a sensory experience of the famous daredevil walkway around El Chorro gorge for those unable to see it, was first proposed by the site's management. The tailor-made route is the first of three different tours arranged in the coming months, as part of plans to make this tourist favourite more inclusive and "open to every kind of person", according to Paco Campano of the company that managers the Caminito on Tuesday.

Before starting the walk, the ten blind participants and their companions met with a guide, who helped to familiarise them with the route and the terrain, using a scaled-down model of the gorge. There, the guide described the Caminito for the walkers, comparing it to a "giant balcony that stretches along a vertical wall", and also spoke about the varieties of rock that can be found at the site. In addition the participants had the chance to touch replicas of items found in the area, such as clay pots and wicker baskets.

 
The first stop on the tour was the old hydroelectric dam where only the sound of the water could convey to the walkers the height of their location.

Later, where the security fence and walls narrow, the guide explained to the walkers that only the wooden footbridge was protecting them from a 50-metre drop to the ground. "Really? 50 metres?" Rosa responded, shocked, as she and the other walkers experienced a sense of vertigo.

Without doubt, the pilot tour was considered a success by both the organisers and the visually impaired participants. It was clear that the walkers enjoyed the experience as the feel of the rocks and the sound of the river, birds and wind all combined to provide them with a sensory picture of the Caminito.

Foreign visitors a majority

At a press conference held yesterday, the president of the provincial government, Elías Bendodo, announced that since reopening two years ago, the Caminito del Rey has welcomed 600,000 walkers. Of those, he added, approximately 420,000 were not from Spain, confirming the Caminito's reputation as an international tourist attraction.

The majority of the foreign tourists came from other European countries, with British visitors accounting for 20 per cent of the total number. However it was also revealed that visitors from countries further afield such as China, Canada and Costa Rica had experienced the thrill of the gorge-side walkway.source surinenglish