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Chief minister Fabian Picardo and deputy chief minister Dr Joseph García were in London on Tuesday for meetings and for the evening debate in the House of Lords about the impact which Brexit is likely to have on Gibraltar.

Afterwards, the Gibraltar government issued a statement saying it welcomed the "chorus of support" from peers from all political parties.

There were 18 contributions to the debate, which was opened by Committee Chairman Lord Boswell of Aynho, including strong backing from former Governor Lord Luce and long-time supporters Lord Hoyle (Labour) and Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrats). In her response on behalf of the British government, Baroness Goldie reaffirmed that the economic bonds between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar would be strengthened and maintained after exit from the European Union.

 
"The response of Her Majesty's government has been unequivocal," said the chief minister
Picardo said afterwards that the session had been deeply important for Gibraltar and that the committee had done a huge service in the timely preparation of their report. "To have secured a debate on that report a week before the formal Article 50 Notice is given, I think, is hugely beneficial to Gibraltar and has been enormously helpful in demonstrating the depth of support that Gibraltar now enjoys from all sides of the House, including the central, crossbench, peers who have demonstrated they care about our rights in this process. I am also very grateful for the response of Her Majesty's Government, which has been unequivocal. I think this has been the first time a Chief Minister and his team has been invited to attend and sit below the bar in the House of Lords and I am very proud for all of Gibraltar that this has been the case," he said.

"I am very grateful indeed to all of their Lordships who supported Gibraltar in the report of the Brexit Select Committee and who last night orchestrated a chorus of support for Gibraltar and its people in this important and timely debate. It is at times of challenge that friendships are forged, and we can see our long-term friends continuing staunch in our support and new friends also flocking to Gibraltar's cause, which are silver linings in these times," he concluded.source surinenglish

Malaga police's environmental squad have saved an abandoned donkey that was found wandering wounded on a road in the mountains behind the city.

It was taken to the police station before the local donkey sanctuary (Refugio del Burrito) took charge of it.source surinenglish

A leading luxury hotel chain is to open an establishment in Marbella. On Thursday, the W chain signed an agreement with the Platinum Estates investment group, which is developing a project in the area of the sand dunes at Real de Zaragoza, to manage the hotel, which is expected to open in 2021.

There had been rumours that the investment group, based in Singapore, and the hotel chain, one of the most important in the world’s luxury sector, were planning to join forces on an important project, but due to a confidentiality clause, neither party to the agreement wanted to give any details until the deal was signed and the official announcement was made in Hong Kong.

The mayor of Marbella, José Bernal Gutiérrez, was at the former British colony for the presentation of this major investment by one of the world’s most exclusive tourism firms.

 
The site of the new hotel, near Real de Zaragoza beach. / Josele-Lanza
The hotel chain is part of the Starwood-Marriott conglomerate, the two giants of the American hotel industry who merged in September last year. In total W, which is Starwood’s luxury brand, has more than 60 hotels on the five continents.

At present the W chain has just one hotel in Spain, the famous ‘candle hotel’ in Barcelona port, and according to its website it will be opening another of the same group in Madrid in June 2019. The new luxury hotel in Marbella will therefore be the chain’s third in this country.

W originally planned to announce the plans for this new hotel during the World Travel Market last November, but decided to wait because some delays in planning permission needed to be resolved.

Although the hotel will not be in operation until 2021 its beach club will almost undoubtedly open much earlier. The company needs to start its marketing at least two years beforehand, so it has asked Marbella town hall for a guarantee regarding the timescale for granting the works licence, so the construction can begin according to schedule.

In recent weeks there has been significant progress in the town planning processes which were still pending at that time, and the developers believe the works licence could be issued by May of next year. This would mean that the first phase of the project could be inaugurated in 2019.

Announcement

Work on the architectural design for this luxury project has already begun. The group paid approximately 50 million euros for the site and the 600-bed hotel and resort is expected to cost a further 300 million.

The resort will cover a surface area of 151,000 square metres on a frontline site on the Real de Zaragoza beach. According to the plans, the buildings will occupy about 35 per cent of this land, and will be no more than three storeys high. The dunes will be protected to a depth of 150 metres along the 400 metres of coast which is included in the land acquired for the hotel.

A statement issued by Marbella council this week said this investment is of major importance for the town, and is part of the authority’s efforts to make Marbella a preferential destination in the tourism sector “to attract investment which improves the well-being of our citizens and creates wealth and employment.”source surinenglish

After the sudden burst of sunshine and high temperatures of last weekend, Marbella council, with a budget of 1.3 million euros provided by the central environmental ministry, initiated a project to restore the town’s storm-damaged beaches. However, the arrival of yet more bad weather on the coast earlier this week means the coastal authority, which is carrying out the work, has gone back to square one.

The project involves the transportation and embedding of nearly 50,000 square metres of sand, and was expected to be completed by Easter.

San Pedro beach was the first to be improved, but the 14,000 square metres of fresh sand that were laid there have already been lifted and swallowed up by fierce waves caused by the most recent storm.

 
In addition, San Pedro’s promenades and showers have been damaged along with some of the chiringuito restaurants that line the beach.

“We have suffered five storms this winter, but none as bad as this one,” said a waiter from Trocadero Playa, a restaurant that saw its kitchen flooded by the torrent of waves on Wednesday.

In spite of this setback, Marbella council is optimistic that the beach improvement project can continue and will ensure that the beaches are in perfect condition for tourists and residents by the Easter deadline.

“There is still time for the council to work on the beach infrastructure and, fortunately, the coasts authority is prepared to redo all the work it completed before the storm so that the beaches will be in optimal condition for the first big date of the tourist season,” stated Miguel Díaz, Marbella’s councillor for Beaches.

After work is redone at San Pedro and La Fontanilla beaches, El Faro, La Venus and San Ramón will be improved.

Marbella’s beaches were not the only ones to be dealt a blow. Five- metre-high waves had an equally damaging effect on Huelin beach in the city of Malaga on Wednesday, and the erosion of a wall caused by the waves in Guadalmar led to the deluge of sea water in the local streets.

In Torremolinos, where 30 millimetres of rainfall were registered on Tuesday, large masses of sand and sea water damaged the beach’s plumbing and left the promenade flooded.source surinenglish

The Special Olympics team have arrived in Austria, where they will be competing in Floorball, Alpine Skiing and Snowshoeing at the World Winter Games, which will be held in the cities of Graz, Schladming and Ramsau respectively.

The Games will be held from 18 to 24 March, and the Gibraltarian contingent of 15 athletes, unified partners and nine officials will be at Saturday's Opening Ceremony in Schladming together with 2,700 other athletes from 107 nations.

Gibraltar's Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento, will be with them on Saturday and will also be attending the Global Forum on Inclusion in Social Affairs and Sports. Sports Minister Steven Linares, who will be unable to attend, has sent a message of support to the team, saying "Annie Risso and her team make Gibraltar proud on a daily basis and their participation at the World Winter Games will be no different. I hope they enjoy every minute."source surinenglish