Coach and lorry driver strike called off.

The coach and lorry driver strike that has caused problems for the last fortnight on the Costa del Sol has been called of temporarily.

Malaga Coach Driver Strike

For the second weekend running, coach drivers operating from Malaga airport are striking for a better pay deal. Last weekend, tour companies used taxis to transfer guests to their destinations, leaving the airport rank much depleted of the normal number of taxis available.

Cudeca Walkathon

Nine members of our own Benalmadena and Arroyo forum raised a total of 803 euros for the Cudeca cancer charity when they entered the charity's 2008 walkathon on Sunday 11th May. They walked the 5 kilometres from Sunset Beach to the marina and back.

Coach crash

One of Spains worst coach crashes happened on the 19th April on the A7 motorway near Arroyo de la Miel. At least nine people have died and nineteen seriously injured. The coach passengers who were from Finland, were on their way to Malaga airport after their holiday in Marbella. A seven year old child was amongst the dead. It is reported that a Kia 4x4 was at fault for the accident, and the driver has been arrested for being over the alchohol limit.

Urban Buses

Two of the three urban, (orange) buses have had their services withdrawn by the local town hall. All three lines were losing money, but the L2 service which runs between Benalmadena Stupa and Torrequebrada is to remain for the moment.

Ice Rink to re-open

The ice rink in Avenida Garcia Lorca, which was closed last year after an outbreak of Legionairs Disease, is set to re-open in May.

Angeliques

Angeliques restaurant on the Avenida Bonanza strip has closed and is now the Peacock Tavern.

Cablecar closed

The telecabina cablecar in Arroyo is closed until February 14th for maintainence.

Indoor Swimming Pool and Gym

These have now reopened and can be found at the junction of Avenida Gamonal and Avenida Garcia Lorca. The ice rink remains closed.

indoor swimming pool to reopen

The indoor swimming pool situated in Avenida Garcia Lorca, is scheduled to reopen by the second week of October. The ice rink however is to stay closed.

Ice rink and indoor swimming pool

The new ice rink and indoor swimming pool is closed until further notice due to an outbreak of legionaires disease earlier this summer.

Hotel Los Patos reopens

Following a 5 million euro restoration, the popular Hotel Los Patos is to reopen in July under the new owners, Montealto.
The hotel will now managed by the Symbolhoteles chain.

Urban bus fare increase

The flat fare on the Benalmadena Urbun bus routes has risen from €1.10 to €1.15.

New ice skating rink and indoor swimming pool

The new ice skating rink and indoor swimming pool has now opened in Avenida Garcia Lorca. The urban bus route 2 stops right outside. This is the only "real ice" rink on the Costa del Sol.

New railway station opened.

The revamped RENFE train station in Malaga is now open, and inlcudes 100 shops, a cinema and a 4* hotel. The station will now be known as Vialia María Zambrano.

Benalmadena Bowls Club

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY BOWLS?
THEN COME AND JOIN US AT BENALMADENA BOWLS CLUB.
WE HAVE 8 RINKS, AND BOWLS ARE AVAILABLE TO HIRE.
FLAT SHOES ARE REQUIRED.

CLUB DAYS ARE HELD ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS AT 1.30 P.M. FOR 2.00 P.M.
SUNDAYS AT 10.00 A.M. FOR 10.30 A.M.

CASUAL AND NEW BOWLERS ARE VERY WELCOME.
TUITION WILL BE GIVEN TO NEW BOWLERS.

THE BENALMADENA BOWLS CLUB IS SITUATED ON
CALLE ARRORO HONDO, OPPOSITE THE NEW XANIT HOSPITAL
IN BENALMADENA, ON THE ROAD TO BENALMADENA PUEBLO.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE TELEPHONE ANN ON
(00 34) 952447929
OR BY E-MAIL montaut@teleline.es

Click here to visit our website

Latest Tobacco Prices

Tobacco Prices November 2006 only from the official Tabac shops.

Cigarettes (200) in €

BENSON AND HEDGES 31
BERKELEY 30
DUNHILL 32
EMBASSY NO1 31
GOLD LEAF 29
JOHN PLAYER BLACK 23
JOHN PLAYER BLUE 31
JPS AMERICAN 19.50
KENSITAS CLUB 31
LAMBERT & BUTLER 29.50
MAYFAIR 25
REGAL 31
ROTHMANS KS 31
ROYAL CROWN 24
ROYAL RED & BLUE 25
SILK CUT 31
SOVERIGN 23
SUPERKINGS 30

Hand Rolling Tobacco (10 X packs of 50 grs unless stated)

CUTTER CHOICE 27.50
DOMINGO VIRGINIA 18.50 (40 grm)
DRUM 38
GOLDEN VIRGINIA 43
OLD HOLBORN 43
SAMSON 38

Pipe Tobacco 50 grs (5X packs of 50 grms)

CONDOR 21.74
ST BRUNO 22

Hand Luggage

New EU rules have come into force regarding hand luggage on airlines. No alcoholic bottles are now allowed in passengers hand luggage when checking in at any european airport.

Bmibaby

Bmibaby is pulling out of Teeside airport in early November and leaving thousands of their customers, who have already booked for the coming winter, without flights, Malaga being one of their destinations. They are refunding all monies paid but not helping passengers find alternative services, even on their own network. A member of our forum was one of the unfortunate customers involved, and the cheapest alternative flight will cost £300 more. It's about time the airlines were made to honour flights that have been published, or at least pay the difference between the price paid and any new booking passengers make with another airline!

Strikes called off.

The hotel staff strikes planned for 22nd to the 25th June; 20th to the 23rd July and 1st to the 6th of August have been called off after a wage agreement today.

Hotel staff to strike

Hotel staff on the Costa del Sol have announced that they will be taking strike action on the following dates:-
22nd to the 25th June; 20th to the 23rd July and 1st to the 6th of August.

Touts

The touts are back in force in Benal now summers here. They congregate mainly at the bottom of Avenida Telefonica, Carril del Siroco, Avenida de las Palmeras near McDonalds and Avenida Federico García Lorca by the entrance to Parque Paloma. They are also travelling round in cars and stopping anyone they think are tourists.
These people used to be called timeshare touts, but the new name is Holiday Club. They may have changed the name of the product, but they are still after one thing, your hard earned cash. They will approach you and offer you a scratch card, which when checked, will always be a major prize winner. You will then be asked to attend a presentation, which will include a two to three hour hard sell session. These people can earn £100 for just taking you to the presentation, and they are hard to get rid of if you stop and engage in conversation. My advice is, keep walking, unless of course you want to buy a share in one of these properties.The recent television program Watchdog, highlighted that people are still being duped by these pests and parting with their hard earned cash without really knowing what they are signing up for.