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The PS20 tower near Sevilla in andalucia went into production last week .It is the largest solar tower in the world .

It has the capacity of 20 mega watts and can service 10,000 homes .It is situated in Sanlucar la  Mayor.It has just undergone a three day testing period .It is the second solar energy plant being operated by Abengoa in Spain .

The plant is made up of 1255 mirrors , each 120 square metres in size and they focus the rays of the sun onto the top of the 160 metre high tower .This heat energy drives a steam turbine which in turn creates electricity .

When it is at full capacity in 2013 it will generate 300 megawatts and supply 153 ,000 homes .This has to be the way forward for a part of Europe which has so much sunshine .Wind farms will also be proliferating on the Atlantic coast too .

The Mayor of Antequera has virtually lost control of the council in the Andalucian town .He had a coalition with the far left IU party but now his PSOE party is virtually on its own .

The Mayor has fallen out with his fragile coalition partners over the Town Plan ( PGOU ) .The Mayor has plans to urbanise large tracts of the Antequeran countryside with tens of thousands of new homes .This is in an area where water is always at a premium and there isn’t enough to go around at this moment in time .

The Vega de Antequera is a reknowned agricultural area and three of the IU councillors walked out of the council meeting where the issue was being put forward .They do not want this region to be concreted over and they quite rightly fear that the aquifers which supply the water will not cope .

Already Spain is being criticised for over development in a huge area of the coast and here is another example of the same thing happening again .These huge projects smell of expediency and short termism .It also smells of the ” fast buck “  .When will these people learn from past experience ?

Taberner has a very good business importing Spanish wines into Germany and lives in Frankfurt for three quarters of his month .Travelling to Andalucia to supervise the work there .Choosing andalucia to grow vines for a superlative wine is a gamble but this man has travelled the length and breadth of Spain and has chosen this spot .He has already produced a 2005 vintage which has acquired high acclaim  and he maintains that the 2006 will be even better .An American wine writer has acclaimed the 2005 as as good as the best of the Northern Rhones .

This is a man possessed with the idea of turning this part of Spain , near the Costa de la Luz into one of the top wine producing places in the world .

One man had his house built by him and he never completed the job .This particular client is seeking 300,000 euros in compensation as he was left with a shell of a building .Another elderly couple are seeking 160,000 euros from the same Malaga builder for what they deem to be ” Shoddy ” workmanship .There are others who have experienced the poor workmanship of this builder too .He has a very bad reputation in the area in which he lived .

Even the Social Security are looking for about 117,000 euros because he did not pay his taxes .He disappeared from his own house near Malaga in the middle of the night and has not been seen since .He has two plots of land which are up for sale and there is an embargo on one of these from the Social Security .

Everyone who knew this man says that he was a very nice person but a builder he was not and business man he was not .He has a wife and two young daughters .

In Orihuela on the Costa Blanca the traditional Tuesday street market is going to have a new home .It is being moved to either the fairground in Los Huertos or to the streets around Parque Severo Ochoa and Avenida de la Vega .At the moment it is situaed in the Monserratinas area of the town .Both stallholders and residents have voiced their unhappiness about the decision .Some stallholders are not against a relocation but favour the Avenida de la Vega because it is closer to the present site .Residents have said that they favour Los Huertos because it can be more easily accessed and will not annoy too many residents .People who run businesses near the market are up in arms because they feel that they will lose business because of the change .

The new hospital in Denia can be accessed from the AP-7 but the slip road is only a single lane .There are now proposals to make the slip-roads dual carriageways and so cut down tailbacks caused by the relocation of the hospital .

In Benissa a 38 year old man has died as a result of a tractor accident .While travelling along a country track between Teulada and Benissa the vehicle overturned and he was killed .

A British woman living in Orihuela on the Costa Blanca , was saved by local police when they answered an emergency call from a neighbour .The woman had been lying on the floor helpless , having broken a bone during the fall .A neighbour heard shouts for help and they alerted the police .Fire crews also attended the scene and helped the police to enter the house .When the first policeman entered the house he found the woman lying on the floor with her small dog by her side .The lady was taken to hospital where she was rehydrated and had her fracture dealt with .

Women who have had to flle their homes because of domestic violence and seek refuge in a women’s shelter in Valencia , have been highly critical of its philosophy .They have reported pressure from the authorities there to hand over their children for adoption .Five of the ten women who were living in the shelter , which is run by social services , say that they receive no help to get them back on their feet , find work or reintegrate into society .More worrying is the allegation that pressure is placed upon them to have their children adopted .

The centre houses women who have been subjected to domestic violence and also sinle mothers who have no means of supporting their child or children .Some have already left the centre because of the attitudes and the lack of support .A 22 year old Bolivian woman is going to return to Bolivia as she sees no way forward .Her husband beat her and she is finding no help from this particular refuge .A 25 year old Argentinian and a 30 year old Nigerian say that they are constantly being pressured to hand over their babies for adoption or to foster families by the staff at the Centro Mujer 24 Horas .The Argentinian lady has said that even though they give no help in finding jobs they become offended if you find one for yourself .

Surely the aim of the game in such centres is to protect both mother and child and work towards integrating the women back into society by making them independent .Educating women in such situations should be a priority .

You build a house in a very special location on the island of Ibiza , you have official permission and it takes you almost 18 million euros to build this dream house .Then , you are told that it has to be demolished .This is what has happened to a French musician , Michel Cretu .This is the nightmare .

Cretu was given a municipal license to build his house on a plot of land on top of a mountain .Unfortunately for him this particular piece of land is protected by the Balearic Law of Natural Spaces .They took three metres off the top of the mountain to build this arab style fortress .However it turned out to be four times bigger than was originally agreed .

In 1995 the Nature Studies Group advised the Mayor that the building was illegal and brought a complaint before the courts .The case has been open for 14 years and a judge is still investigating the possible involvement of the owner , builders and mayor in a case where there could be criminal liability .

In 2003 the former governor of the Balearics passed a law in an attempt to stop the demolition of the house .However the Supreme Court was not convinced and backed the demolition order .That was two months ago and still nothing has happened , until the mayor was told that he would personally be charged 600 euros a month if the work was not completed .The demolition order was then signed and a company was given the 300,000 euro contract to do the job .

In defence of Cretu there are allegations of discrimination bordering on racism .Cretu is saying that all of the problems have turned off his inspiration and he will claim compensation .He was given permission to build by the authorities after all .

You build a house in a very special location on the island of Ibiza , you have official permission and it takes you almost 18 million euros to build this dream house .Then , you are told that it has to be demolished .This is what has happened to a French musician , Michel Cretu .This is the nightmare .

Cretu was given a municipal license to build his house on a plot of land on top of a mountain .Unfortunately for him this particular piece of land is protected by the Balearic Law of Natural Spaces .They took three metres off the top of the mountain to build this arab style fortress .However it turned out to be four times bigger than was originally agreed .

In 1995 the Nature Studies Group advised the Mayor that the building was illegal and brought a complaint before the courts .The case has been open for 14 years and a judge is still investigating the possible involvement of the owner , builders and mayor in a case where there could be criminal liability .

In 2003 the former governor of the Balearics passed a law in an attempt to stop the demolition of the house .However the Supreme Court was not convinced and backed the demolition order .That was two months ago and still nothing has happened , until the mayor was told that he would personally be charged 600 euros a month if the work was not completed .The demolition order was then signed and a company was given the 300,000 euro contract to do the job .

In defence of Cretu there are allegations of discrimination bordering on racism .Cretu is saying that all of the problems have turned off his inspiration and he will claim compensation .He was given permission to build by the authorities after all .