Huddersfield ex-pat BRIAN HAYHURST reports from his home near Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol
We’ve all witnessed the terrible scenes of the flooding in the Cosa Blanca, and the aftermath. It’s one of the worst natural disasters in Spain’s history and our hearts go out to all those affected.
There is no point in me describing the sheer apocalyptical devastation as whether you’re in Spain or Huddersfield, the TV pictures have said it all.
The shock of what happened quickly turned to anger, and mud was thrown at the King and Queen by local people angry about the lack of advance warning from the authorities, and a slow response in the immediate aftermath.
The government has now earmarked €10.6 billion to help victims and assist with rehabilitation.
Despite the anger – and out of such tragedy – we have also seen the best of people. Queues of people from outside the affected areas came in armed with compassion – and brushes and shovels – to help the clean up operation.
There have been some incredible efforts of help in the form of food, clothing and cash from people, groups and businesses across Spain.
Thousands of people have rallied to help and here Ana Mata, Mayor of Mijas, pictured above, oversaw the tons of provisions collected for the relief effort.
Here on the Costa del Sol we experienced extreme rainfall but mainly escaped the Valencia level of deluge.
In the past we have seen beach businesses wrecked and streets flooded but storm ‘Dana’ was kind this time. Strangely, the local rivers are still dry but the reservoirs are filling up.
Our thoughts are with the 217 people who have died, and the 89 still missing.
In the early 80s Elaine and I had the pleasure of coming to the Costa del Sol using, of course, Malaga airport.
The small departure hall was never crowded and prior to leaving we were able to enjoy a final cold drink outside at some small tables, separated from the road by a fence, soaking up the sun before walking to our plane.
Since then the gargantuan concrete structure now has a maze of bewildering corridors and dozens of beverage outlets there to greet you.
So much has changed, and many improvements have been introduced. One thing we have never really considered is the vital constant care taken to prevent birds from interfering with flights, departing and landing on the two busy runways.
The wildlife control service which answers to AENA, Spain’s National Airports Authority, which is responsible for the breeding, training and employment of over 40 birds of prey at Malaga which are used to scare away flocks of other birds and any animals which might affect take off and landings.
This summer the number of daily flights exceeded a record 600 operations, which meant the runways must be kept free of possible bird strikes, including seagull flocks which seek inland refuge from sea storms.
In years gone by, explosive fireworks were used to scare the birds away.
The highly experienced team of specialists use falcons and other species of prey to scare away birds which consider the airport as their territory.
They are well cared for and trained not to attack invaders, they simply scare them away, very effectively.
These beautiful birds which have minute GPS devices attached, can climb up to 200 metres and descend towards a possible intruder up to 300km/h.
READ MORE: Catch up on Brian’s previous blogs HERE
Finally, I was delighted to see Britain’s Alex Yees win the coveted triathlon competition in Torremolinos the other week, to become World Champion amongst the world’s best 5,500 participants.
And a surprise declaration up and down the coast which is bound to upset many, is the law which demands all businesses to remove sunbeds from the beaches from November 15th. Why? I will, no doubt, find out.
Images by: Alan Boardman
