Salvatore D’Avino was arrested at a petrol station in Estepona as he prepared to return to Morocco. Morocco is where he lived and from where he allegedly directed traffic of hashish to Italy, having spent a few days on the Costa del Sol, where his girlfriend had come to give birth. D’Avino’s arrest, the result of cooperation of security forces in Italy and Spain, was handled by the Guardia Civil. D’Avino is not the first Italian fugitive who seeks refuge in Spain, which has been identified by experts as one of the favourite destinations of the Italian Mafia. In January last year, Paolo di Mauro was arrested in Barcelona he was the third most wanted fugitives in Italy at that time.

Six people have been caught by the Guardia Civil steeling Sea Anemones in Estepona. The culprits did not have permission or licence to take the Sea Anemones from the sea. It has been revealed that they were to be sold in Cadiz.

Illegal fishing has become more a problem in the last 18 months along the whole of the Costa del Sol as recession bites and people take more risks in order gain income.

Officers from the Guardia Civil have rescued seven walkers, including four children, who had become lost in the Sierra Bermeja in the municipality of Estepona.

The Guardia received notice of the incident at about 15.00 last Monday after a number of the party used mobile phones to report that they were lost.

The group of walkers were walking route through the Sierra de Los Reales when it started to rain intensely followed by dense fog, which left them disoriented.

They were only able to give the Guardia a rough description of where they were. However, the civil guards told them not to move from there current location until they arrived to rescue them.

With a matter of a few hours the Guardia had located the group and all returned safely to their homes.

As political parties announce themselves for the race to control Estepona town hall, one party and candidate stand out amongst all others. Lorenzo Ramet, a police officer with the Policia Local has formed a political party to challenge for the Mayoralty, in the election taking place in around four months time. Ramet’s party, “Partido Liberal Estepona Habla” Estepona Talk Liberal Party, intends to make some radical changes if elected. To fight corruption and to improve heath are among his main battle cries with a mantra of “I will have zero tolerance for crime in the city”. Quite how Ramet intends to fund these policies, with a town hall already up to its neck in debt, is as yet unclear.

Several Palm trees were set alight on Sunday afternoon by vandals. The trees were located where Avenida de España meets Avenida del Carmen. Vandalism has been on the rise for some time now, especially given the rise in youth unemployment within the town. Last year the statue to the tourist, by the Correos in Estepona, was set alight and destroyed by vandals.

About 70 English and Irish families have joined forces to bring a class lawsuit for alleged fraud and embezzlement relating to the construction of 350 apartments in the area of Arroyo Vaquero, Estepona. The events date back to 2006 when Ocean View Properties reached a marketing agreement with the promoter Sun Golf Real Estate Development Ltd to entice the British and Irish families to invest in the promotion. However, four years on and nothing has materialised, no promotion, no building and no money. Antonio Flores the lawyer, who is representing the families, estimates that probably around 20 million Euros has disappeared.

The emergency department for outpatients in West Estepona has no thermometers. That is the situation a couple faced last Monday afternoon when they went to the Ambulatorio with their 5 year old after he had spent the night with a fever of 39 degrees.

When they arrived the doctor on duty said it was not possible to take the temperature of the child as there were no thermometers available at that time in the emergency department.