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Francisco de la Torre has gone on record claiming that the arrival of the high-speed AVE train to Malaga will not have a negative impact on the Malaga airport. There has been conjecture about just this, no doubt some based on the case of Seville’s airfield, which suffered a crisis in 1992 when the AVE arrived there. Their number of passengers stagnated and growth slowed to a crawl compared to other Andalucian airports.

On the contrary, says Mayor de la Torre. He maintains that it may actually strengthen the airport’s traffic, since the new connections in nearby Antequera and Puente Genil (Cordoba) will bring people wanting to catch a flight at the airport. He’s got a point – not all traffic through the airport is national; international flights and hops over to the islands represent a great percentage as well. This seems to be one of those wait-and-see situations: while people get used to using the trains, look for "special deals" on flights within Spain in the upcoming weeks and months.

Wondering how many more lines you’ll have to wait in, just to be told you’re in the wrong government office? Passing the buck or not understanding questions besides in Spanish are common barriers when applying for residency, jobs, or other numerous proceedings that take place in every day life for a foreigner living in Spain. Considering how many foreigners are here, advice should be easier to come by (from Rajoy’s talk on social matters in last night’s debate):

In the year 2007, over 725,000 [foreigners entered Spain], also more than France, the United Kingdom and Germany combined. We are the second nation in the world, only exceeded by the United States, when it comes to entering foreign citizens.

The Malaga Town Hall inaugurated a new telephone service last week (Teléfono del Inmigrante) to hopefully alleviate that helpless feeling, where you can speak with lawyers who specialise in immigration matters in English, French or Spanish. They will provide information related to the type of documents and steps needed for accomplishing what you need to, whether or not you’re a member of the European Community. They can also aid those who conduct business with foreigners, those who want to hire foreign residents and students, and other matters.

Dialling 010 (from outside Malaga – 902.210.250) from 9 am – 7 pm, M-F will connect you to an answering service, which will then connect you with the cell phone of one of the two lawyers. Note that this line is also the general information number for the City of Malaga – find out what else this number provides from malaga.eu.

The need for this was stirred up months ago by immigration associations, and according to the City’s representative Julio Andrade, it is a pioneer service in Andalucía. It will also prompt the opening of a municipal office for aiding immigrants, possibly in March. On a side note, the United Left political party has requested the closing of the Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros ("Centre for Admission of Foreigners") because it is in "conditions not fit for human occupation." Oh well, one’s going up and the other coming down – is that progress?

At around 10 pm tonight (Spanish time) millions of viewers are expected to tune in to a debate of presidential candidates, and we’re not talking about Clinton, Obama, McCain, Huckabee, or even newcomer Nader. Gearing up for Spain’s presidential elections on March 9, incumbent Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and conservative Popular Party opponent Mariano Rajoy will face off in the first of two televised debates, the following to take place next Monday. Issues tonight will probably center around the slowing economy, terrorism flaming up recently with more ETA attacks and some other topics such as pension funds, marriage and divorce rights, and the environment. This is only the second time Spain has held televised debates since it was established as a democracy, the last time 15 years ago.

Although it has become the norm for Internet interaction in the American election process, it’s only starting to become common in Spain. The Antena 3 Media Group has created a special election portal on YouTube where users can post video questions. However, of the questions posed so far candidates have only answered a select few, steering clear of fringe issues and controversy. It remains to be seen whether they will indeed respond to any during the televised debates, to be carried by a number of major channels including La 1, La 2, Cuatro, laSexta and VEO.

According to Fecoma, Malaga’s commercial federation, the Malaga province will soon be welcoming 7 new large shopping centres and the expansion of 5 existing centres, whose space will be approximately doubled. Among the whistles in the wind for new stores are well-known consumer electronics competitors Media Markt and Fnac. German-based Media Markt is Europe’s largest electronics retailer, and is expected to add an installation in the Vialia mall. Two French companies, Fnac and Jardiland (gardening and do-it-yourself), would possibly be located respectively in Malaga Plaza (or the port) and Plaza Mayor.

How will they expand those establishments located in Malaga’s city centre? Without actually stepping on neighbouring property, the options seem to be building upwards or opening prohibitively small premises. One such centre is Vialia, otherwise known as Estación María Zambrano, the Renfe, or just the train station. This centre has other problems to deal with before opening the door to new business, especially the ongoing fight of the city against Vialia retailers who open illegally on Sundays and holidays. Businesses such as Media Markt will also have to face some city administrators who don’t want to make the traffic situation worse, as would definitely happen in a large-scale expansion project.

Trains, trains… with the new high-speed AVE and Avant links in Barcelona and Sevilla, word about them has been around the mill a lot recently. But this tidbit is about Malaga’s regional train, Cercanías, which currently runs between Malaga centre and Fuengirola. Plans have been unveiled for expansion of this line to reach Estepona, with the new stretch stopping in hotspots like Marbella and 13 others along the Costa del Sol. The project is a joint planning effort between the Andalucian and national government, and has a completion date set at 2011. It will be presented in multiple stages, with several groups performing the engineering studies and construction. Included in the challenges are a 4 km, twin-track underground tunnel between Las Lagunas and La Cala de Mijas (Fuengirola area), and making the existing tracks compatible with high-performance engines reaching top speeds of 200 km/h. This last task has caused a split in logistics and two possible options:

1. Improvement of the existing line, including widening of the track beds and allowing for simultaneous Cercanías and mid- to long-range traffic. This has been the more popular option so far.
2. Construction of a completely new stretch between Malaga and Fuengirola. This would share part of the Cordoba high-speed line, cross through the Malaga airport, and go through Sierra de Mijas to meet with the remainder of the Fuengirola-Estepona track. To this end, Aena has even reserved a tunnel for this hypothetical section under the airport in its expansion plans for the new runway and terminal.