Did the earth move for you last night? (There was an earthquake!)

Jimena slept right through it

At 4.11 am and at 4.8 on the Richter scale

ANDALUCÍA / Jimena From what we gathered this morning, not many people felt it the earthquake that took place some 46 kilometres underground. The epicentre was located northeast of Jimena de la Frontera and was felt as far away as Cádiz, Málaga and Sevilla, though there are no reports of damage. Residents of Arriate, Manilva and Estepona, all in Málaga province, as well as in La Línea de la Concepción, did report feeling the earth 'move'. The 112 emergency number registered some ten calls on the subject. The media in Andalucía had full reports, to which the vast majority of Jimena residents, including Prospero, woke this morning to hear about it.

Fire near Seghers in Estepona

ESTEPONA Our good Antonio J. Sierra (who used to be the tech behind Alberto's English-speaking radio programme in Jimena years ago) was evacuated from his home in the Seghers section of Estepona because of a fire nearby yesterday. As he said, "This is the first time ever I've been evacuated." Being the good journalist that he is, he wrote about it extensively (in Spanish, natch, and sent it to TioJimeno, from whence here) and took the photo above. Oh, and he ended his report sometime in the evening with, "The bomberos are refreshing the area at this time."

The 'Venus of Estepona' makes her appearance

ESTEPONA (Agencies) The team of archaeologists working on the site where the future Estepona hospital is to be located, and a prehistoric burial site, has found a clay piece they believe to be over 5,000 years old, which would place it toward the end of the Nelolithic period. It is five cms in height and represents the female figure, according to the head of the dig team, Ildefonso Navarro. The piece is the only one of its kind to have been found in the province of Málaga. It is thought to be some kind of amulet or fertility/fecundity symbol linked to the spiritual world, given that although it has no features other than those attributed to females. Some further one hundred objects of the same period have been found at this site, inside prehistoric structures resembling wells but believed to be graves, including vessels that have remained practically intact, sculptured arrow heads, polished axes, necklace beads and stone idols, among others. Clay pieces of other periods have also been unearthed, particularly some that have been dated to the 7th and 8th century BC.

Romanian gang arrested for various robberies

(Photo: Policía Nacional)

LA LINEA (Agencies) The Policía Nacional have arrested twelve members of a gang of Romanians that specialized in burglary of homes and industrial estates in the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz. Their main objectives were electronic equipment and jewelry, that were later sold on the black market or exported to Romania through a transport company. The gang was run by two men, known as Kukla and Plita, who chose the targets, planned the heists and coordinated the rest of them. The others carried out the actual burglaries and later transport. Things began to move towards the gang's arrest at the beginning of the year,>>>

British rock guitarist dies in Estepona

ESTEPONA (Agencies)  Gary Moore, 58, former guitarist with Thin Lizzie, was found dead in his room at the Kempinski Hotel on Sunday morning. There were no signs of violence and no investigation is expected, according to the Government subDelegation for Málaga but a final decision will await the results of an autopsy. Moore checked in to the hotel on Saturday afternoon although the news does not specify if he was alone.>Gary Moore ws born in Belfast in 1952. His musical career began in the 1960s but joined Thin Lizzie in the late 70s. (See more on Wikipedia.)