The Marbella Town Hall is going to start a course of self-protection tactics (Curso de Tacticas de Autoproteccion) for young women, eying to deal with gender violence. In its first edition, this will benefit dozens of women with basic training of self-defence.

It is a joint initiative by the municipal department of equality (Igualdad) and the department of Public Safety and Emergency (Seguridad Ciudadana y Emergencias). In the first edition, as informed by the municipal delegates, 20 victims of gender violence will be given the training.

In the later edition, it will be opened for all women who are interested although the first edition is only aimed at victims of abuse. The course will focus on various dimensions of training in self defence including some very basic techniques for the victims to counter physical violence.

This is an effort to make women fearless by imparting self-confidence in them as defence technique is necessary to protect and repel aggression. The program promoted by the local administration was prepared by the Head of the Association of Volunteers and Civil Protection instructor in police techniques, and will be taught along with it by agents of the municipal body’s Group Family and Gender Violence.

Primarily, the course involves practical training which will last for nine hours to be divided in morning or afternoon shifts during a week. Here young women are going to get mastery of techniques and self defence, moreover, the sense of discipline brought through these training will further help them in other activities.

Meanwhile, the place of teaching and the days of the first workshop have not been revealed for motive of security of the own assistants. Interested candidates may visit any of the respective departments for further details.

Marbella delegation of Public Safety has introduced a new GPS system in the fleet of fire stations to assist the officers on duty while finding the exact location without much trouble.

These days, the use of GPS – the navigation tool – has been quite common among people, and its use in the fire brigades certainly reduces response time in an emergency.

The new system of GPS and GPRS will facilitate and improve communication between vehicles and the central control room. It has been developed with an investment of 60,000 euros and took almost two years to develop because of its complexity, the City Council informed.

Presently, such service is only available in the whole Fire Fighting Service of Malaga along the Costa del Sol region. It is a useful tool in locating, and in case of Marbella the centralised computerised system makes it quite easy to locate as many as 16 vehicles at anytime and anywhere in the country.

As explained by the delegate of the branch, Maria Francisca Caracuel, it is also under the provision to meet calls from other municipalities in the province as Estepona, Ojen, and Istan, and not mere Marbella and San Pedro.

The GPS enabled fire office in Marbella will also provide a wide range of other related information about the area in service which includes details of the most nearby hydrants for the service of water as to the centres that should be evacuated.

Chief of Fire Fighting, Jesus Sanchez Oliva, also valued vociferously the proposed use of the system by explaining that the system is activated when an emergency is alerted and sent the route and necessary information to the vehicles that will operate through your PDA, who in turn may also report information to the mainstream.

“It is a device which results in improved service because we can always know the availability of the fleet and the possibility of other actions to strengthen support,” Oliva further added.

Published monthly, +Joven Marbella is a magazine and information source for the youth population in Marbella. Marbella City Council, through the municipal delegation of Youth, in an effort to make young people aware of various things, promotes this publication with special emphasizes on many youth oriented issues and activities.

+Joven Marbella, as the name suggests, represents young people collectively and their aspiration in the modern world. It reports on all training activities, entertainment, cultural, youth associations, mobility, housing, employment and all the events taking place in the city.

Moreover, the magazine gives a perfect platform for the youth to express their opinions and discuss any information that may be useful in general. It certainly offers a new but effective alternative for the young to communicate with each other by being a part of this process of information dissemination and making themselves aware of a lot of things.

The magazine was first launched in the month February, 2010, by the Youth Delegation with information on youth services provided by the municipal body. It has also been outlined that the magazine will go monthly with zero cost to the City Council, while the publication now distributes 5,000 copies.

Apart from promoting dialogue among younger people in Marbella, +Joven Marbella also seeks to transfer the youth how they can affect the municipal management, and how they can involve themselves in the care of their environment. Besides, it also serves as a forum of expression with initiatives to develop their artistic interests.

As a firsthand source to the youth of the town, the magazine is also shared in schools, libraries and sports centres, among other places. Most importantly, the magazine’s editorial board involves schools in the creation of content, where young people of the municipality put together most of information.

+Joven Marbella comes with full of information including those sections of “Tu Ciudad” (Your City) and “Tu Centro” (Your Center), interviews with young people and groups, information on educational facilities as well as sections devoted to sports, books, music and movies, among others.

+Joven Marbella is also available online, where you can access all the previous issues at ease. To view the online version click here

Looking at the history of Gypsies (Gitanos) in Spanish culture, the Marbella Town Hall through the municipal delegation of Social Welfare has taken an initiation to reach out the gypsy community by monitoring their development in the municipality.

The new Gypsy Development Plan (Desarrollo Gitano del Municipio) was announced with a meeting held at the Centro Cultural Cortijo Miraflores. Included in the Marbella Social Year 2010 (in Spanish Marbella 2010 Ano Social), the activity falls within the Roma Development Plan with a primary objective for the overall growth of the particular population.

Unlike some other European countries, the gypsy population in Spain is more settled and integrated into the foreign culture, marked with their contribution to Spanish culture. However, their standard of living has been always under debate by human rights activists.

Within the Roma community there is a high-level of illiteracy ranging from children, to adult and elders. The municipal government unit is purposed to work for the same: to raise the educational level, socio-cultural promotion, social inclusion through training and employment, and promote social participation, associations and Gypsy culture.

The entire development plan will be a joint work by the Marbella City Council, through the delegation of Social Welfare, with the Association Socio-cultural Marbella “Undebel Villela” and the Roma Association of San Pedro “Adonay”- the social institution that works for the promotion of Roma culture and against intolerance and all forms of discrimination.

Initially, the local administration will review all activities and measures to take, while setting out appropriate studies and monitoring of projects to be executed on such important issues such as: housing, education, training, and employment among others.

Besides education in the primary and secondary level, the local authority will also provide job oriented training to reduce the high rate of youth unemployment. Presently, due to job insecurity, most adults are engaged in street trading. Hence, the sole objective is to increase educational attainment and promote social inclusion through various welfare measures.

Read more about Spanish Gypsies (Gitanos)

Laura Stanbridge, the Group Managing Director of CCG – a leading firm of accountants, tax, legal and HR specialists in Spain – has been quite active in the integration of foreign nationals in the Spanish business community. With continuous effort in the last few years, she has been succeeded in bringing foreign investment to the Andalucía region.

A graduate from the School of International Service at American University in Washington D.C and later with a specialisation in European Integration, Laura Stanbridge began her professional career in 1984 with the American computer company, General Automation, in Paris. Later with support from the French government, she established the first French speaking television station in the US.

The French American Communications and Television Services (FACTS) which provided French news programming in the New York region was also one of her creation during the time of Gulf War. While working for CASE television in London, in 1991, she got credit for broadcasting a number of documentaries on BBC and Channel 4.

In her professional career she further continued in the communication industry with special focus on numerous aspects related to corporate, consumer and communication. However, it was the year 2002 when she and her spouse John Stanbridge decided to move to Marbella, Spain, and set up KSi Costa Consulting (now known as CCG).

CCG now works with many business organisations and Spanish government at both local and state level. Recognising the competence of Andalucia business community with the abundance of creative ideas and business infrastructure, Laura has stressed on the promotion of Andalusia as a business destination.

Recently, she was also greatly involved in introducing Marbella to the NYC Chamber of Commerce, where Marbella Mayoress Angeles Munoz rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Exchange Headquarters. For her extensive contribution to the commerce of the City, Laura was also honoured by the Marbella City Council at the first Annual Entrepreneur Assembly.

This apart, Laura is active in many organisation including the National Board of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain, responsible for Public Affairs; Vice President of the American Club of Marbella; Alumni Board of American University in Washington DC; Women in Business on the Costa del Sol; and a regular guest speaker for CADE events (Junta de Andalucia).