Drivers in Elviria and Las Chapas have had weeks of slow journeys since an A-7 exit closed in September, and Marbella Town Hall now wants it back. It plans to ask the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to reopen the motorway exit towards both areas, near La Vibora, for the time being.

What the town hall is asking for

Mayor Angeles Muñoz announced that the town hall’s governing board, has approved sending an urgent report to the ministry. Town hall teams for infrastructure and planning wrote it, with help from the Traffic department and the Local Police. It asks for a short-term fix until the planned roadworks in the area are done.

Muñoz criticised the closure, saying it happened “unilaterally and without prior notice” to the town hall, residents and affected businesses. She said a 2021 permit from the central government’s state roads office allowed some connections to be removed. The same permit covered a new southern service road and changes to the Elviria junction. Neither has been finished. The town hall says it sent a formal request on September 23 to reopen the exit straight away and has had no reply as yet.

What drivers have been facing

Marbella’s report includes the findings of a Local Police study dated October 15, based on inspections, photographs and traffic analysis. Problems listed include cars bunching up on Avenida Jardines de la Golondrina, queues and rear-end collisions near the A-7, and more traffic on inner streets with one lane each way. Some stretches of road surface are also in poor condition.

Pedestrians are more exposed near schools and commercial areas, the report warns. Residents, hotels, holiday accommodation and restaurants are affected too. According to Muñoz, the Elviria junction now takes traffic that used to be spread across other entrances, and it does not have the right layout for that much traffic.

Parents from the English International College are getting increasingly frustrated, “the simple school run is now messy, frustrating and a complete inconvenience. It needs sorting”

The 95-metre plan

Marbella wants only the exit back, not the slip road onto the A-7, which it believes could be more dangerous. A slowing-down lane of about 95 metres, with a 40 km/h limit, would lead into roughly 40 metres of town road up to the roundabout on Avenida Víbora Baja.

Muñoz said this would restore access with road safety in mind while the southern service road and the final Elviria junction changes are carried out. The town hall says it would ease pressure on the junction, reduce queues reaching the A-7, cut extra journeys and spread traffic more evenly.

Poland’s long-running fight over its top court has turned into open confrontation in Warsaw. On Friday, October 30, judges backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government suspended Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy for a month. Supporters of the previous nationalist government called it a “coup”, while the prime minister insisted it was the only way to restore proper rule of law after years of political control under Law and Justice (PiS).

Hundreds of people gathered outside the tribunal building as riot police stood guard. Some protesters tried to cut through fences. Three people were detained. President Karol Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal, ordered his plane to turn around over Malaga, and rushed back to Warsaw. He later pushed past judges at the entrance and described the events as a forcible takeover of a constitutional body.

How the clash began

Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, elected by the current parliamentary majority, suspended tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy for a month and said she was taking temporary charge. She argued he had blocked new judges from sitting. Those judges had sworn their oaths in parliament after President Nawrocki refused to do it himself. Swieczkowski, a PiS appointee, called the move a “coup d’état”.

Prime Minister Tusk backed the suspension. He said restoring the rule of law after years of PiS control is the government’s duty and that “there is no other way”. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek also asked for the two men’s immunity to be lifted so they could face charges.

Both sides dig in

Government supporters say PiS packed the tribunal between 2015 and 2023 and that European courts had already raised concerns about some appointments. They claim the suspension simply lets the court function properly again.

Opposition figures, including PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, insist the government has no power to suspend the president, the head of state. They say judges sworn in without the president’s involvement are not legitimate and that the events amount to an illegal takeover. Nawrocki held talks on Saturday, but Tusk’s party stayed away and no agreement was reached. Swieczkowski has said the judges he recognises will boycott a general assembly called by Korwin-Piotrowska for November 3.

Background and what happens next

This row sits on top of a decade of disputes that began when PiS packed the tribunal with its own people. Tusk’s coalition won power in 2023 promising to reverse those changes and unlock EU funds that had been frozen over rule-of-law concerns. Nawrocki’s election as president in 2025 gave the opposition a powerful veto and the ability to slow judicial reforms.

Previous EWN coverage looked at the political gridlock expected after Nawrocki’s win and how Tusk survived a confidence vote amid the fallout.

Protests continued into the weekend, with police still outside the building. Korwin-Piotrowska’s temporary leadership is due to last about a month. Whether the two camps can find any common ground, or whether the standoff simply hardens ahead of the judges’ meeting, remains the open question. For now both sides are digging in, each claiming they are the ones defending Poland’s constitution.

A meal out with a friend ended on an appalling note for a young woman in Gibraltar after she found a racist insult written on her restaurant receipt. Her mother shared a photograph of the message online, prompting an angry response from residents and questions about how it had been allowed to appear on a customer’s bill.

The words, written in Spanish, read: ‘Moro de mierda vuelve a tu pais’, a deeply offensive insult telling a Moroccan person to go back to their country. The mother explained that her daughter had visited the restaurant with a friend a couple of days earlier. She said the family would not be returning to the establishment. 

Restaurant’s explanation sparks further criticism

The incident quickly drew attention on social media, with commenters questioning whether the restaurant had taken sufficient action and whether the matter should be reported to the Royal Gibraltar Police.

The restaurant, identified as Chatzz, subsequently issued a statement describing the message as an ‘in-joke’ between two members of staff. It said the employee responsible had been dismissed. That explanation has not convinced everyone. Several people questioned how a remark of that nature could be dismissed as a private joke when it had ended up on a customer’s receipt. Others wanted to know why only one member of staff had lost their job if two employees had been involved.

Customers threaten to boycott restaurant

The reaction has also reached beyond the original post, with some people saying they will no longer eat at Chatzz or other restaurants operated by the same group. One commenter said their family would be avoiding the establishment after reading the company’s explanation. Another questioned whether the employee responsible might simply be moved to a different restaurant within the group. Others called on the customer to report the incident to the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP), while several demanded a fuller apology from the business.

There were also calls for customers to check their receipts before leaving the restaurant, with people concerned that the incident might not be an isolated occurrence. However, there is no evidence that similar messages have appeared on other customers’ bills. One particularly disturbing comment speculated about whether the daughter’s food could have been interfered with. No evidence has been provided to support that suggestion, and it remains speculation rather than an allegation established by the customer.

Questions remain over the company’s response

The incident has put the restaurant’s handling of the matter under scrutiny, particularly its description of the message as an internal joke. Even if the words were originally exchanged between colleagues, they appeared on a customer’s receipt and were seen by someone who had no part in the alleged joke. The daughter and her friend were customers, not participants in the exchange.

The mother’s decision to share the receipt has also prompted wider discussion about racism and the treatment of people of Moroccan and North African origin in Gibraltar. For the family involved, the response is straightforward: they will not be returning to Chatzz. Whether the company’s explanation and the dismissal of one employee will be enough to reassure other customers remains to be seen. The restaurant has been approached for comment. This article will be updated if a response is received