Velez-Malaga Town Hall has finally wrapped up its 2025 accounts with a healthy positive balance of over €9 million. This surplus builds on last year’s solid figures and gives the council room to take on new financial commitments without squeezing residents.

Council covers full water tariff jump

One of the first moves will see the town hall fully absorb a 40 per cent rise in the wholesale water price charged by supplier Axaragua. Councillors confirm this extra cost will not appear on household bills. Residents across the different parts of the municipality can therefore keep budgeting as normal for an essential service that has faced repeated pressure in recent years.

The increase comes after more than a decade without any tariff review and includes pending inflation adjustments dating back to 2015. A temporary surcharge linked to bringing water from Malaga during the recent drought and problems at La Vinuela reservoir has been added on top.

Council resources from the surplus will cover the whole rise. Exact figures for the outlay remain unclear in the official statement, yet the decision ranks among the earliest uses of the leftover funds and shows a clear priority for protecting local pockets.

Axaragua’s price adjustment reflects both long-delayed contractual updates and the practical costs of securing supply when local reservoirs ran low. By stepping in completely, the town hall prevents any pass-on of that cost that would have hit families, self-employed people and businesses at a time when many already watch every euro.

Paying down bank debt next

A second major step involves amortising loans held with financial institutions. Extra cash in hand creates greater flexibility to cut outstanding obligations while still leaving capacity for new investment projects across the town. Reducing the debt burden frees up future budgets and lowers interest costs over time.

Local leaders describe the closed accounts as evidence of sound money management. Income now covers everyday services and generates enough spare capacity for extra commitments that benefit the whole area. Careful planning of public resources has produced this stronger position, allowing ordinary running costs to be met while still generating room for meaningful action on both water charges and longer-term liabilities.

Residents should notice no change in their water charges even as wholesale prices climb, and the council gains breathing space to chip away at its debt load. Further details on exact allocations for the water subsidy and the scale of debt repayments are expected once formal decisions are finalised in the coming weeks.

Velez-Malaga town hall. Credit: AVM FB

Spain’s south coast has a habit of producing remarkable talent, and one athlete from Malaga has taken that reputation onto an American television stage.

Malaga athlete wins Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer

Rubén Roldan Bustos, 23, from Rincon de la Victoria, stunned the judges on America’s Got Talent with a parkour performance carried out without his prosthetic leg.

Simon Cowell was so impressed that he pressed his Golden Buzzer, sending the Spanish athlete straight through to the live shows.

Rubén lost his left leg in a tractor accident when he was nine. Rather than allowing the tragedy to define his future, he turned towards sport and eventually found his passion in parkour.

Years of training have helped him become a record-breaking adaptive athlete. Guinness World Records lists three records he achieved in Almeria in November 2024, including a 1.36-metre running jump onto a platform and a 1.30-metre vertical leap with a running start.

From the Costa del Sol to the world stage

America’s Got Talent is not Rubén’s first television appearance. He previously competed on Spain’s Got Talent and Germany’s Das Supertalent, taking his extraordinary skills far beyond Malaga.

His latest performance has introduced his story to millions of viewers in the United States and around the world.

For south coast residents, seeing a local athlete turn tragedy into sporting ambition is especially uplifting.

Rubén’s story also fits a wider truth about southern Spain. From elite sportspeople to musicians, artists and performers, talent regularly develops far from the world’s biggest stages before attracting international attention.

His Golden Buzzer moment offers another reminder that extraordinary ability can come from anywhere — including the towns and villages of Malaga.

For Axarquia readers, that may be the most inspiring part of all. World-class talent is not always something to travel abroad to find. Sometimes it starts right here on Spain’s south coast.