A woman was taken to hospital, seriously ill from having inhaled large quantities of smoke from her burning house. Although the fire occurred on the 7th of January, just how the fire broke out was not known at the time of going to print.

The fire occurred not far from the above-mentioned road junction, on the ground floor of Villa Palma C – which by a quirk of fate is where I used to live in 1985 – hmmm… could have been the flat owner making sure that I don’t try to return, of course, even after 26 years, such are the traumatic memories.

Getting back to the story on a serious note, neighbours said that the fire broke out around 8pm, with dense smoke billowing out of the block. Access proved difficult as the main door is strongly protected and the downstairs windows of the block all have bars.

Once inside the firemen found a woman who hadn’t been out for a couple of days because she had felt unwell. The lady, of advanced age, whose initials are N.A.P., is originally from Madrid but has lived in Almuñécar for several years.

She was found lying on the kitchen floor. At first the fireman that found her feared that she was dead but a pulse was found and she was taken outside and given artificial respiration before being hurried to Santa Ana hospital in Motril. Her condition was reported to be serious but stable.