Malaga Research Articles

Municipalización y modernización del servicio de abastecimiento de agua en España: el caso de Málaga (1860-1930)

El estudio de casos locales permite profundizar en el conocimiento de la evolución de los modelos de organización y gestión del servicio de abastecimiento de agua en las ciudades españolas entre la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y las primeras décadas del XX. La incapacidad técnica y financiera de las administraciones locales para acometer la modernización de los sistemas de suministro promovió el recurso a las concesiones a particulares como solución más habitual en las grandes poblaciones como Málaga. En esta ciudad el servicio fue explotado desde 1876 por varias empresas privadas que desarrollaron un modelo de negocio especulativo, caracterizado por la carencia de inversiones y el progresivo deterioro del servicio. Finalmente, el Ayuntamiento rescató la concesión en 1913 y realizó un ambicioso proyecto de renovación del servicio entre 1923 y 1929. El cambio de modelo de gestión se tradujo en una modernización parcial del sistema y en la superación de las actividades especulativas en torno al suministro, pero fue insuficiente para satisfacer las demandas sociales y urbanas de una ciudad en crecimiento.

Análisis espacio-temporal de las lluvias torrenciales en la ciudad de Málaga

Texto resumen.

Relaciones interpersonales en contextos de educación intercultural: un estudio cualitativo

El presente artículo pretende exponer los resultados de un reciente estudio de investigación desarrollado en centros educativos de primaria y secundaria de la provincia de Málaga (Andalucía, España) sobre las relaciones interpersonales y la promoción de la comunicación intercultural como herramientas fundamentales en la construcción de escuelas interculturales e inclusivas, donde precisamente la comunicación fluida y respetuosa entre los diferentes agentes de la comunidad educativa es un elemento clave en la generación de una convivencia intercultural.

Autoconcepto físico, percepción de salud y satisfacción vital en una muestra de adolescentes

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between physical self-concept, perceptions of health and life satisfaction in a sample of adolescents. Participants are 1648 adolescents from the city of Malaga (Spain) aged between 14 and 16 years. The measures used to assess the constructs are the Physical Self-Concept Questionnaire (CAF; Goni, Ruiz de Azua & Rodriguez, 2006), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg, 1972, 1978) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985). The correlation and linear regression analyses show relationships between the study variables, highlighting that the variables that have the strongest association with life satisfaction are the physical attractiveness dimension and perceptions of health, both in the total sample and by gender. In addition, a complementary measure of general self-concept, which includes the CAF, also has a marked relationship with life satisfaction, but this association is stronger for girls than boys.

The Relationship Between Social Support, Loneliness, and Subjective Well-Being in a Spanish Sample from a Multidimensional Perspective

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between social support, loneliness and well-being from a multidimensional perspective for which two structural models are proposed. The study included 2042 participants from Malaga City (Spain) who were aged between 18 and 95 years. For the dimensions frequency of support and satisfaction with support, the results show that partner support, family support, and support from friends, respectively, significantly decrease romantic loneliness, family loneliness, and social loneliness. On the other hand, community support has little effect on reducing social loneliness. Of the three types of support analyzed (emotional, informational and instrumental), emotional support was significantly more effective in reducing loneliness (family, romantic and social) and increasing well-being. Loneliness partially acts as a mediator variable, although it is affected by social support, but at the same time decreases the effects of social support on subjective well-being. The three types of loneliness have a strong negative impact on subjective well-being. Implications of these results are discussed.

Modelo de estadios de cambio: compatibilidad con relatos biográficos de mujeres que sufren violencia doméstica.

This study aims to analyze the adjustment of women, victims of intimate partner violence, by applying the Prochaska and Di Clemente Stages of Change Model.An interpretative qualitative study was made in 35 domestic violence victims women detected in primary care, women who recognized their relationship as abusive (perceived maltreatment). This is a multicentric study, with participation of six health centers of Malaga city. Biographical Narration technique by audio-recorded and transcribed interview was used; about this, thematic analysis adjustment to Transtheoretic Model phases was applied. ATLAS-TI 5.0 program was used for codification. Precontemplative, maintenance and ending stages were more represented while action phases were poorly mentioned. Main phases characteristics were: “blindness” and inexplicability in precontemplative stage; pros / cons analysis in contemplative phase; making decisions difficulty in action phases; suffering and going ahead purpose in maintenance stage, and determination and analysis capacity in the ending stage. Keys for intervention according to the phase of the process were offered.

Intelligent OLSR Routing Protocol Optimization for VANETs

Recent advances in wireless technologies have given rise to the emergence of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). In such networks, the limited coverage of WiFi and the high mobility of the nodes generate frequent topology changes and network fragmentations. For these reasons, and taking into account that there is no central manager entity, routing packets through the network is a challenging task. Therefore, offering an efficient routing strategy is crucial to the deployment of VANETs. This paper deals with the optimal parameter setting of the optimized link state routing (OLSR), which is a well-known mobile ad hoc network routing protocol, by defining an optimization problem. This way, a series of representative metaheuristic algorithms (particle swarm optimization, differential evolution, genetic algorithm, and simulated annealing) are studied in this paper to find automatically optimal configurations of this routing protocol. In addition, a set of realistic VANET scenarios (based in the city of Malaga) have been defined to accurately evaluate the performance of the network under our automatic OLSR. In the experiments, our tuned OLSR configurations result in better quality of service (QoS) than the standard request for comments (RFC 3626), as well as several human experts, making it amenable for utilization in VANET configurations.

Site effects evaluation in Málaga city’s historical centre (Southern Spain)

In this paper we present a site effects analysis carried out in Malaga city’s historical centre (Southern Spain). Two different methodologies have been used: an experimental technique using ambient noise measurements and a 1D numerical method. Soil fundamental frequencies have been obtained from the first technique, and soil transfer functions have been calculated from the numerical methodology. In order to use these results in vulnerability studies, intensity increments for each type of soil have also been estimated. From this information, a seismic microzonation has been proposed for the city centre, classified in six types of soils. Soil fundamental frequencies vary between above 5.0Hz at the hills of the city (where rock arises on the surface), and 1.0Hz near Guadalmedina river. The results show regions with high intensity increments (ΔI = +1.5) corresponding to areas which suffered heavy damage in the 1680 earthquake (Imax = VIII–IX). Moreover, most of the monuments and historical buildings in the city are located in these high risk areas. Results underline the importance of this kind of studies for seismic risk mitigation, historical preservation and emergency planning in the main cities’ historical centres.

INFRAESTRUCTURAS DE TRANSPORTE Y METROPOLIZACIÓN DESDE UNA PERSPECTIVA GEOGRÁFICA

Two large urban and territorial phenomena have erupted in Andalusia in recent decades: first, the emergence and consolidation of metropolitan areas around the provincial capitals, and on the other, the massive population littoralisation. The city of Malaga, leading protagonist in both processes, has achieved spectacular levels of growth and enjoys enormous socioeconomic dynamism thanks mainly to the expansion and development of infrastructure of all kinds that have cohesive city and its surroundings, separating its historic isolation and relating effectively with other large population centers of production and national and international first. Addressing this complex example of interrelationships between development and infrastructure is the subject of this article.

Routing Architecture for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

The actual proposed routing protocols for VANETs (Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks) present different features for communication among hosts/vehicles considering the strong topology change, but most of these features are needed for routing in these specific networks. These routing protocols support vehicle traffic on a large scale, intense mobility of vehicles, connections without link breakage, etc. But as they are different protocols the routers (nodes) have to switch to a routing protocol in a certain moment, which is a problem. This paper presents a routing architecture for VANETs to face it. The most important technical features for routing in VANETs were grouped in the Routing Architecture. To validate the proposed architecture several existing protocols were unified in the architecture producing a new routing protocol for VANETs. The produced protocol is the Generic Vehicular Dynamic Source Routing (GVDSR). Simulations of the GVDSR protocol have been made on the Malaga city showing the contributions and advantages for routing performance. The proposed architecture and protocol were simulated in the Network Simulator 2 featuring better performance than the compared protocols.

Decadal weakening of the wind-induced upwelling reduces the impact of nutrient pollution in the Bay of Málaga (western Mediterranean Sea)

The hypothesis that nitrate versus phosphate regulates the coastal primary production has been assessed at different time scales in the northwest Alboran Sea. Time series of temperature, salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll a obtained at three stations located off Malaga city (the greatest coastal urban core along the Alboran Sea shoreline) from 1992 to 2006 have been analysed. At the decadal scale, temperature increased linearly while salinity decreased. These changes were related to a shift in the wind regime suggesting that coastal upwelling became steadily weaker. In contrast to phosphate, nitrate was positively correlated with salinity at the seasonal scale and decreased linearly from 1992 to 2006. Seasonal and decadal changes in chlorophyll a were correlated with nitrate (and uncorrelated with phosphate). However, non-regular variability in chlorophyll a was correlated with phosphate. Consequently, the results demonstrate that nitrate controls the phytoplankton biomass at the inter-annual scale while both nitrate and phosphate do so at a shorter time scale. The Bay of Malaga receives elevated entries of domestic waste waters that release high loads of phosphate compared to nitrate. Our analysis indicates that the expected impact of this pollution on chlorophyll a at the inter-annual scale is reduced in comparison with the effects of atmospheric forcing.

Vulnerability and risk analysis of monuments in Málaga city’s historical centre (Southern Spain)

A vulnerability analysis of some historical and monumental buildings in the city of Malaga is presented in this paper. More than twenty of these monuments were severely damaged or completely destroyed due to the large earthquake (I max = VIII–IX) occurred in the Malaga region in October 1680. The vulnerability index methodology has been used in this paper. This technique is based on statistical data from seismic damage caused to Italian monuments for the past 30 years. For each building, vulnerability curves have been obtained and damage grades have been estimated. A comparison has been carried out between the expected damage grades and the damage observed from past earthquakes, in order to check the feasibility of applying this methodology to Spanish monuments. This comparison has been possible due to the fact that detailed seismic damage information exists for monuments in the city of Malaga that still exist today, which is a very uncommon case in Spain. Results show a good consistency between expected and observed damage, especially for the churches type. Two seismic scenarios have been proposed for the city centre, one deterministic and one probabilistic, where 54 historical and modern buildings have been analyzed. Both scenarios show worrying results, especially for the types of churches, chapels and towers, where expected high probabilities of suffering very heavy damage or even collapse have been obtained. It is highly recommended to take the necessary measures, in the hope of trying to avoid the possible damage that can be expected from future earthquakes.

Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in an urban adult population from southern Spain. IMAP Study

To study the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in an urban population of Malaga, Spain and its relationship with educational level. A cross-sectional study was performed with a random representative sample of 2270 individuals from the adult population (18–80 years) from a specific Health-Care Centre in Malaga City. All participants underwent a clinical interview, including social-demographical information and a physical examination. A blood sample was also drawn. The mean age of the participants was 43.6 ± 15.6 years and 57.6% had a low educational level. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was: smoking 27.7%, hypertension 33.1%, diabetes 7.1% and dyslipidaemia 65.4%. Over 60% were either overweight or obese, and 76.7% had a sedentary lifestyle. Except for smoking and a low-HDL cholesterol, the prevalence of the other cardiovascular risk factors increased with age. A low educational level was associated with a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, and this association was significant with regard to smoking, obesity, abdominal obesity and hypertriglyceridaemia. The population studied presents a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, especially dyslipidaemia and obesity. The low academic level was associated with an increased prevalence of smoking, obesity and dyslipidaemia. People with a low socio-cultural level are a priority target for introducing policies to prevent and control cardiovascular disease.

Minorias Étnico-Religiosas Implantadas en España: Desigual Función y Posición de Dos Iglesias de Habla Inglesa en Málaga

This article contributes to weigh up the effects of current religious pluralism in Spain that it results from an increase and diversification of population with life experience abroad. Firstly, this discussion anchors in the framework of Catholic Church monopoly that has dominated along centuries, in order to contrast contemporary Spanish reality, that could be defined as a society of recent and moderated religious pluralism, with the realities of other European and North American countries. Secondly, two English speaking Christian congregations located in the city of Malaga(Andalusia) are introduced as case studies, and the endogenous and exogenous factors that determine their different functions and positions in the receiving society are remarked. Among these factors the text emphasizes the different role of religious affiliation as an ethnic marker, and the influence of socioeconomic, physiognomic and cultural traits. The two cases and the initial discussion help to venture the future of minority confessions and their impact in an increasing secularized Spain.

The impact of immigrants on the sense of community

AbstractThis study investigated the sense of community among residents in the Spanish city of Malaga and the relationship between the components of the sense of community and the quality of life. Given that the phenomenon of immigration is a fact of city life, the authors examine how such coexistence could affect the sense of community and the quality of life as perceived by the residents in different city neighborhoods. The study was conducted in an urban context; 1,600 residents were included in the sample. The sense of community is measured using six dimensions: connection, belonging, support, safety, empowerment, and participation.The results indicate that there are significant differences between most of the components of the sense of community. These results also prove that the increase of the sense of community and quality of life in the residents living with immigrants in the same block of apartments is related to an increase in the contact with immigrants. Implications of the study are described and directions for future research discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Air quality monitoring network design to control nitrogen dioxide and ozone, applied in Malaga, Spain

Air monitoring networks are necessary to assess air quality in order to reduce pollution to levels which minimize harmful effects on human health and the environment. This paper describes a method to design or optimize air quality monitoring networks for nitrogen dioxide and ozone and its application in Malaga, a medium large city located in Andalusia, southern Spain, with traffic being the main source of air pollution. The completion of this method revealed that the old assessment network in Malaga was badly designed and made it possible to determine that one traffic-orientated and one background control station were necessary for NO 2 assessment in Malaga, as well as two control stations for O 3. First the number of stations necessary is obtained from historical data. Sampling campaigns with passive diffusion samplers at 74 sites were then carried out to obtain information on the pollution distribution in Malaga. The average concentrations found for NO 2 and O 3 were 22.8 μg/m 3 and 64.3 μg/m 3 respectively. Maximum values of up to 42.2 μg/m 3 NO 2 were found in Malaga city centre and O 3 reached 91.5 μg/m 3 downwind from the emission source. After spatial interpolation of the obtained values with Geographical Information Systems, a selection of the best locations for the monitoring stations was made, in line with the macro- and microscale siting requirements of the European Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe.

Validación de un cuestionario para medir el conocimiento de los pacientes sobre sus medicamentos

Objective Patient knowledge of their medicines is closely associated to a better rational use of drugs, thus achieving better health outcomes from their use. The objective of this study is to design and validate a questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge patients have about their medicines. Design (A) Questionnaire: Literature review, some qualitative techniques (expert panel, brainstorming, Delphi method) and some pilot studies. (B) Questionnaire validation. Setting A community pharmacy in the city of Malaga. Participants Patients attending the selected pharmacy, asking for at least one medicine. Main measurements The discriminant capacity of the items was assessed. Content and construct validity were analysed using the Spearman's Rho coefficient and Factor Analysis method. Reliability was assessed by measuring internal consistency, equivalence (inter-observer concordance) and test-retest reliability. Results The final questionnaire, with 11 items explaining the different dimensions of knowledge found, was completed by 102 patients (a response rate of 95.3%) with a mean age of 46.6 years (SD 16.70). Mean time to complete it was 4.9 min (SD 2.2). Factor analysis showed a probable structure of 4 factors explaining the 67% of the total variance. The Spearman-Brown Rho coefficient was 0.30 ( p<0.05). Cronbach α was 0.677, Kappa's coefficient=0.99 and intra-class correlation coefficient=0.745 (95% CI: 0.49–0.87). Conclusions The designed questionnaire is dynamic, valid and reliable, being able to measure the level of patient knowledge on the medicines they use.

El torbellino de la violencia. Relatos biográficos de mujeres que sufren maltrato

ObjectivesTo analyse the experience from the point of view of women who have suffered domestic violence. To identify factors related to continuing or resolving the problem. DesignQualitative interpretative research from a phenomenological perspective. Population sampleWomen, detected in primary care, who have suffered domestic violence and have recognised the problem, and who accepted to participate in this research. Multicentre StudySix health centres in the city of Malaga. Methods and techniquesThe technique used is the biographical narration using individual open interviews between social workers and women. This narration was tape-recorded and verbatim transcribed to written text. Grounded theory. Qualitative analysis was made with ATLAS-TI 5.2. OutcomesA total of 35 narrations were analysed. The abuse situation was described as “whirl-wind” metaphor (blindness-isolation-helplessness-suffering-destiny-dependence-fantasies -about love, protection, happiness, change- and vicious circles). Enduring experience is reported to be related to several factors: inculcated gender values, family-ideal, uncertainty, annulment, personal failure sensation, love, support defects, self-image, children protection, multiple fears and material aspects. They identified two types of “exit”: passive and active with different mechanisms and repercussions. Exit experience is related to: limit situations, children intervention, family ideal attempts, and fear-loss. Leaving is a transitional process or “pathway”. Institutional support is not always guaranteed and emotional support is better evaluated than a legal one. ConclusionsEnduring and coming out are reported as two qualitatively different states, which involve many cultural and personal factors. There is a gap between these two states with a process that varies depending on the involvement of the women in decision-making.

Impact of Situational Factors on Survey Measured Fear of Crime

This article examines the influence of dynamic situational factors on responses to fear of crime questions in a street survey carried out in the city of Malaga, Spain. Pedestrians in two popular and well‐defined commercial centres were asked about their assessments of crime rates and their fear of victimisation during the day within the two geographical areas. Multi‐variate analysis suggests that the time of day, the physical character of the street in which the interview took place, and perhaps also the flow of people, each had effects on at least one of the two fear of crime measures. The research reinforces the view that survey measurement of attitudes, including fear of crime, has important sources of instability. It also draws attention to a neglected class of variables potentially important in structuring survey measured attitudes.

The 1494 and 1680 Malaga (Southern Spain) Earthquakes

In 1494, the city of Malaga, in southern Spain, was shaken by an earthquake that caused significant damage throughout the entire Malaga province. Two centuries later, in 1680, another destructive shock caused even greater damage in Malaga city and nearby towns. Because the area has experienced a great deal of urbanization over the past 30 years, another large earthquake in this region could have devastating consequences. With this in mind, we have undertaken a reappraisal of the damages caused by these two historic earthquakes, using new documents found in archives, libraries, etc. Earthquakes in the Malaga region are associated with the plate boundary between Eurasia and Africa. The seismicity of this region is characterized by the occurrence of moderate earthquakes, with magnitudes in general less than 5.0, at shallow depth (h < 40 km; Figure 1A). There is also important seismic activity at intermediate depth (40 < h < 150 km) with a N-S distribution of epicenters near Malaga (Buforn et al. 1995). The distribution of historical shocks with maximum MSK (Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik scale) intensities equal to or larger than VIII (Figure 1B) shows an important concentration of large earthquakes along the Spanish coast. According to Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) data files, three events with maximum EMS-98 (European Macroseismic Scale) intensities equal to or greater than VII have occurred in the Malaga region: 1494 (VIII), 1581 (VII), and 1680 (VIII–IX) (Martinez Solares and Mezcua 2002). The last damaging event in the area was the 1884 Arenas del Rey (Granada) earthquake (I = IX–X; Munoz and Udias 1981), which caused significant damage in Malaga city (Figure 1B). This study focuses on earthquakes with epicenters near Malaga city, so the 1884 earthquake is not considered. On 26 January 1494, a large shock occurred in the south of Spain. It was felt in …