Motril tanatorio (funeral parlour), which was opened in 2008 to the east of Motril, going towards the village of Puntalón, is in the news again. The new facilities include four rooms, known as velatorios where friends and family can pay their last respects to the deceased, a chapel, cafeteria, florists and a room where families can choose the headstone.
What hasn’t been opened is the crematorium, which has been causing a lot of angst since news of its inclusion was announced. As soon as the news surfaced that there was to be a crematorium, a group of neighbours from the residential estate directly opposite the facility, protested at the Motril Council Offices against the installation of a crematorium on their doorstep. The neighbours maintain that having a crematorium so close will be detrimental to their health and to residents of Motril generally.
Crematoria are complex technological facilities that have to be professionally planned and constructed and cremation is now subject to a wide range of laws and regulations plus strict emission limits. One of these EU laws knocking around state that a crematorium should not be within 500 to 1,000 metres of housing … so why was this one built just 50 metres from a residential housing estate and so close to the town centre?
Nearly two years on the battle still rages between the residents and the consortium of four Motril based companies who have invested over 500,000 euros in the crematorium facilities. Motril Council, which originally gave the go-ahead to the crematorium in 2007, has to date not given a license to the consortium to fire up its furnaces and the consortium are reporting that they are losing 12,000 euros a month while they can’t stoke up the fires. The matter is now on its way to a lengthy and costly exercise through the courts.