There aren’t that many cuttings for Almuñécar this month, so I’ll have to dredge the barrel – i.e., politics!
The PSOE blames the Mayor for the ‘paralysis of the municipal Tourism Board.’
The local leader of the PSOE claims that the dependencies of the Tourist Board are locked and ‘abandoned,’ completely ignored by the Benavides’ local government. The places that he is referring to are, for instance, the restaurant school Horno de Cándida, the hosterly school Palacete del Corregidor, the tourist information points at the entrance to Almuñécar and the Playa Pozuelo, or in the entrance to La Herradura.
Francisco Prados points out that all these installations were funded by the Junta de Andalucía, counting on 5.5m euros. He goes further and says, in his opinion that the Board of Tourism has virtually ceased to exist, despite counting on 313,003 euros from the municipal budget.
“The majority of the money goes on salaries, such as the one of the co-ordinator, who just happens to be the Mayor’s wife – sorry, ex-wife.
Finally, he fired a broadside at the apparent abandonment of the municipal website, which has ceased to contain any up-to-date information and which provide a sorry window into Almuñécar.
We were rather amazed to read this article, since the Almuñécar Tourist Office did an amazingly good job for our group of 40 Americans who visited last month. With the current state of the economy, it is understandable that some projects may need to be put on hold, but we were very impressed with Felipe Puertas and his staff, as well as the friendly reception we received everywhere in town. I don’t know whether Almuñécar is interested in being invaded by more Americans, but our economy is starting to improve and our dollar is strengthening, so we are planning to bring more groups in the future. We view Almuñécar as an undiscovered (by Americans) gem, much more attractive and interesting than most towns on the Costa del Sol.