Keeping with the subject of parking, in a fit of what can only be described as barking lunacy, the Town Hall decided to close the underground car park under the municipal market… on the first day of summer, losing over two hundred much needed parking spaces. This situation can last two weeks or the whole of the summer; who knows.

The reason behind this shortsighted and seemingly spiteful gesture is that the concession holder’s contract ends on the 30th of June, so, the new concession holder wants it empty so that they can take over and carry out much needed building reforms. Why, however, the hand over was not made for the 30th of September is an enigma, thus avoiding the catastrophic lost of parking during the summer.

The first thing that the vehicle owners that have yearly contracts in Parking Leo knew was that on the 22rd (San Juan) the Local Police turned up and ordered the place closed – all vehicle owners were to retrieve their cars and bikes, and failure to do so would result in the vehicles being impounded. Although no vehicles were to be let in from that point, vehicle owners had until the 28th to vacate their habitual parking slot.

According to the details included within the closure order it states that the Town Hall had reached the decision after consulting reports from the fire service and municipal inspectors, which cited deficiencies in signposting within the installations, amongst othe things. However, such defects are not the fruit of recent inspections; they were common knowledge and have been for some time. The installations, which are now 20 years old (hence the termination of concession, which was for that period) have become outdated and out-of-line with present regulations, hence the building work.

So, who got the new concession: Hermanos García from Motril, who by some cosmic quirk just happen to be the company that invariably gets awarded any public contract for street reforms, etc. To be fair, they were the only company that put in a bid, but then again, this wasn’t supposed to be a change of hands, but just a formality renewal for the existing concession holders.

According to the Town Hall press release on the subject, the eviction was the fruit of a court decision in favour of the Town Hall against Parking Leo S.L., in which the concession holder had to pay 91,000 euros plus legal expenses. Apparently the company owed back-rent. The judge considered that it was ‘proven that the said money had not been paid over.’

Finally, the Town Hall reasons that thanks to the inspection reports they were forced to close the premises for the safety of users.