Those living up in the Alpujarra don’t exactly need reminding that the local road system is still in bad shape after the onslaught of the winter rains, but down here on the coast we need something to cheer us up, so here goes. (Ouch!)

According to the locals, you will find a pothole or crack every couple of kilometres wherever you drive in the area. That is if you can find the road, in the cases where it has slipped down the valley.

There are three main access roads to the Alpujarra Granadina and all three of them have problems.

The first one joins the capital of the comarca (county) to the Contraviesa, running through places like Haza de Lino and Murtas, for example.

The second major road joins Órgiva to Ugíjar (the second largest town in the area), passing through Torviscón and Cádiar, amongst others.

The third one is the highest one, joining Órgiva to the Alpujarra Almeriense via Trevélez – probably the best-known road for tourists. Between them they comprise about 300 kilometres of road, sprinkled with around 150 ‘problem areas.’

It’s hardly surprising of course, when the average rainfall for the area is anything up to 600 litres per sq/m, whereas last winter it was well over the 2,000 litres mark – some even claim nearly 3,000 litres.

Whereas the problem most certainly ‘fell out of the sky,’ there are many that believe that the Junta de Andalucía hasn’t been exactly ‘on the ball.’ How else can you explain that right in the middle of summer the debris of an angry winter has not been swept away and damage made good? After all, six months ago the Ideal newspaper published an article that listed 71 landslips just between Torviscón and Cádiar, five of which were the result of gales the previous year!

In their defence, six months ago the Junta announced that it was going to build seven diques de contencíon (dry weirs designed to stop flash floods eroding the dry riverbeds) in the Barranco de Poquiera within the municipalities of Pampaneira, Bubión and Capileira. This work, with a budget of 600,000 euros is being carried out at the moment. The Junta is also carrying out emergency repair work between Torviscón and Cádiar on the A-348, this time with an estimated budget of 1,200,000 euros.