Both controversial underground car parks are now open for use. The San Cristóbal one opened on the 23rd of July and the Velilla one opened on the 30th of the same month.

However, the through traffic on Velilla continues to be in one direction only, as the surface work is not complete. Promises were made at the inauguration that the top-side work on the gardens etc would be complete within two weeks – the 15th of August, but that appears to be unlikely, given the state of progress today, the 4th of August.

Therefore, for the rest of the peak summer period only one-way traffic is available, meaning that those wishing to reach the eastern end of Velilla and Taramay will have to use the main road, which is unfortunate because of the heavy summer-traffic congestion on the N-340.

The Mayor proudly announced that with the Altillo, Velilla, San Cristóbal and Avenida Juan Carlos car parks now open, the town had created 1,500 new parking spaces. However, considering that the number of parking spaces that have been lost, which superior to that amount, his announcement sounds rather hollow.

If you take into account all the lost surface parking were the new car parks now stand, (130 in the case of the Altillo and around that same number for both Velilla and San Cristóbal) and add this number to all the parking lost thanks to the elimination of parking along Avenida de Andalucía, for example, you soon reach the 1,500 mark.

If that were not enough, take into account all the hitherto free-parking spaces that that have been swallowed up by blue zones, and the attrition against parking in Almuñécar becomes fully apparent.

Finally, the price of using one of these underground parking facilities is prohibitive. It costs 20 euros a day in all of them, meaning that somebody who comes to rent a flat for two weeks needs to find an extra 280 euros on top of the cost of renting the holiday apartment.

I recently used the Altillo parking, leaving my car there from 10.45h to 13.50h and it cost 6.90 euros – the equivalent of six litres of petrol, more or less. On the other hand, you can take out a year’s contract, setting you back just under 1,000 euros, which has to be paid up front.