As the day began, yesterday, the residents of Calle Juan 23E were on the watch for anybody sneaking up on them… to cut the water supply off. And 12 of the 14 affected families have been taking turns on watch since Monday the 1st of August.

Over two weeks ago the said households had received a letter from the water company, saying that there was a problem with the sewage pipes was causing infiltrations in the houses on the street below – Salobrena old town, remember, looks like somebody has Blue-tacked a cluster of houses to a surprised rocky outcrop, so that rather than just having neighbours next to you, you also have them above and below you.

Anyway, the water company, Aguas y Servicios, warned them that if they did not sort it out, then their mains water would be cut off – no water goes in; none leaks out. The deadline was the 1st of August; hence the tense lookout.

So here we have the contradictory situation where the water company accuses them of causing a health hazard, thanks to the insalubrious state of the sewage pipes, whilst they, in turn, accuse the water company of wanting to provoke a health hazard by leaving them with no water at the height of summer!

The house owners claim that they are willing to sort out their sewage pipes, but can’t because they are unable to access them, thanks to the houses below them being virtually cellotaped to their properties; the houses are virtually joined.

All these houses were built around 40 years ago and consist of five streets (Juan 23rd A, B, C, D & E), each one having a string of 14 houses, and each street one above the other. Originally, there was a gap between each street, but these little patios, under which the piping runs, have been built on in unauthorised house extensions over the years.

The only way to reach these pipes would be to smash down through their own floors, instead of just being able to dig up the ‘missing’ open areas. The families, therefore, accuse the Town Hall of laxity in allowing the houses below them to build on the patios.

The water company has asked the Town Hall to inform them whether this area that requires access is public or private. The company also points out that the the controversial missing patios is neither here nor there, because the pipes must be fixed, and that’s an end to it.

In fact, the water company is in a ‘no win’ situation, because they are being hounded by the neighbours below and if they don’t cut the water off then they will be liable for negligence, and if they try to, there will probably be a mini Third World War up on Calle Juan 23rd E.

In the meantime, the new mayor is keeping his head down, claiming that it is a dispute between neighbours that should be resolved by a judge and depending on what the judge decides, they will act accordingly… Of course, nothing moves slower than the Spanish Legal system on afterburn, so he’s basically hoping that the problem will go away before he is forced to deal with it, bless him.