We often report on the parking problems that Almunecar has, but Motril has a parking problem where it hurts most – on its beaches; finding somewhere to park on Playa Granada/Poniente is a nightmare.
To be more precise, it’s where Playa Granada joins Playa Poniente, where beach goers have the choice of parking amongst the undergrowth on one side of the road or illegally parking on the beach, on the other.
Most people would consider the stance by Costas (coastal authorities) concerning urban encroachment on the nation’s beaches as petulant or even exasperatingly punctilious.
Everybody agrees that beaches are public domain and that they must be protected, but in a case where the beaches in question, of which half are almost half a kilometre wide at some points, using 6-metre wide strip as a parking area, running alongside the road, is no tragic loss to the beauty of the beach.
However, Costas doesn’t see it that way, so they ordered a line of posts to be set along the road’s edge to stop people parking there. But they didn’t stop there, because they also dumped sand right up to the road’s edge, extending the beach to it – before there was straight earth and grass.
The tailbacks and jams generated by beach goers searching desperately to find somewhere to park are prodigious and notorious – you need the patience of a saint not to blast your horn in desperation, as you sit in your car, mere metres from the promised beach, unable to move, let alone park.
Traditionally, people always parked on the beach, just off the road – only an idiot would venture further onto the sand, unless he possessed honed Paris-Dakar-rally skills, but in this politically correct age, it is forbidden.
The official parking area at the Puntecillo is swamped with cars and finding somewhere vacant is akin to winning the lottery. The nearest other parking area is Villa Astrida, but the chances of finding somewhere there are just as slim.
The result is that people park on both sides of the road, half on; half off, the tarmac, leaving insufficient space for 2-way traffic; hence the jams.
The Councillor for Beaches, Nicolas Navarro, recognises that on Playa Granada and Playa Poniente ‘there is a big parking problem.’ He says that the problem was not helped by Costas pushing sand right up to the road and placing posts to stop people parking – unsuccessfully. He considers that this action eliminated in one foul swoop a lot of parking.
He is in favour of getting Costas to grant a ‘special permission’ for people to park on the strip of beach next to the road. He also said that it is a pity that the provincial office for Costas is not situated down on the beach, instead of up in Granada, so that they could experience each day the problems caused by their intransigence.
If Costas doesn’t play ball, a solution will have to wait for the arrival of the projected inland marina, when the whole area will be structured.
(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)