The Town Hall plans to rejuvenate the old town around the castle in Almuñecar and turn it into a tourist-friendly area, using half a million euros from the 1.5m- euro fund set aside from becoming an official provincial tourist town.

The Town Council is looking forward to the economic boost that the new tourist status will bring and is pledging to give the town a facelift.

Mayor, Trinidad Herrera, plans to invest one and a half million euros in the facelift project which aims to revamp squares and streets, improve lighting and revitalize the cultural-historical heritage of the whole town.

But the main project being promoted by Trinidad Herrera is to strengthen and recondition the neighborhood of El Castillo (around the castle) to make it more attractive to tourists. The mayor says she understands that this area is already very beautiful, but believes there is no real incentive for tourists to walk around the streets.

The Council’s plans include a bazaar on one of the concourses and incentives for locals to open businesses and restaurants in the neighbourhood, in the hope of creating something along the lines of the Albacin, Granada.

The signing of the ‘tourist town’ agreement will see a bonus payment of 1,531,000 euros and will give Almuñecar a much higher priority when the Junta is handing out grants and aid.

There will also be collaboration between the Junta and the Town Council on tourism, development plans and be able to receive more financial incentives, depending on the annual budgets of the Andalusian Government.

All of the plans are contained in the Council statement of intent in relation to tourism, which was submitted shortly before the summer, but is lacking the signature of agreement from the Ministry of Tourism in the Junta… and although everything is agreed by all parties in principle, that final signature cannot be added until after the General Election, as it is illegal to put such legislation through just prior to an election.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)