The Town Hall was ‘forced’ to shut the road from La Caleta to La Guardia at Cuesta Caracho, at the beginning of the week, owing to a burst water main.

But this isn’t simply about a burst water pipe, but about a new by-law that came into being on the 2nd of April, regulating how private companies can operate on public rights of way: a company must inform the Town Hall, obtain a licence after paying a guarantee, which will be returned after they have put the road surface back together and all the while overseeing the safety of passersby.

“We want to avoid what has been happening up till now where private companies carry out work on the streets of Salobreña and its outlaying dependencies without informing us, causing damage to pavements and road surfaces which are not corrected,” explained the Councillor for Urbanism, Gonzalo Fernández.

What happened then, was that a private company had been called in by a homeowner to sort out a major plumbing problem. A part of the street outside the house had been dug up, inadequately cordoned off and signposted, causing problems to the traffic. The Town Hall stepped in, closed the road and slapped a hefty fine on the culprits.

Whilst some might consider the new law a measure to increase public income through licence granting and fining, others will welcome the new measure as a step in the direction of common sense?

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