The Salobreña Town Hall has announced that it intends to raise the tax on vehicles registered in the municipality; i.e., el impuesto sobre vehículos de tracción mecánica.
According to the Vice-Mayor, María del Carmen Rodríguez, although the tax is supposed to rise with the cost of living (IPC), it hasn’t been updated since 2008. Thus, the coefficient will rise from 1.6550 to 1.8, meaning that it will rise between three and twelve euros (depending on the vehicle’s cylinder capacity).
This rise will take effect in the next tax year, meaning February and March, which is when the Town Hall issues them.
The PP opposition say that they will vote against it, because, says party spokesman, Rubén Rodríguez, “It’s not a time to raise taxes,” which is surprising as his party, which forms the Central Government, is on the point of raising the IVA, bless their cotton socks. Mr Rodríguez suggests that if the socialist municipal council needs more money, they should cut back on spending, rather than increasing the tax burden on the inhabitants of Salobreña.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum amongst the opposition parties, the Izquierda Unida criticises the socialist council for maintaining ten salaried, political posts in the council, with an annual cost of 400,000 euros to the municipal coffers, whilst at the same time raises the tax burden on Los Salobreñeros, including the 1,800 out-of-work residents.
The spokesman for the Partido Andalucista, José Pérez, says that the 3-euro rise in tax is equivalent to six loaves of bread… per year that is, but ignores the fact that the average family throws away more than the equivalent six loaves of bread each year in the form of stale loaf ends, but why let such details spoil a good sound-byte delivery.
So, summing up, we have the PSOE governing council that maintains a bloated payroll for politically allotted posts, a PP councillor that indignantly criticises the Mayor for raising taxes when his own party is about to do precisely that to the whole country in the form of IVA, a PA councillor who has no idea how much bread a Spanish family consumes each year, and an IU councillor that points out what everybody feels but nobody in a position to do anything about it will rectify. Welcome to the sticky world of politics!
(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)