Just to cheer you up before moving onto the gist of the article, the bus-ticket kiosk in Salobreña that has been operating all summer is set to close at the end of September – that is unless they receive instructions to the contrary.

So what’s happening – or not happening – with the long-awaited Salobreña bus station? The Councillor for Public Works and Maintenance for the Town Hall, Javier Ortega is not happy with the provincial-level decision contained within the Reglamento Regulador del Plan Provincial (provincial planning), which will mean that a certain amount of control held by the municipal authorities over public works in the town will be lost – the provincial authority will decide what goes forward and what does not.

According to Councillor Ortega this move will translate into a 33% cut in the funds available for the town (down from 219,880 euros to 149,826 euros), which will seriously affect the town’s project for an access road to the plot of land where the bus station will one – miraculous – day stand. Without this infrastructure, the assigned plot of building land will lose ‘building’ status, he claims.

In the past, he points out, a town hall could put a project up for bidding, select a bid and award a contract, off its own back – not now. With the new regulations, he says that Granada decides which firm will win the contract, which, in the opinion of the councillor, will work against local firms. 

Lastly, he claims that any savings made by accepting a bid lower than the budget will go into the provincial coffers and will not be taken off the 40% of the budget put up by the Town Hall.

 He forgot to mention, by the way, whether or when a bus station will finally grace the expectant building plot, bless him.

(News: Salobrena, Costa del Sol, Granada, Andalucia)