It’s official: the Almuñécar municipal market is to be demolished, partially or in its entirety.
The Mayor, Trinidad Herrera, and the Councillor for Urban Planning, Maintenance and Commerce, José Manuel Fernández, accompanied by the Municipal Engineer, Juan José Fernández, met with the stall holders at the municipal market to break the news, which comes as a result of a study carried out by the leaseholder for the underground car park, Hermanos García Motril, overseen by independent experts.
“We are here today to inform you of the results of this document, which will be explained by both the Councillor for Urban Planning and the Town Engineer,” began the Mayor.
The Councillor for Urban Planning said, “The worse affected area is under the fish-stalls, which has been damaged by the water from the fish [which has a high salt content] and the rest needs renovations.”
The Town Engineer, José Manuel Fernández, told the stall holders that there were two courses of action: the first would be to demolish the fish-stall area of the market and reinforce the rest of the market, which would costs 1.2m euros and take a year, whilst the second would be to knock it all down and start again, including this time, adequate waterproofing. This would cost between 1.2 and 1.5m euros and would take about the same length of time.
In either case, the town would need a temporary market place whilst the work is being carried out. First thoughts for such a location is the Plaza de Kuwait, just across the road from the Market.
Stall holders were guaranteed that they would receive written assurances, so that nobody would harbour any doubts about their future.
The Engineer also pointed out that regardless of the course taken, there is an underlying problem called “The Market Structure,” concerning the use of the market, as a result in the drop in customers, which has nothing to do with the closure of the parking beneath. He suggests that it is a good moment to contemplate converting it into a more profitable business.
According to the governing council, once the safety of the area has been solved, it would be interesting to look for an alternative that would merge the trading side with the catering/restaurant sector – it is a format, the Mayor assures, that has been employed elsewhere with positive results.
Once the Town Hall representative had given their explanations, the ball is in the court of the Assembly of Stall Holders to decide what they want. But the Mayor did point out that whatever was decided, no work would begin before the summer.
It should be remembered that the municipal market was inaugurated in 1987 and since then it has gone through several building reforms amongst the 65 stalls, as well as in the fish-stall area on its drainage arrangement.
(News: Almuñécar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)