Salobreña castle has been temporarily closed to the public owing to many visitors being stung by wasps.
The real problem is that there are too few staff and too many wild wasp nests; the former meant that the museum office within the monument had its opening hours reduced, whereas the latter means that the whole castle has been closed to the public and not just the museum on certain days.
The problem started last week. On the Thursday the caretaker noted the presence of a great many wasps and the next day 24 tourists took home wasp stings as souvenirs.
The presence of children was the key factor for the Councillor for Culture, María Eugenia Rufino, to close the castle down to visitors until the problem was dealt with. And the problem is a big one because it is estimated that there are nearly 200 mini nests scattered around the castle.
“I prefer that we lose the considerable takings that the monument generates in these days than to put somebody’s life at risk,” she explained.
The staff, on their own initiative, had attempted to combat the hives’ occupants with chemicals and spray on hand but only managed to ‘stir up the proverbial wasp nest,’ so now professional pest exterminators have been called in on Friday.
However, the company had a look around and then announced that they couldn’t start until Monday (viva España!). They explained that this was because they needed “specific products” that they would need to purchase.
On a positive note, the nocturnal activities within the cultural agenda at the castle (Noches del Terror) went ahead because after night fall, the wasps retire to the nests.
And on a personal note, the wasps that plagued our cortijo, up above Otivar, last summer are conspicuous by their very absence – they might have at least left a note to say that they would be spending this summer down on the coast…
STOP PRESS: we received the following email from the Salobreña Town Hall today, Tuesday the 16th:
El Castillo ya ha abierto sus puertas después de que se haya acabado por completo con la plaga de avispas.
Isabel Ramos
Gabinete de prensa Salobreña
(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)