Motril Town Hall will pay compensation to Pirotécnica Martín who were prevented from opening a perfectly legal shop.
Readers might remember the affair where firework specialists, Pirotécnica Martín had applied for and received all the necessary permits and licences to open a shop in the centre of Motril where fireworks could be sold.
The shop even had a special bunker for storage, even though the type of fireworks kept there would be of little potency, of the type used at parties – the powerful rockets etc used in firework displays are kept in industrial-sized magazines/bunkers on the outskirts of Vélez Benaudalla.
After having invested 58,000 euros in this new shop, and with every kind of necessary paperwork safely stamped and authorized, the Town Hall did a U-turn and refused him permission to go ahead.
The reason? In September 2012, neighbours around the planned shop in Barrio de Capuchinos had voiced their concern and opposition to the shop and the Mayor, sensing a loss of votes, decided that re-election comes before integrity, it seems. So, the Town Council simply decided to adjust the building category in the area of the proposed shop, effectively ruling out such installations. In other words, they ‘moved the goal posts.’
But before we put all the blame on the governing PP, the change of category was pushed through with the votes in favour of the PP and the abstention of the opposition party, the PSOE, who probably also thought that opposing it would cost them votes.
As angry words flew between the Town Council and Esteban Martín, whose company had provided the much-valued annual Motril firework display, year after year, (since 1895, in fact) with the result, (many believe) that the contract last August was given to a company based in Baza as a snub to Pirotécnica Martín – the final insult, perhaps.
Now, many months down the line, the Mayor has authorised a compensation payment of 58,000 euros to the company, which corresponds to the money that was lost.
Of course, it is not the Mayor or the governing party that will have to find those 58,000 euros, but the Motril taxpayer – around one euro per man, woman and child in Motril.
(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)