Motril Port, the poor sister of Málaga and Almería, will not be receiving any subventions from Madrid, whilst the other two will.

Many Granadinos consider that their province will always be on the back burner of the Junta de Andalucia. Undoubtedly, Sevilla favours Málaga in infrastructure to Granada in the East.

But back to what is happening, or what is not happening to Motril Port. Andalusian ferry ports connecting with the two Spanish, North-African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, receive grants from the Central Government. to guarantee the inhabitants their communications with the mainland. The 2014 budget includes 15.5m euros for this purpose, but it will be divided between Almería and Málaga.

And the reason? The Central Government argues that Motril port, where the Armas ferry operates from, is profitable, so their support goes to the two major ports, which are not.

The port authorities are furious because it means that Motril has to compete with Málaga and Almería under a handicap. Motril had been gaining ground, taking traffic away from the two neighbouring ports because Motril is simply a more direct sea link. But with the Government giving ‘a helping hand’ to the two big boys, Motril will find it even harder to grow.

Add to this that both Málaga and Almería have rail and motorway connections whilst Granada is still waiting, decades later for decent road connections. And of course, there will be railway.

In the meantime, not a peep out of conservative regional MP, Carlos Rojas, who is otherwise fully occupied criticising the socialist Junta de Andalucia for missing infrastructure. Neither has the conservative Mayor of Motril had anything to say about this stab in the back from Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Central Government.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)