One thing is the municipal fish market and quite another is the port warehouse where the day’s catch is taken to be sold to wholesalers. It is the latter that is now open to tourists, complete with guides who explain how it all works.

This is completely new, as before only fishermen and wholesale buyers ever set foot in building. This has always been so because of port security – you can’t just wander in and have a look around. Occasionally a school trip has been allowed, but open to the general public it has never been!

But the Motril fishermen have been well ahead of the game for a while, coming up with new ideas. They have received only praise for their initiative to go out and fish for rubbish in order to clean up the waters around our part of the coast.

They also donated all the catch that is not sold, because it doesn’t meet regulations concerning size, to the food banks for the needy. Before they were forced to throw it back.

Anyway, the Town Hall has come up with a grant of 43,600 euros for the project, entitled: Discover the Secrets of the [fish] Warehouse, Actually, the funds come from Europe via the Regional Government’s Fishing and Agriculture Department.

The visits will begin in August and will run for one year: there will be guides and informative brochures, etc. There will even be a short video on how things work in the lonja (warehouse).

The visits will take place around five and six in the afternoon, which is when the fishing boats return to port. These visits will be available any day that the lonja is open and you don’t need to make a prior reservation, unless you’re part of a group of over 15 visitors, in which case you have to make an appoint through the Tourist Information Office.

Cool, eh?

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