According to CANDA, an Almuñécar youth organisation with alleged connections to a political party, animals are dying at Peña Escrita mountain park.

CANDA considers that the park is in its “death throes,” thanks to a lack of adequate maintenance supplied by the Mayor, Sra. Herrera. It goes on to say that throughout the Sra. Herrera’s mayoralty a number of species, considered emblematic, have disappeared.

“The death rate in these three years is shameful,” reads the communiqué from this youth organisation.

“They started off by getting rid of the parks only white tiger and zebras,” they accuse, adding, “three lions, five skunk pigs, three camels, three guanacos, three llamas, two bison, , one baboon one water buck, two eland gazelles, two mountain goats, two lynxes and two wallabies have all died.

They also complain that five animal enclosures stand empty and the nature classroom stands abandoned.

The complaint goes on to include a lack of reforestation, no vegetation cleaning and the leisure facilities within closed for over a year: restaurant, etc.

The Chairwoman of CANDA, María José Maya, also claims that nowhere on the Otívar road is there any sign that says that the restaurant is closed.

Editorial Comment: What the chairperson does not point out is that the town had been fined for running an illegal zoo; i.e., Peña Escrita, precisely because of exotic animals that had been taken up there under a previous Town Council administration. However, if the deaths do prove to be true, then the Councillor in charge, Luis Aragón needs to do some explaining.