The natural park of Maro-Cerro Gordo is the site of a growing presence of illegal campsites or settlements.
In the last year the Policía Local in Nerja has cleared half a dozen such settlements/camps, removing at the same time hundreds of kilos of rubbish.
German resident, Patrick Kundmüller, who himself has spent three months in one of these camps in the Barranco de Maro area, has spoken out, qualifying the situation as “shameful.”
We’re talking about illegal campsites – semi-permanent enough to be almost settlements, run by a German and French citizens. According to Mr Kundmüller, they offer cabins and caves with beds, wardrobes and tables & chairs. There is also space for pitching tents and parking cars and vans.
He adds that they are set up amongst trees, so as not to be obvious.
In fact, so well established is one illegal campsite that they have a small pool, hot water and solar energy for recharging phones and laptops, etc.
The whole thing is topped off, he says, with a small house with a fireplace and a library with books in German, English and French.
As mentioned, after having spent three months there himself, he confirms that the majority of guests are German and French who pay five euros per head, per day. Mind you, you can obtain a discount if you are prepared to work on the campsite, helping with the maintenance.
But his surprising accusations do not end there, because he also claims that they sell avocados and custard apples to Germany and other countries, without declaring the transaction to the tax office.
The Town Hall says that they knew nothing about the existence of these installations. They claim that the police are being especially vigilant and that they had already checked out this area.
The only campsite that legally exists on the Almuñécar side of Maro, on the N-340, is run by Mr Peter Kemp, who also confessed to a local Spanish daily that he knew nothing about this illegal set up, but did recognize that trade had been falling off in the last few years, something that he thought was down to the crisis.
He’s not impressed, we can imagine.
(News: Maro, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)