Urbanización Cármenes del Mar is in the news again, both because nobody is doing anything to stabilize the hillside and because the number of planned evictions is increasing.

Whereas 24 dwellings have been declared in ruin, residents fully suspect that his number will be extended to cover around 40 after town-hall inspectors have made the rounds.

Whilst all the farmers are praying for rain, the locals are praying that it doesn’t because once the water gets into the ground, things start to slip again.

The residents are pinning their hopes on the Junta – let’s face it, the Town Hall is a waste of time in this affair. The Junta has the financial capacity to carry out the stabilization work, but the question is, does it have the will?

One thing is for sure; waiting for the law courts to sort things out before things get physically worse is unfounded optimism. As it is, the slowness of the system has allowed the building developers to declare themselves insolvent and thus avoid finding the 4.5m euros needed to stop further landslips.

I took a trip up there recently to see for myself how things had deteriorated since my last visit a year or so ago, as these photos testify.

Editorial comment: would somebody explain to me how the Town Hall, who won’t let you build or knock down a wall on your own property without mountains of paperwork and handing over money for permisos, is not ultimately responsible for this travesty?

Somebody signed a report to say that it was OK to build up there when they must have known that it wasn’t. What are they getting paid for, anyway, if not for doing their jobs professionally and diligently?

(News: La Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)