High winds at the beginning of the week provoked damage to the old sugar-factory chimney at the Fábrica del Pilar. A hole was literally torn from the side of this venerable chimney stack.

The Mayor of Motril, Flor Almón, has since announced that the majority of the families that were evacuate have been allowed to return home.

However, the families belonging to housing closer to the damaged chimney will have to wait until repairs have been carried out on the structure to guarantee its structural safety.

It was on the afternoon of the 15th when locals called the police to warn that some of the brickwork had been torn from one of the sides of the chimney
. The factory has been closed down for the last 30 years so the reports that the towering chimney had been damaged by high winds had the police, firemen and town-hall surveyors out assessing the stability of the structure.

As the damaged area is quite high up the chimney, the Town Hall is looking around for a specialised building company capable of repairing it. The repair work is quite simple; it’s just a case of being able to get to it.

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