Five years ago Almuñécar proudly obtained the ‘Municipio-Turístico’ category which should have brought in extra cash… it never did, however.

It was on the 5th of April 2011 that Almuñécar, after eight years doing its homework and lobbying Sevilla, became ‘one of the few:’ of the 776 towns and villages in Andalucía, only 15 enjoy this tourism distinction.

Basically, the tourist-town label is recognition that such a town can provide services far above those needed for its normal population during the tourist high season; more rubbish collection, policing, etc, etc. Consequently, it needs financial support from the regional government.

The Almuñécar Town Hall isn’t sure just how much it could expect, but one thing is sure and that is that the figure would lie between 450,000 and 2,000,000 euros – these are the quantities that Aracena (Huelva) and Torremolinos (Málaga) receive; i.e., the smallest and largest recipients.

Almuñécar had the bad luck to finally achieve the sought-after category in 2011… precisely when the economic crisis hit and the Junta turned off the tap.

Another problem is that to maintain such a title you have to renew your application every four years, demonstrating that you have maintained the high standards required – Almuñécar has struggled to do so, even though it didn’t receive a penny during those four years.

The Junta, on the other hand, says that it is working on a solution and promises that funds will be made available some time in an unspecified moment in the future…

Ah well…

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