The pledge was that the Salobreña seafront promenade would be completed before summer, but with 400 metres left to do, it doesn’t look that probable.
It was November last year that the Central Government (Costas, one of its departments) pledged that the second phase of the paseo work would be completed before the summer crowds arrive.
Yet with 400 metres of the eastern end to be completed and that there is no building activity taking place down there, is it any wonder that the town is getting jittery?
Quite simply, they either start ‘yesterday’ and go into overdrive, or Salobreña will face a difficult summer.
Readers will remember that work began on the paseo from Salomar 2000 last February to replace the area damaged by wind and waves. Of course, the Town Hall was over the moon when the provincial office of Costas not only suggested repairing the damage, but also redesigning the affected area, turning it into a pedestrian part of the paseo with vehicle access only for emergency services.
The First Phase had a budget of 200,000 euros, provided by Costas at 50,000 euros at a time. However, it doesn’t look as though the money for the completion of the Second Phase exists, hence the inactivity.
Of course, the opposition party, PA, is having a field day, finding this problem a useful ‘big stick’ to hit both the governing party (PSOE) and the Central Government (PP) with.
The Mayor, María Eugenia Rufino, however, responded that the last thing that the town needed was open confrontation with Madrid, so it was better to tone it down and keep things civil.
“Citizens are fed up with political confrontations,” said the Mayor, adding, “collaborating with the Central Government has achieved more than in the previous 30 years, so we are going to continue this way until the paseo is completed.”
The Mayor has another meeting with the provincial office of Costas coming up and remains confident that the work will commence and progress at an accelerated pace to have it finished, if not for the 1st of June, then before summer begins – “I’m not going to throw in the towel,” she concluded.
(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)