According to the Councillor for Agriculture at the Almuñécar Town Hall, the Junta has ordered them to stop clearing the rivers of vegetation.

The said councillor, Sr. Francisco Alba, is annoyed, to say the least, at the attitude of the Junta de Andalucia: the Town Hall had taken on the urgent task precisely because the Junta had not even responded to their request, let alone even begun to assume their responsibility; i.e., clearing the riverbeds of weeds, canes and other assorted vegetation.

The Town Hall had written to the Junta last month, pleading for them to act as the end of summer downpours are upon us. After all, both Almuñécar and La Herradura know from bitter experience the consequences of choked riverbeds causing the rivers to burst their banks.

After a month of waiting with no reply in sight, the Town Hall decided to act, beginning clearance in Río Jate, Seco and Verde, as well as the barrancos within the municipality.

However, Junta officials approached the workmen and told them to cease activity forthwith.

The work costs about 80,000 euros, which is what the Town Hall spends each year precisely because the Junta doesn’t do it.

So, now we wait to see if the Junta workforce takes over where the municipal one has left off…

Editorial comment: you can help but think that things would run a lot more smoothly if we didn’t have politicians heading up administrations, using them to score political points off their adversaries.

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