The Mayor of Almuñécar is not a happy bunny over the Junta‘s decision to deny the town extra funding for being a tourist-orientated municipality.
A town like Almuñécar witnesses a 6-fold increase in its population during the high season when national and international tourists flock to enjoy its coastal delights. Therefore, it is only logical that a town hall cannot cater for such an influx with only the taxes collected from the standing population.
For this reason, some thirteen years ago, Almuñécar did its homework and applied for extra funding from the Junta to help cover the extra expenditure required to cater for the summer influx.
According to the Mayor, Trinidad Herrera, Almuñécar has been “plundered” by this latest Junta decision – nobody destroys a language better than a politician.
She also announced that she would not be stopped by this refusal and that she would continue to apply for this special economic consideration.
It should be remembered that a provincial representative from the Junta, Sandra García, a mere 18 months ago, announced, “We can say very clearly that this accord will be signed; we will have to talk with the Mayor, but it will be signed.”
The Mayor should know, of course, that, as reflected by even her own failings, a politician’s promise has the staying power of a fart in a hurricane, but even so…
Could it be through a lack of funds? Well,the Junta‘s Secretary General for Tourism announced in January 2015 that funds had been set aside from the budget and that the project was drawn up and was merely awaiting a signature.
But, alas, perhaps a bigwig in Sevilla felt the pressing need to open up a Swiss bank account, buy a yacht or a prime real-estate flat for a mistress, thus the funds were – with great reluctance and much soul searching – diverted.
So how much are we talking about? Chiclana and Fuengirola received 1.8m euros, according to the miffed Mayor, for such a consideration, so Almuñécar should have received a similar amount.
Almuñécar, after all, is the only town in Granada to have applied for such a consideration, not before faithfully complying with all the stipulations.
One can’t help but feel that this has more to do with political wrangling – the Regional Government is socialist and the Mayor is conservative – than there suddenly being a lack of funds.
It would be nice, of course, if politicians did not use we citizens as human shields when vying for petty Smarty points, but then again, we have all become sadly impervious to such antics through constant exposure to them.
(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)