Motril vs. Costas

MOT Parking RebelsWhat is happening in Motril concerns all coastal towns because it reflects real needs being hampered by administrative stubbornness.

If you haven’t been following our online edition, here is a summary: tourists visiting Playa de Poniente found that they were being fined for parking where they always had; on the fringe of the beach nearest to the road. The beach is probably about 200 metres wide at this point so it’s hardly limiting somewhere to put down your towel and beach kit.

The Town Hall scrambled to find alternative parking areas near the beach, coming up with about three plots of vacant land, whilst at the same time imploring Costas in Granada to ‘cut them some slack.’ Nothing doing, however.

Angry residents and visitors alike began to make their feelings known, with most of the no-parking signs being covered with paper and then rewritten with such information as “you’ve got a hope!” Some more boisterous protesters ripped the signs up and deposited them in the centre of town, propped against a fountain, with similar message replacing what had been written on them.

It got worse. Protesters managed to gather 10,000 signatures demanding that the strip of beach, where frankly nobody ever occuppies because of the distance from the water, be released for parking use.

On the last Friday of the month, 200 people gathered outside the Town Hall to express their rejection at Costas unbending attitude. The Mayor appeared to say that it was Costas doing the fining, not the Town Hall

Chiringuito trade is suffering, beachgoers are up in arms and the people who work in the Granada office of Costas are probably now taking their summer hols… on some other beach.

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *