There’s always somebody who spoils it for everybody else, and the following is a clear case of just this.

Who doesn’t find the sight and smell of food being grilled over hot coals on a beach as one of the very-Spanish attractions of living on the Costa Tropical? Well, some people on holiday in Almuñécar apparently don’t, as they have filed a complaint before the Town Hall.

The owners of chiringuitos along the whole coast of Andalucía have had to wrestle with the fickle regional administration and the central one (Costas) about lighting a fire on the beach, so they have all had to turn old rowing boats into a BBQ, by filling it with sand and lighting a fire on top… and even then they can only use them within a narrow time frame each year.

But, alas, they didn’t count on people turning up for a couple of weeks on holiday from Granada or Madrid, and complaining about the smell and the smoke!

So, we have the overwhelming majority of visitors who make a bee-line for the beach and order espetos de sardinas or pulpo a la brasa grilled over hot coals vs the bitter few who apparently choose their holiday venue according to where they can feel most miserable… and then complain about it.

The Chairman for the Asociación de chiringuitos, Francisco Trujillo, said that he was sure that they could find a solution. Unfortunately putting the whiners up against a wall and shooting them is inappropriate… although satisfying.

The Mayor, Trinidad Herrera, says that she is working with the chiringuito association and the Environmental Delegate to find a solution. (The pocked-marked walls, I’m telling you – why doesn’t anybody listen?).

Anyway, only one chiringuito is having this problem with a particular neighbour in front, but nobody else in the whole town seems to have any objections. So don’t worry; you will still get your BBQ’d sardines and octopus, etc.

Now Juan Carlos Benavides, never somebody to hold his tongue, announced that the Town Hall had been sending out instructions to chiringuito owners telling them to cease this type of activity.

Apparently the instructions that the chiringuitos received were: “The boat-BBQs, being an open-air set up, do not limit their emission of smoke and smells, as they are not enclosed, which would allow them to limit the inconveniences caused [if they were]. Therefore, the boat-BBQs cannot operate without the appropriate measures to limit the smoke and smells.”

Benny has consequently asked the Mayor to withdraw these restrictions. The Mayor denies that anybody is being prevented from firing up a boat-BBQ to provide these very traditional Andalusian dishes, however.

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