Salobreña’s plan to counter the slow abandonment of the old town has taken another step forward calling for citizen input.

You can’t park up there, you can’t renovate a property and you need one leg longer than the other to stand up straight. Yes, but it’s a beautiful, iconic asset that needs answers to its problems.

With this in mind the Town Council has set up a commission to sort out traffic assess and flow but not without the views and opinions of those living up there.

The commission has the difficult task of balancing the protection of the heritage value old town with the practical needs of its residents, as well as with tourist access,so it touches on the local economy, too.

How do you restrict traffic for conservation’s sake and increase it at the same time for residential and touristic? That’s the difficult bit: minimum traffic but maximum accessibility.

The Mayor, María Eugenia Rufino, points out that resolving this problem is the corner stone to a plan that intends to revitalise a waning resident population in this living monument.

One thing is for sure; the idea of pedestrinising the old town completely is out of the question.

With all this in mind, the Town Hall wants to encourage everybody in Salobreña to send in their ideas, either through social media, emails or the Citizen Advice Bureau (OAC) office in the town-hall building.

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