Several places within the municipality of Almuñécar now have free-wifi zones, both in La Herradura as well as in Almuñécar.

These free-wifi zones are La Plaza de La Independencia (La Herradura); El Paseo del Altillo and the Plaza de la Constitución (Almuñécar). The Constitution Square is more commonly known as the Town Hall Square.

“In the said public areas locals will use the wifi service WiFi4EU where they will have to register to access coverage which is free but has a time limit of 12 hours,” explained Councillor Rafael Caballero Jiménez.

This is all thanks to the EU, which provides municipalities all over the European Union with a 15,000-euro grant to set up the system.

“Everyone benefiting from connectivity means that it should not matter where you live or how much you earn. So we propose today to equip every European village and every city with free wireless internet access around the main centres of public life by 2020,” announced Jean-Claude Juncker President of the European Commission.

Quoting from the EU webpage: The WiFi4EU voucher provides a fixed amount of funding of EUR 15,000 per municipality. Municipalities receiving vouchers will select the ‘centres of public life’ where the WiFi4EU hotspots (wireless access points) will be installed. The WiFi4EU vouchers may also be used to partially fund a project of higher value.

The voucher may serve to purchase new equipment or upgrade old material and replace it with most recent and best available equipment on the market.

The WiFi4EU voucher will cover the equipment and installation costs of Wi-Fi hotspots. Municipalities receiving a voucher should pay for the connectivity (internet subscription) and maintenance of the equipment to offer free and high-quality Wi-Fi connectivity for at least three years.

Almuñécar was one of the 510 Spanish municipalities that have opted for this grant.

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