Torrox Town Hall has been fined for carrying out building work without permission from the regional cultural board - the site is historically listed land.
Balcon del Mirador
The said work has been going since last year in the area known as the Balcón Mirador del Faro, which is lying on a historical fish-salting factory dating back to Roman times. There is also a necropolis dating back to the 3rd Century AD.
The Town Hall has been guilty of an infringement of the Ley de Patrimonio Histórico de Andalucía de 2007. Although the fine was for 5,000 euros,because the Town Hall coughed up straight away, they were entitled to a 40% discount, meaning that the sum handed over was 3,000 euros.
The work done by the Town Hall didn’t involve digging anything up or disturbing the subsoil but rather on a metal structure sitting on top of it. In other words, no damage was done, but rather that the work was carried out without the necessary permission from the Cultural Department.
The Mayor, Óscar Medina (PP) said that they didn’t have time to wait for the permit to come through as “the structure was in danger of collapsing.”
Editorial comment: two things come to mind: now they know what it is like to be on the receiving end of a fine; town halls are notoriously slow at granting licences. Secondly, who pays the fine? Unfortunately, it will come out of the taxpayers pocket rather than the salaries of the councillor responsible for the infraction.
(News: Torrox, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)