This Semana Santa in Almuñécar and La Herradura the Blue Zones along the seafront paseos will not be activated, unlike previous years.

Now, before you think that the Town Hall has suffered a fit of generosity, you should know that it is because the private company that runs them has been changed; i.e., their contract was up.

Furthermore, newer ticket machines will be installed to replace the existing ones in those areas.

It was hoped that the machines would be installed and sniggering by now but the road-transport strike put paid to that.

Of course, this won’t affect the Blue Zones around the rest of the two towns as they will still be doing their normal Dick-Turpin number.

Councillor for Citizen Safey, Francisco Robles, announced that the new company, who competed against five other bid entries, won the contract is Iberpark, which just by its name indicates that it is used in many other municipalities and provinces.

“This contract has the duration of five years, which can be extended another five, for the amount of 250,922 euros per year,” explained the councillor, adding, “they will install 26 new, modern parking meters, which will accept bankcards and offer a 24/7 internet connection for queries, all of which should be up and running before the month is out.”

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: JM de Haro/DiarioSexitano)