The Mayors of the four municipalities affected by the Los Guájares fire have made a joint petition to have their villages declared Zona Catatrófica.

The said municipalities, which are El Pinar, El Valle, Los Guájares and Albuñuelas, hope to receive funding this way in order to set about restoring the damaged mountain areas, as well as farms that lost their trees or irrigation systems.

Although regional governments can request this consideration, it is the Central Government’s Board of Ministers which would give the approval. What the mayors want is for representatives from the Central Government, the Junta de Andalucia and the Provincial Council to physically come to the affected areas and see it for themselves, rather than pass the buck between them.

Mayor Antonio Mancilla (Los Guájares), Mayor Francisco Titos (El Pinar), Mayor Sandra García (El Valle) and Mayor José Díaz (Albuñuelas) met yesterday to organise themselves to this end. One of their tasks is to make an official estimation of the cost of the damage. However, it is still too early to be able to do this as there are burnt areas that have hotspots capable of reviving. At the meeting there were also farmers and business owners from the tourism sector.

(News: El Pinar/El Valle/Los Guájares/Albuñélas, Valle de Lecrin/Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)