This situation goes back a long, long time but lately the problem seem to have increased to “unsupportable levels.” The reason for this, locals consider, is that the company working the quarry have relaxed measures in place to keep inconvenience to a minimum.

For this reason they have approached the relevant administration for them to act and return the residents of Lobres to a more bearable situation; i.e., less dust, less noise.

Lobres lies under the Cantera de Santa Teresa, which has been operating more than 40 years. So close are they that the quarry is just a few metres from the local junior school, Colegio Cervantes and where a row of houses begin.

“For the last 40 years locals live side-by-side with this open mine but this summer it was unsupportable, with earth and dust everywhere,” explained the local spokesperson for residents, Bernardo Ruiz López, because they sometimes work shifts around the clock. “They work at night so that the dust clouds can’t be seen,” he said.

Things appear to have deteriorated since the quarry changed hands.

Ex-Councillor for the Environment, Ángel Coello (IU) has taken up the complaint levelled by residents and said, “there is no warning that an explosion is coming, which provoke panic amongst pupils in the school and people in their houses.”

He also claimed that lorries to and from the quarry hurtle through the village instead of along the established routes, stipulated when the quarry received its licence.

The Mayor, María Eugenia Rufino, says that she finds it surprising that somebody representing the IU should make these comments when he was responsible for this department (Environment) but went on to say that the quarry is the responsibility of the Junta de Andalucia. She added that to the knowledge of the Town Hall, the explosions take place in accordance with safety regulations and are controlled by the Guardia Civil.

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