The Mayor Juan José Ruiz Joya, had a butcher's (look) through the town's population figures provided by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística... gleefully.

The figures show that the number of inhabitants is growing as the figure stands at 27,305… and a half, I would have added but I no longer live there. Dave Darby does, so I suppose his nose could make up the “half” deficit.

So how much has the mighty metropolis grown you ask. The answer is 557 whole people! Mayor Ruiz Joya considers this to be very positive because in his opinion it shows that the municipality is “an attractive place to live,” because of job opportunities.

The Councillor for Hacienda (The Dark Lord) Rafael Caballero, says that the increase in population implies that Almuñécar will receive more money from the Central Government. Salary increases for councillors guaranteed!

Then the Mayor turned to the  Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (a document that lays out what and where it can be built and what is non-building land). He said that it would be a catalyst for Almuñécar for the business sector, as it includes more land for shopping/trading areas, which he considers will automatically translate into more jobs.

He also considered that through the PGOU, Almuñécar and La Herradura will attract more families as somewhere to live owing to its quality of life. He also considers that the efforts of the Municipal Tourism Board’s, running publicity campaigns abroad and in Spanish cities is another factor.

Ah well, with any luck all the roadworks around town will be finished so that you don’t need a tracked vehicle to navigate around the streets.

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