The Mayor of Almuñécar, Juan José Ruiz Joya, has criticised the Central Government for throwing money away on regenerating beaches.

“The Government of Spain is throwing tax payers’ money into the sea,” he said, whilst posing for a photo op on Playa Cotobro, to the backdrop of dumper trucks unloading sand to replace that which was swept away by wave action during gales.

What he wants is beach defences in the form of groynes or breakwaters, which he says is the position of the Town Hall, the Plataforma por las Infraestructuras de la Costa Tropical and the Asociación de Chiringuitos y Empresarios de la Costa Tropical, amongst others.

Mayor Ruiz Joya warned that if the next day, or week brought other gale that it would all be swept away again before the summer even gets here. He went on to accuse the Central Government of “applying patches instead of permanent fixes.”

He also complained about the quality of the sand, stating that it had large stones in it.

Last year over a million euros was spent trucking in sand to replace hard-hit beach areas in Almuñécar and La Herradura, whereas this year it has reached a 1,700,000 euros so far.

OK, so let’s examine some facts. In 2011 the Mayor’s party (PP) won an absolute majority in the General Election and in that same year won the municipal elections. In April 2014 the Central Government ordered that beaches damaged by spring gales should be regenerated with sand. There was no complaint from the PP Mayor at the time. In May 2015 the PP-run Central Government ordered that gravel be taken from Río Verde and used on Cotobro Beach – did the PP Mayor object? No, of course not. The point is that politicians, of all political colours, appear to suffer from frequent bouts of amnesia when convenient.

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