When the fire swept across the hills behind Almuñécar and La Herradura, it destroyed more than vegetation in the form of mountain brush and irrigated land; it also melted kilometres of PVC irrigation pipes.

For this reason, Almuñécar Town Hall had provided large containers/skips where farmers can deposit the unusable sections of charred (or completely melted) irrigation pipes of all sizes.

The Councillor for Agriculture, Carlos Ferrón, explained that they have left skips at three strategic places, two of which are in La Herradura: one where Río Jate crosses under the N-340 and another at the junction off the N-340 for the Cuesta de El Marchante. The Almuñécar one is at an exit ramp from Río Seco.

Councillor Ferrón said, “It’s about giving fruit farmers somewhere to discared unserviceable irrigation material and thus avoid the creation of contamination black spots, as this kind of waste can be triturated and reused.” By black spots he means people just dumping it on dry riverbeds, where it will eventually end up on the sea come the first heavy and prolonged rains.

As mentioned in one of our online articles last month, the Town Hall has also sent heavy machinery out to reopen blocked tracks caused by earth and stones collapsing onto them; evaluating damage to individual properties in order to request grants from the relevant authorities, and lastly cancel the obligation of those affected to pay their IBI (Impuestos sobre Bienes Inmuebles de naturaleza rústica) so that the landowners’ money can be spent instead directly on their property; i.e., replacing irrigation pipes.

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