Almuñécar has two major problems at the moment; a main artery (Paseo de La Caletilla) and the Municipal Market which relies on generators to provide electricity, as it is still not connect up the mains system.

It seems that whenever Almuñécar decides to dig up one of its paseos, it turns into a disaster, with the area lost to traffic and commerce for months and even years.

Some years ago, the Town Hall in a moment of genius decided to simultaneously dig up the Paseo de Velilla and the Paseo de San Cristóbal to sink underground car parks and then the companies went bust and projects remained as big holes in the ground for over a year.

Bear in mind, this followed shortly after deciding that they were going to demolish the Paseo del Altillo, with its abundant gardens and some trees over a hundred years old…. and build an underground car park beneath it.

It was a complete and utter disaster! The company went bust, the Town Hall ended up taking up the task, huge sewage pipes appeared that had not been on the plans… it was chaos which put the Altillo out of action for more than one year. Even today, reportedly, there is still sewage seeping in.

So, why for the love of God did the Mayor decide to dig up the Paseo de La Caletilla – what possibly could go wrong? Work started in the spring and it was supposed to be passable for vehicles over summer using a temporary surface.

Lo! They discovered that under the paseo was solid rock and they had to pass a main sewage pipe, around a metre in diametre, through it.

We use the word “discover” generously because everybody knows that the road was build on top of solid rock, just as everybody knew that you couldn’t build on the hillside where Carmenes del Mar now stands… or balances… because the whole hillside was known to be unstable; even the goat herders who used to let their flock graze there knew.

Up to the early 50s of the 20th Century, the Castillo de San Miguel was physically attached to El Peñon del Santo, as it was an outer battery for this defencive structure. Along came architect and Franco politician, Francisco Prieto Moreno, cut a road through the rock, so that eventually Hotel Sexi could built, which was inaugurated in 1954. Notice the rocks up against the road in the photo

So, this is where the Almuñequeros now find themselves, right in the middle of summer, with no Paseo de La Caletilla. The idea was just to replace the paving along the paseo but the Mancomunidad said, “Hey, why not replace the last remaining section of the old, main sewage pipe,” which connects to the renovated sections under the Paseo de San Cristobal and Paseo del Altillo.

Now, don’t forget that the Chairman of the Mancomunidad is simultaneously a councillor in the Town Council belonging to the Mayor’s party…

So, when the construction company began chipping at the surface, trying to get down about 60 centimetres, they came across the ‘newly found’ rock base under the road. To get through that, they need much heavier equipment than they had.

Why did they not know that there was base rock under the road? Because there was no geotechnical study carried out before hand — you know, sink a couple of small, bore holes to examine the sub-surface.

Another problem is that there is a building whose foundations are that base rock and if they start hammering away at it, they will damage the building’s foundations — we all remember when a newly finished block of flats along Playa de Velilla collapsed, thankfully before anybody had moved in.

So, after collectively scratching their heads they decided to just clean out the old sewage pipe and line it with an inner, plastic pipe, throwing out the idea of laying down a bigger pipe to match the ones at both ends, and just keep the old one.

When are they going to do this? In September, they don’t want to cause a stink in the height of summer. For the moment, at least pedestrians can stagger over the temporary wooden walkway on the uneven surface.

The Councillor for Public Works, Francisco Rodríguez, cheerfully announced that 70% of the mains water pipe has already been replaced that serve the dwelling along there and workers are now concentrating on sorting out the underground telecommunications network and mains electricity. Oh, and they also decided on what colour paving they are going to use once it’s all finished.

The Mayor, in a masterful demonstration of understatementt, said, “We understand that there could be complicated moments but we are there, working on it.”

So, Ladies and Gentlement, we cannot help asking ourselves, why the hell can’t they just leave the paseos alone!

(Editorial: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada Andalucia – Photo: MJ Arrobola)

Keywords: Just Another Disaster, Paseo de La Calatilla, Paseo del Altillo, Paseo de Velilla, Paseo de San Cristobal, Sewage, No Geotechnical Study, Hotel Sexi, Francisco Prieto Moreno

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