Judgement day for the caravaner (oooh, or might that be caravanister? Caravanman?) has arrived as Motril passes a new law banning the vans and stopping what they consider to be illegal campers from parking in the town. So, let’s be honest, to those of you who’ve ever participated in the sport, hands up, who has ever emptied their port-a-loo when they thought no-one was looking? Or set up their front room on the grounds of a car park?
Cruises Begin
by Louise Powell •
Let the cruise begin! April saw the official start of the cruise season for Motril with the arrival of Funchal, a Portuguese liner. 250 passengers were on board and of those, 80 made the trip to Granada or Nerja and the other 170 visited Motril.
Band On The Rocks
by Louise Powell •
It’s been a very rocky month indeed for the band of Motril who were told by the Council that they would have to play their final tune due to lack of funds. Amidst ‘crisis’ cutbacks to try and save a bit of Motril’s dwindling cash supplies the Council concluded that the 146-year-old band, was a luxury the town could survive without.
Palm Problems
by Louise Powell •
Now, we’ve all had it up to our eyeballs in construction work shenanigans in recent times but now it seems that our humble friend the palm tree is falling foul to restructuring plans. 150 palms are being uprooted along Motril’s Avenida de Salobreña, much to the horror of environment group, Buxus, who fear that many of them will not survive the replanting process.
Salaries…
by Editor •
Going back to the salaries paid out to political appointments in the area council (Mancomunidad), the leader of the IU has made public an interesting list that shows exactly who earns what.
30 years of municipal administration!
by Editor •
On the 3rd of April, the Town Hall organised homage to 30 years of municipal administrations in this new democratic age – under Franco such things were decided by the regime.
New houses unsafe
by Editor •
A group of house owners received the keys for their new homes only to find that they are literally homeless because large cracks have appeared and the buildings are unsafe – a ‘first,’ here in Andalucía, of course.
It was a joyous day, a little over a year ago, when they moved in, and now, although they can’t live in them, they still have to religiously pay their mortgage payments.
Costa Granadina
by Editor •
Businessmen from the main towns on the Costa Granadina are sick to death of politicians putting into danger the chance of the coast receiving literally millions of euros. They claim that our politicians’ inability to agree on even one ‘tourism initiative’ will let 40 million euros slip by. The businessmen are outraged by this and strongly reproach the political class of the Costa Granadina for being unwilling to unite in a common cause for the welfare of the coast.
“Outrageous expense”
by Martin Myall •
The Almuñécar PP are decrying the Mayor for the ‘exaggerated’ expense of the Peña Escrita mountain park.
Illuminating the rock…
by Editor •
Good news: there is new lighting on El Peñon del Santo, more commonly known as the cross on the rock.
Although the rock has been illuminated before, it had fallen into disrepair and the work on the new lighting system took so long that some of the new installations deteriorated and broke before the whole was completed. The job fell to the Granada company, Montajes Electricos Mañas about two years ago with a budget of 88,000 euros.
Student Theatre Group
by Editor •
We have reported on this student theatre group before, made up of pupils from Almuñécars’ oldest secondary school, IES Antigua Sexi. SKS Teatro is a gem that enjoys more acclaim outside our municipal borders than within, but isn’t that always the story. The Spanish have a saying: Profeta en su tierra nunca prospera, which literally translates as: a prophet never prospers in his own land, or in other words, we never value our own talent amongst us.
Municipal Tax Collection
by Editor •
The municipal tax collection service continues to collect complaints from the political opposition. The PSOE socialists claim that the tax-collecting service is a ‘real disaster and chaotic.’ They say that the taxpayer is confused because each different tax is collected in different time periods and the voluntary periods for payment varying in length.
Almuñécar Bankrupt?
by Editor •
The Mayor, Juan Carlos Benavides, declared a ‘suspension of payments,’ which is more often than not, a prelude to insolvency. This is a highly controversial announcement for the Town Hall to make. Many in the opposition feel, (as well as quite a few Almuñequeros in general), that coming after the huge financial outlay on the Referendum campaign, this is hard to swallow.
Roadwork Trouble
by Martin Myall •
And the prize for the most ridiculous road works goes to…Yes, you’ve guessed it, last years winners; Almuñécar!
Tribulations for the Mayor
by Martin Myall •
There are further tribulations for the Mayor, with the Public Prosecutor breathing down his neck over his dubious divorce and alleged fraud to hide his patrimony from possible embargo.
This all goes back to the setting up of a semi private company in the late 80’s with sizeable public funds, giving the Town Hall the controlling shares. This company, Tropicalfruits, went bankrupt and subsequent investigation uncovered unconventional and deficient bookkeeping. It was found, for instance, that the company had been buying fruit at a greater price than it had been selling it.