The Nerja Council yesterday unanimously approved a motion to reapply for membership of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Oriental (Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Eastern Costa del Sol).
Nerja opted out of the Mancomunidad in 2005 after arguments about how the body should be run and a general feeling within the Council that Nerja was not receiving the appropriate benefits in relation to the financial contributions it was making.
However, it now appears that the only way that Nerja can qualify for financial aid from the Junta de Andalucía under the Plan de Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible (Plan for Sustainable Tourist Development) is by being a member of the Mancomunidad, hence the about turn.
The motion to reapply for membership was supported by all parties although there was, inevitably, criticism from both the opposition parties, the PSOE and IU, relating to the original decision to leave the organisation. There is also the small matter of Nerja’s outstanding debt to the Mancomunidad at the time of departure….€1.401,603.
Sounds more like, in the end, Nerja was getting out of it roughly the same as it was paying in!!