The Council continues its efforts to bombard the Junta de Andalucia into submission, the latest requests concerning the Plan for Beach Improvement and the Marina.
The Council is requesting the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Sport of the Junta de Andalucia to set up a budget for improvements to beaches in the Eastern Costa del Sol in the same way as has been done for the Western Costa del Sol.
In January, the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Commerce, Luciano Alonso, announced a budget of €7 million to improve the quality of the beaches on the Costa del Sol. The improvements fall under the Plan Qualifica, which appears to only include the Western Costa del Sol, thus marginalising even further the (five) municipalities of the Eastern Costa del Sol, according to the Council.
The Nerja Councillor for Beaches, Sandra Jimena, points out that since 2010, the Eastern municipalities no longer receive subsidies for beach equipment. According to the Councillor, one of the reasons for the lack of investment is that the Ministry does not consider the Eastern Costa del Sol to be ‘mature’, ‘touristically speaking’.
Another motion to be debated (and passed) relates to the marina project. The Council wants to ask the Public Ports Agency of Andalucia to consider the town of Nerja as a possible location for the proposed marina.
In November 2011, it was announced that a more ‘feasible’ location for the marina would be Poniente, an area entirely within the municipality of Torrox.
The Nerja Councillor for Infrastructure, Antonio García, contends that the information submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Marine and Rural Affairs by the Junta de Andalucia relating to the Poniente site is totally insufficient and that there is a visible absence of comprehensive studies on possible locations within Nerja.
In his motion, García notes that the position of the Nerja Municipal Government on the matter is solely one of ‘unlocking’ the very important marina project and regardless of the final location of such infrastructure, as long as the decisions are made on sound technical and environmental grounds.