The construction of a pedestrian bridge over the highway to connect Maro and the Nerja Caves has entered a new phase.
The Nerja Council ordered a halt to the project, which had already started, on the grounds that, as the construction was within a protected area, special permission was need from the Provincial Department of Culture.
The Nerja Caves Foundation and the Ministry of Public Works, who are carrying out the project, argued that no license was necessary as the bridge was an integral part of the original highway construction project. They accused the Nerja Council, and not for the first time, of unnecessarily obstructing and delaying an important project.
It then transpired that the mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo, was indeed correct and that permission from the Provincial Department of Culture was, in fact, necessary.
With extraordinary speed, which has amazed everyone, the Provincial Department of Culture has now written to the mayor granting permission and authorising the project. So all is now rosy in the garden?
No. The mayor now says that, although delighted, and surprised, with the speed of issuing the necessary permission, it does not alter the fact that an application must now be made for a municipal building license!
The Minister of Development, Magdalena Alvarez, was in Nerja yesterday and during her visit she was critical of the attitude and lack of cooperation shown by the Municipal Council, not only with regard to the footbridge project but also concerning the proposed sewage treatment plant.