The opposition PSOE leader in Nerja, Ángel Ramírez has denounced the parking area for motor homes as an ‘unlicensed campsite’.
Two plots of land, at either end of El Playazo beach, are currently being used as parking areas for motor homes and caravans. There are sanitation facilities and a small kiosk on the site.
Such parking facilities are common throughout the rest of Europe but are relatively unknown in Spain, despite a recent increase in the number of Spanish tourists using such recreational vehicles, particularly in Andalucía. Such parking areas not only reduce the otherwise haphazard siting of such vehicles, but also contribute to general cleanliness in the municipality.
However, the PSOE leader Ángel Ramírez has denounced the parking areas as ‘unlicensed campsites’ and accuses the mayor, José Alberto Armijo, of operating double standards. He says that the facility has no licence to operate as a campsite and that the infrastructure which has been put in place, such as septic tanks, lighting and a bungalow, is not allowed as the site is classified as agricultural and protected land.
Ramírez does concede, however, that the infrastructure complies with municipal technical requirements and that it has also taken a long time to denounce the situation.
The PSOE leader draws a parallel with the construction of the footbridge in Maro (a PSOE backed project) and accuses the mayor of operating dual standards. The construction of the footbridge was halted by the mayor on the grounds that it was on land classified as protected and the (PP) Council insisted that a municipal licence was necessary before work could continue.
The operator of the parking facility, Valero Jiménez, denies that it is a ‘hidden campsite’, stating that most motor homes park for a few days and then move on. He says that the facility meets all the legal requirements laid down by the Junta de Andalucía in a 2003 decree and insists that he has all the necessary licences and permits.
Is there just a faint whiff of party politics in the air, particularly given the timing? Hard to tell sometimes, though, above the normal scent of residual waters.