In October, the mayor of Vélez-Málaga announced that the tram service between Vélez-Málaga and Torre del Mar would cease functioning on November 1st if no regional funding was forthcoming. A subsequent announcement postponed the suspension of service until November 14th.
The postponement was based on a report by the mayor that he had spoken to the president of the Junta de Andalucia, José Antonio Griñán, and that he was ‘committed to explore ways to help alleviate the deficit’. This, however, was denied by the provincial government representative who stated that Griñán had merely ‘listened’ to the mayor after they met in the corridors of the parliament building.
Now, the mayor has yet again postponed the suspension of the tram service, this time indefinitely, on the grounds that a technical rate (difference between actual cost of journey and the ticket price) has not been agreed for the period that the tram is suspended and schedules of the replacement bus service have not been organised.
Suspended or not, the tram system will continue to cost the Council money, which it doesn’t have. Just as the original setting up of the tram service appears to have been poorly conceived, the same looks to be the case with the decision to suspend it.