PROXIMITY OF MUNICIPALITIES
The situation has even affected the security forces
05.02.09 - 16:18 -
LA UNIÓN. The pavement on the right is in Mijas. / F. JIMÉNEZ
More than 20 years ago Isabel moved to Fuengirola from her native Cordoba. Almost immediately she made friends with Carmen, a neighbour from across the road. Friends and neighbours maybe, but officially they live in different towns, Isabel in Fuengirola and Carmen in Mijas.
The reason is that the street in question is Calle Unión, the boundary between the two municipalities. The south pavement is in Fuengirola and the north, in Mijas. This situation, which is repeated in Calle Camino de Santiago or Calle Molino de Viento, and even along the motorway, gives people a lot to talk about, especially when each municipality takes care of cleaning and collecting rubbish from its own side of the street.
Sometimes the differences are clear. “The Mijas side of the road is much better, as they’ve repaved the footpath and put up new lampposts, while here parts of the pavement are impassable and the lampposts are decades old”, says Gracia Morente who runs a business on the Fuengirola side, just a few metres from her home - in Mijas.
Many may not realise it, but patients leaving the Las Lagunas health centre who use the zebra crossing to visit the pharmacy on the other side are in fact crossing the municipal boundary. The same applies to shoppers who cross from the greengrocer’s to the supermarket.
Postcodes
While the postcodes are different (29640 for Fuengirola and 29650 for Mijas), the boundary does not confuse the postal workers as they use different parameters. “We sort the mail according to our own sectors”, explains the Logistics chief at Correos in Malaga.
While the postcodes are different (29640 for Fuengirola and 29650 for Mijas), the boundary does not confuse the postal workers as they use different parameters. “We sort the mail according to our own sectors”, explains the Logistics chief at Correos in Malaga.
The situation has even affected the security forces. Once when someone was shot in the middle of the road (no man’s land) the case could not be investigated by the National Police force because the bullet shells were found on the Mijas side, jurisdiction of the Guardia Civil.
Fortunately when it’s a matter of life and death the Local Police forces don’t stop to argue about whose side of the road they are on. “In emergency cases, first we act and then we worry about whose jurisdiction it is, because we’re talking about human lives”, explains the councillor responsible for Citizen Security at Fuengirola Town Hall, Rodrigo Romero.
It’s a different matter, however, when things are less serious, like traffic offences and other administrative issues. “If I do something wrong on this side of the road, the Mijas Local Police can’t fine me”, says Marisa Martín as she walks her dog in Fuengirola.
Meanwhile the fire brigades are negotiating an agreement to cover what most of us would consider plain common sense. The deal will officially allow them to answer emergency calls from the neighbouring municipality. Over the last few months however the Fuengirola brigade has already been working according to a new protocol which means they can intervene without prior authorisation both in Mijas and Benalmádena.
