MIJAS AND FUENGIROLA
In the 19th and 20th centuries there were several attempts to extend Fuengirola’s territory
05.02.09 - 16:16 -
The geographical proximity of Mijas and Fuengirola has caused rivalry ever since Fuengirola broke away from the municipality of Mijas in 1841. It was then that the provincial government (Diputación) decided on the boundary lines. However the result failed to satisfy the separatists, who had ended up with barely ten square kilometres compared to the 150 square kilometres in the municipality of Mijas.
In the 19th and 20th centuries there were several attempts to extend Fuengirola’s territory but they all came to nothing. Neither was any more heard of the proposal to annex Las Lagunas made by the then candidate for mayor of Fuengirola, Esperanza Oña, in her electoral campaign in 1991.
This accentuated the traditional rivalry between Town Halls although by that time if there had been any rivalry between the people themselves this had practically disappeared.
Historically the relationship between the two mayors has never been good not even when both were of the same party: the Socialists Sancho Adam and Antonio Maldonado. Tension then mounted between Oña and Agustín Moreno, although with the arrival of Antonio Sánchez at Mijas Town Hall, relations are apparently more cordial.
As neighbours both, authorities have had to agree on some things, as they share services such as the emergency department and ambulance service in Las Lagunas or the post office in Fuengirola.
Another point of interest is that Fuengirola cemetery is built on land in Mijas and different rates are charged depending on where the deceased lived. Similarly the old fire station, located in Mijas but paid for by Fuengirola, used to serve both municipalities until each authority decided to build its own. In the future other facilities to be shared include the desalination plant in Cerro del Águila and the new Chare hospital.
