Axarquía post office branch threatened with closure

The mayor of Rincón de la Victoria, Francisco Salado, has sent a letter to the chief executive of the post office (Correos) Pedro Saura García, demanding that he revoke the decision to close the branch in La Cala del Moral on the eastern Costa del Sol.

According to the town hall this decision was communicated on 15 June via a registered letter received by the local authority, with notice that the closure would take effect on 30 June. Municipal sources state that the letter also set out the intention to terminate the lease agreement between the two parties for the premises where this service is located.

In response, the mayor has reminded the head of the public company that Rincón de la Victoria has a registered population of over 53,000, which doubles during the summer months and has pointed out that, in La Cala del Moral alone, there are 16,644 permanent residents.

“It is for this reason that I must express my sincere surprise and deepest regret upon learning, via an official notice and without any prior discussion or information of any kind, of the unilateral decision to close the post office in La Cala del Moral. A post office which, in various locations, has served local residents for decades,” he stated in his letter.

The mayor pointed out that, in addition to the disruption this decision will cause to the staff at that post office, it will cause “extremely serious harm” to “the thousands of local residents who use this post office on a daily basis”.

The town hall has pointed out that the municipality has only one other post office, the one on Calle Poeta Manuel Alcántara, in the centre of Rincón de la Victoria; consequently, they argue, “the workload will increase exponentially”.

The mayor went on to say, “My concern is more than justified, as I wonder whether that post office will be able to cope with the demand for the whole municipality and even more so now, during the summer months when the population can easily exceed 100,000 people and changes to opening hours tend to disrupt the routine of these post offices."

In fact, in previous summers Rincón de la Victoria post office has closed in the afternoons, meaning that the entire population of the municipality and visitors spending their holidays here will be served exclusively during the morning.

"I appeal to reason and common sense and I request that this decision, which will cause such serious harm to the residents of Rincón de la Victoria in general and La Cala del Moral in particular, be reconsidered. This decision is contrary to the defence of public services, which the current central government so often invokes,” the mayor states in his letter.

The mayor explained that the town hall will present an urgent motion at this month's full council meeting, which he hopes will be adopted by all parties represented on the municipal council: the Socialist Party (PSOE), Con Rincón, Vox, and the People's Party of La Cala del Moral (PMP).

“We don’t understand this decision, which apparently will be extended to other municipalities. It will cause a very serious problem for the residents of La Cala del Moral. We believe they haven’t properly considered the consequences of this decision,” explained Salado.

The Independent Trade Union and Civil Servants' Association (CSIF) has joined in this complaint and also warns that branch in Calle Médico Luis Peralta in Ronda is also set to close. “The measure represents a further cut to the public postal service received by citizens in the affected areas, especially to in-person service, accessibility and equal access to public services," the union said in a statement.

The management of Correos in Malaga recently sent a report to the union representatives, the organisation explains, justifying these closures based on criteria of “efficiency,” “resource optimisation,” and “unit consolidation.” "These arguments mask a worrying and progressive dismantling of the public postal network, with the loss of offices and the disappearance of public service for the affected citizens," they said.

The union also points out that there will be staff relocations which, they lament, "are yet another example of how the public postal company's workforce is subjected to unilateral organisational decisions and direct cuts to public service."

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