Frexit: Frigiliana in Malaga province threatens to leave local government association

The mayor of Frigiliana in Malaga province's Axarquía area has said he wants to leave the area's Mancomunidad association of town halls because the services the town receives, he says, are "zero".

The socialist PSOE mayor, Alejandro Herrero, has criticised the fact that the supra-municipal body only provides the town with "a crane with a skip once a month".

The Mancomunidad association of town halls in the Axarquía was established in 1974 by the five coastal municipalities on the eastern Costa del Sol and it currently comprises all 31 municipalities in the east of Malaga province. However, not all town halls are happy with the services they receive and one of the most critical in recent years has been Frigiliana.

Herrero, who has been mayor of Frigiliana since 2017, first expressed his wish to leave the Mancomunidad in June 2022, with the same arguments he has put on the table again. "The benefits and services for Frigiliana are zero," Herrero said during a Mancomunidad meeting on Tuesday 18 November at its headquarters in Torre del Mar, during a question and answer session.

In his opinion, “given that the Axarquía association cannot help a town of 3,300 inhabitants on a specific procedural matter, given that we only receive a crane service once a month and given that the tourism promotion by this entity is practically nonexistent, given that we are not in the area of influence of the La Viñuela reservoir and that the drought decree does not affect us, nor Nerja, belonging to this association provides us with zero benefit and zero service.”

Referring to a request he made earlier this year for additional support from the Mancomunidad, to be told that there were not enough staff available, the mayor has requested a list of job positions and their respective salaries. He has also requested “the utmost speed in providing the list of public positions and their salaries, in case there is a shortage of politicians and a surplus of civil servants, or conversely, a surplus of politicians and a shortage of civil servants.”

The secretary of the Mancomunidad, Miguel Berbel, who also holds the same position for Rincón de la Victoria town hall, responded to Herrero's request, saying: "There are no civil servants available; what we have is technical staff who prepare technical reports. That's the problem we have." Herrero responded that he "wasn't going to get into any controversies or debates," but criticised the fact that "they've hired an architect to do a project in Vélez-Málaga."

President of the Mancomunidad Jorge Martín (Partido Popular) told SUR on Wednesday 19 November that "each municipality is free to do what it sees fit; the argument isn't valid, but if they want to leave..." He went on to say, "What we're trying to do is create aan area and leverage the unity of the 31 municipalities of the Axarquía in tourism promotion and water management, but each municipality is free to decide if they want to leave; that's the sovereign right of the town halls and their governing bodies," he stated.

At Tuesday's meeting issues related to anti-abuse bracelets, the war in Gaza, and cancer screenings were debated. "These are issues that don't concern the Axarquía; they're all generic issues, so the day couldn't be more fitting to leave the institution," Herrero told Cadena Ser radio in the Axarquía on Wednesday, where he also noted that each meeting of the Mancomunidad costs "3,000 or 4,000 euros."

“Frigiliana pays 2,000 euros a month for a crane. With that money, I could buy a crane every year. It's nothing to me,” the Socialist mayor stated. He added that in a town of 3,300 inhabitants, “we have the services we have and that's why I'm requesting support to process paperwork, but they tell me they don't have the personnel. It seems that stalling is more profitable than working, or maybe they're rejecting me because they're afraid other towns will also request it and some of them will have to work. They're taking us for fools,” he said.

“If we don’t talk about the problems, the thefts in the countryside, the highway congestion in Rincón, about tourism promotion - Frigiliana can teach the Mancomunidad how to do it," he said, referring to the fact that the town is one of the most visited in the Axarquía. "I don’t think it’s worthwhile for it to exist just for a crane once a month. I’m not interested in being part of the Mancomunidad,” Herrero concluded.