Nerja mayor in court as Río de la Miel illegal dump trial begins
The public prosecutor has called for a two-year prison sentence along with an 18-month ban on holding office and fines of between 7,300 and 18,250 euros for those implicated
The trial gets under way this week in Malaga over the illegal Río de la Miel rubbish dump in Nerja. Mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo (PP), the councillor for urban planning and housing, Nieves Atencia (PP), and six construction business owners will be tried for their alleged involvement in the scandal, which came to light in 2017.
They are each facing a sentence of two years in prison and an 18-month ban on office, as well as fines of between 7,300 and 18,250 euros, for an alleged crime against natural resources and the environment.
This June will mark five years since 'Operación Rubbish' was opened by Seprona, the nature protection service of the Guardia Civil, in which alleged irregularities were investigated in the management of the Río del la Miel site in Nerja. For 18 years more than 802,000 cubic metres of construction rubble and other of waste were illegally dumped there. Those involved are accused of allegedly breaching recycling laws within the Sierra Almijara natural park, which is a protected area.
A series of nine hearings are planned to take place throughout February and March, after no out-of-court agreement was reached last year. In addition to the eight defendants, more than twenty witnesses are expected to make statements including existing councillors, former mayor Rosa Arrabal (PSOE), and former councillor Jorge Bravo (IU).
The Río de la Miel landfill was operational between June 1998 and September 2016. It was authorised by Nerja town hall after the closure of an old quarry, a year before the Sierras Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama was declared a protected area. During those 18 years, more than 802,000 cubic metres of construction rubble and other waste, some of which was hazardous, were dumped in the area.
During this time the regional government, the Junta de Andalucía, ordered its closure on at least four occasions. However, the facility was not closed until an order from the regional government came in September 2016.
The Izquierda Unida (IU) political party as well as environmentalists and local residents denounced the dump on numerous occasions and, from 2012, the Association of Construction and Demolition Waste Management Companies of Andalucía (AGRECA), sent letters to the administrations alerting them to the situation.
Cleanup operation
A report into the dump found that the waste had not been separated for recycling, there was a risk of contamination of water and there was no fire prevention plan in place at the site. According to the public prosecutor's report, returning the land to its original state would mean a cost of 10.8 million euros "given the amount and type of waste to be managed".
Environmental restoration work began in May 2021, financed by the Junta de Andalucía, at a cost of 1.6 million euros. The work, which is expected to be completed by May, has included sealing, cleaning and conditioning the dumping area, the stabilisation of the sides of the old quarry and the regulation of the waste.
When asked last week about the trial by local television channel, Telenerja, on the ‘El Andamio’ show, the mayor said that the situation had generated “a lot of fuss over nothing.”
He went on to say that once the trial got under way and the judge had “the opportunity to learn in depth and in detail what was done, how it was done and why it was done" there would "be an acquittal for the business owners and politicians.”
