Emergency works on Rincón de la Victoria's promenade. SUR

Two million euros of lost trade as Axarquía drought pipeline installed

Local businesses along Rincón de la Victoria’s promenade have complained that deadlines are not being met and that they have seen an 80% drop in trade since work began in February

Eugenio Cabezas

Rincón de la Victoria's

Wednesday, 3 May 2023, 22:53

Around a hundred hotel and catering businesses located on Rincón de la Victoria’s promenade have complained that since emergency work began in February to install a pipe to carry water from the Peñón del Cuervo and Rincón de la Victoria sewage treatment plants to the drought-stricken Axarquía, they have seen losses of up to two million euros.

The business owners argue that they have seen an eighty per cent drop in trade as the promenade is difficult to access due to the work. The estimates have come from the local association of hoteliers, AEHMURV. The president of the association, Óscar Salado, has calculated that around 345 part-time contracts have not been given to additional staff in recent months due to the drop in turnover, which on average is around 80 per cent during the week and 50 per cent at weekends.

"The deadlines that we have been given are not being met, now we have been told that everything will be finished by 14 June, but at the rate that the laying of the flooring is going, we fear that this will not be the case", argued the hotel owner.

Necessary works

While the hoteliers recognise that the works "are necessary" because of the drought situation, "there is a lot of unease", said Salado. "From Monday to Friday, which is when they work, the promenade is dead, and at weekends we are saved because that is when the works stop," said Salado, who acknowledged that the town hall "is doing its best to keep us informed and help, but this has gotten out of hand”.

The president of AEHMURV is confident that the work can be completed by the middle of June, "because as the summer approaches, people's unease is growing", he pointed out. "We see that there are breakdowns and technical problems during the works, which is delaying the progress,” he added.

Town hall sources have said that the emergency works are being carried out by the Junta de Andalucía and that they are "essential" to tackle the drought and help irrigators in the Axarquía. However, the sources said that the work is being carried out according to schedule, and the latest information from the regional government suggests that the central area of the promenade, where most of the hospitality businesses are concentrated, will be completely ready by mid-June.

"A completely new promenade is being created" said the municipal sources, who reiterated "the firm commitment" of the mayor of Rincón, Francisco Salado, to provide financial aid in the coming months for the most affected businesses, once the exact volume of losses registered by the establishments is known, as he announced in March.

Just before the start of Holy Week that the opposition PSOE party brought a motion to a town hall meeting to ask for aid for the hotel and catering industry affected by the works. The Socialists put the restaurants' losses at up to 80 per cent and claimed that the town hall had not looked for alternatives to the route of the pipes to connect the Peñón del Cuervo station with the Axarquía.