Malaga province demands urgent transport improvement measures from central and regional governments
The Diputación's president has warned that the province's existing infrastructure is "at breaking point" due to the "lack of planning and the absence of investment" from the Junta de Andalucía and Madrid
A meeting of Malaga's Diputación provincial authority on Wednesday, 19 November, reached consensus among all political groups (PP, PSOE, Vox and Con Málaga) to unanimously demand that Spain's central and Andalucía's regional governments implement measures and investments to improve transport in the province.
The Partido Popular presented an urgent motion with a series of demands for PM Pedro Sánchez, to which both PSOE and Con Málaga presented amendments to include demands to president of the regional government Juanma Moreno. The four political parties voted in favour, without the need for debate.
During a press conference, president of the provincial authority Francisco Salado said that the province is going through "a turning point of economic, tourist and demographic growth". In order to continue creating employment and attract investment, it requires "transport infrastructure in line with its needs". Contrary to this, as Salado warned, the province's existing infrastructure is "at breaking point" due to the "lack of planning and the absence of investment" from the government.
The document issued by the provincial authority includes the urgent demands that PP has been championing in recent months: the drafting and execution of the third lane on the A-7 motorway in the section between Malaga city and Rincón de la Victoria; a plan to subsidise the toll of the AP-7 motorway; the implementation of reversible lanes on the most saturated sections of the A-7; the reorganisation of accesses and exits on the motorway in the eastern area, especially between El Limonar and Añoreta; and the creation of a rapid intervention unit to act "immediately" before incidents and breakdowns in order to reduce their impact on traffic.
Intercity transport
The socialists' demands in the document, addressing the regional government, concern the drawing up of urgent studies and projects for the extension of the metro from Malaga city to Rincón de la Victoria and the extension of the intercity transport network between these two municipalities as well as to other towns in the Axarquia district.
Con Málaga also called for the extension of the metro to Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía and improvements in the coordination of regional bus and public transport services. Additionally, they are asking the regional government to complete the Carretera del Arco highway section between Casabermeja and Casapalma and improve the road connection between the Axarquia district and Alhama de Granada, facilitating travel by car or bus.
In terms of railways, Con Málaga's amendment urged the government to improve and extend the C2 local train service (Malaga-Álora), to which PP has added the C1 line (the one that links Malaga with Fuengirola).
PSOE supports PP's call for the law against squatting
The PSOE party of the provincial authority also approved the motion urging the government to approve the law against squatting presented by the PP party in the upper house chamber (Senado) and whose processing in the lower house chamber (Congreso) has not yet begun. Vox and PSOE voted in favour of the motion.
PSOE spokesperson Josele González said that they are working to reach a consensus on this law, which would support the security forces. He reminded the other members at the meeting that he had set up an office against illegal occupation during his time in office as mayor of Mijas.
He also called for an agreement that would tackle the housing problem in the province, which includes not only squatting, but also price speculations and the rise of tourist flats. He stated that the provincial authority should take responsibility and help municipalities to alleviate the crisis. He said that budgets and investments should prioritise housing policies rather than the rehabilitation of churches in small towns.
PP deputy Luis Rodríguez responded to PSOE's claim that squatting only represents a small percentage of the total housing stock by stating that the issue should receive attention even if there is only one case of squatting. He denounced the central government's housing policies, which, according to him "have stimulated squatting, generated a sense of impunity and created a legal framework that benefits squatting".
Con Málaga's spokesperson Juan Márquez described the squatting issue as a "hoax" and accused right-wing parties of creating an "artificial crisis" with which they intend to "overshadow" the true problem, which is the lack of housing and access to supply, while Antonio Luna from Vox accused him of "denying" that there is such a thing as squatting.
