'He has blocked me': Head of Malaga's provincial authority hits out at minister in Madrid over Costa del Sol's transport woes

Provincial authority president Francisco Salado has highlighted Malaga's transport woes after Spain's Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) recommended motorists to fill at least two seats in their cars as access points to large towns and cities around the country, including Malaga, become clogged.

During a presentation where Salado also revealed tourism data on the province's most-recent high season, he referenced DGT director general Pere Navarro's recommendation and demanded action instead from Madrid to improve Malaga and the Costa del Sol's transport network.

Salado asked for communication between the two parties to be through the media. "You know that transport minister Óscar Puente does not listen to us? He has me blocked on Twitter; a childish outburst unworthy of his position," Salado said.

Salado pointed out that if the minister had any doubts about the urgency of the third lane on the A-7 and other measures to improve mobility in Malaga, "he should listen to his high office and give priority, once and for all, to the needs of the province". Car sharing is not the only way to improve mobility in Malaga, he added. "It seems that he has recommended travelling by BlaBlaCar," Salado said.

In his statements, Navarro also referred to the need to make more use of local trains. However, Salado pointed out that the Malaga network is the most profitable in Spain, but that the government has not invested in its maintenance or expansion for years.

"Malaga is, with 69 kilometres between the two lines, one of the urban conurbations with the fewest kilometres of suburban trains, far behind Barcelona (615 km) and Madrid (370), but also behind regions such as Asturias (369), Valencia (323) or Seville (with more than 200)." Salado called for action and greater urgency. "The problems are pressing and the first measures must be put in place now," he demanded.