Alhaurín de la Torre mayor under investigation for allegedly allowing lead to be dumped

The complaint, lodged by the local Izquierda Unida group, concerns the Jarapalo shooting range

ANDREA JIMÉNEZ

Friday, 9 December 2022, 10:52

The mayor of Alhaurín de la Torre, Joaquín Villanova, and his government team have been summoned to testify by a Malaga court investigating a possible offence against natural resources and the environment concerning the presence of lead at the Jarapalos shooting range near the town.

The management of the sports facility will also have to answer questions from the court, after a complaint lodged by the local Izquierda Unida group led to a report from the Environmental Prosecutor's Office which states the possible existence of irregularities at the shooting range.

Mayor Villanova told SUR, that everything is in order, "monitored and supervised", at the range and that the complaint, suggesting that the town hall allowed the dumping of lead at the site, is "false and political".

"We have collected information, documentation and accredited justification of all the work carried out by those responsible for the club in terms of control, periodic decontamination and removal of lead and the use of biodegradable material," Villanova said.

The presence of lead residue from the pellets and resin from the targets in the protected natural area and the Breña stream has been, on several occasions, the focus of complaints from groups, associations and political parties. A spokesperson for the shooting range told SUR that this is a "false accusation" and that the course complies with all legal regulations. "We are pioneers in the collection of lead," the spokesperson added.

"We deeply regret that this political party has taken up again Izquierda Unida's regrettable path of judicialising municipal politics in Alhaurín de la Torre by filing a false complaint that we are sure will follow the path of all the previous ones, being dismissed and archived as has happened with the 68 previous complaints," the mayor said.

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