The Junta has gotten nasty with Garrucha and told them they can’t hold their traditional summer fair in the port.
They’ve also slapped a €30,000 fine on the town for holding it in the port last year, a fine the Mayor says he won’t pay and will challenge in the courts.
“Where else can we hold the summer fair?” asked as indignant Mayor Juan Fran. “On the edge of the port is the logical place, and it’s the traditional place, we’ve been holding the fair there every year for the last 100 years”.
The Junta had promised years ago to build a special area on the outskirts of the port for the annual fair, a promise that wasn’t kept when they expanded the port. Nor was the promised bus station added into the new port – the idea was that buses could use the same route the big lorries do to get into the heart of Garrucha.
The townhall had always asked for, and received, permission from the port operator to hold the annual fair there. But when control of the port was transferred to the Junta de Andalucia in 2011, they never replied to the requests – so Garrucha just carried on assuming no answer was good news.
But this year they’ve denied permission. The Mayor says tough, he’s going to go ahead anyway and let the courts sort the mess out. Whether he will be saying the same thing on the 25th of May if he gets back in is another matter…