Once again, scupper grating thefts are becoming commonplace in Marbella. This is reported by Hidralia, the concessionaire of the water and sanitation service, which calculates that in the last two months about 85 have been stolen.
The problems began to register at the end of July, and although at first they only affected the area of San Pedro de Alcántara and Nueva AndalucíaThey have soon spread to the east of the municipality and already cover almost its entirety. For this reason, a complaint has already been filed with the National and Local Police and the Civil Guard.
“These acts of vandalism have serious consequences for the citizens of Marbella, as they endanger their safety. Not only that of pedestrians, which can fall into gutter holes if covering grates are removed, but also for vehicles, which can cause serious accidents “, they have assured from the plaintiff company.
The problem increases because the replacement cannot be instantaneous. Although Hidralia signals the area with fences as soon as it receives the notice that a grid is missing, placing a new final culvert may require about two weeks if it is not a standard measurement.
In addition, the replacement of these urban elements has a great economic cost. Replacing one of these grids costs around 300 euros, so replacing the more than 85 stolen means an outlay of more than 25,500 euros.
A problem that is repeated
These robberies are not a new phenomenon, since similar episodes have already been recorded in the winter 2019. On that occasion, the robberies did not only affect Marbella, but also spread to various municipalities on the Costa del Sol to Malaga capital. The first municipality to make the complaint public was Torremolinos. There, Aguas de Torremolinos, through its Twitter account, denounced the theft of almost 200 scuppers. Later other municipalities such as Mijas, Fuengirola or Benalmádena joined, whose mayor appealed to his neighbors through Facebook.
“To combat this problem, citizen collaboration is very important; both to offer some clue about the possible implicated, and to notify those scuppers that are exposed or covered with inappropriate objects ”, Hidralia has announced. In this sense, the manager of the company in Marbella, Fulgencio Díaz, asks for help: “It is important that you do not hesitate to notify us or the authorities when they see that one of those grids may be subtracting, or if they see a suspicious vehicle. And if you find a scupper that is missing the grid or that may have been covered with an inappropriate object, let us know immediately through our usual communication channels to signal it, “he indicated.
For this purpose, they can contact Hidralia through the breakdown service telephone number, available at any time, 365 days a year free of charge (900 555 565). They can also give notices through Twitter (@infoHidralia), or through the customer service phone numbers (955 588 000 and 900 555 566).