The Mayors of the Costa del Sol have shown this Thursday their rejection of the budget item of 82,930 euros foreseen in the General State Budgets (PGE) of 2022 for the development of the coastal train, what the public representatives consider an “abandonment” and a “contempt” for the region.
The mayor of Fuengirola, Ana Mula (PP), highlighted that “the Government of Spain of the PSOE and United We can despise the city and Andalusia in favor of other territories of our country by purely political interests”.
As the popular councilor has criticized, “Sánchez and his partners have decided to abandon the Andalusian tourism sector, and more specifically to a leading destination and international benchmark such as the Costa del Sol, on which they do not have to improve their infrastructures and to improve, in this case, the communications of their inhabitants ”.
In your opinion, allocating a item of 82,930 euros “is one more example of misgovernment and of the nefarious management that exists in our country at the moment, with very negative repercussions for our territory ”.
For his part, the mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano (PP), has considered that “the absence of a budget for the coastal train is a new offense to the Costa del Sol, a new contempt for the residents of the region and another offense to the territorial imbalance of Spain ”.
In this regard, it has indicated that “the lack of commitment from the central government with this much-needed project is a brake on the natural development of the infrastructures of the Costa del Sol, especially at a time when both tourists and residents demand sustainable and modern means of transport for their trips ”.
García Urbano has stressed that “the Central government should take this infrastructure seriously and count, if necessary, on private initiative to carry it out ”. Regarding the estimated investment, he has valued that “the cost of a Madrid metro line would be equivalent to the cost of an underground train between Fuengirola and Estepona ”.
For the first deputy mayor and spokesman for the municipal government of the Marbella City Council, Félix Romero (PP), the General State Budgets “once again confirm the absolute helplessness suffered by the residents of Marbella by the Socialist Executive of Pedro Sánchez and his partners “.
Thus, he has stated that “the departure for the coastal train, which will also not run again, is testimonial not only because of its amount, but also because it reflects the total absence of the will of the PSOE to undertake this essential project in terms of railway communication that would finally link the entire Costa del Sol, from Malaga to Algeciras “, he highlighted.
Romero recalled that “the lack of investment in Marbella when the Socialists rule, Whether it was before in the Junta de Andalucía and in any period in Spain, it is a historical reality that is outrageous for the citizens of our municipality, which proves how the PSOE gives more value to its need to satisfy its government partners than to the taxes paid by the residents of Marbella “.
In this sense, he has remarked that “abandonment not only materializes in the coastal train, but also in the stabilization of our beaches, in the patrimonial area or in the third lane between San Pedro and Puerto Banús, “added the councilor.
The mayor of Benalmádena, Víctor Navas (PSOE), has declared that the Item of 82,930 euros provided for in the General State Budget project for the coastal train it is “clearly insufficient”.
In his opinion, the Costa del Sol needs other connectivity infrastructures to favor the tourism industry, highlighting that “Everything that is communications is good for tourism, the more communications the better ”, he stressed.
The councilor of Mijas, Josele González (PSOE), has indicated that “the investment of the PGE 2022 in the province of Malaga triples that of the last PP budgets, those of 2018 “, highlighting that” there are important investments for the infrastructures of the Costa del Sol, like the 26.1 million to improve the Cercanías ”.
Likewise, he pointed out that “it is collected a game to start the studies of the coastal train. This is a key project for Malaga and the Costa del Sol that we will continue to claim ”.
The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre (PP), has pronounced this Thursday on the project of General State Budgets (PGE), although he has acknowledged that he has not yet been able to see it in detail. However, it has been considered that when carrying out projects in Malaga, in addition to state accounts, it is necessary to analyze European funds and public-private collaboration.
De la Torre, after being questioned by the PGE project of 2022, has stressed that he does not know them “thoroughly”, but “it gives me the impression that the most important departure is on the Algeciras-Bobadilla line, which is important for the province, but it is not as definitive as if there had been investment efforts on the coastline, “alluding to the fact that”you have to do the previous studies, which is where we want to help the Ministry to be done quickly. ”
“Apart from the budgets you have to analyze European funds and it will also be necessary to analyze the public-private partnershipThat the Government is open to it, because there are many projects that may have a response in Malaga within this framework, “he concluded.