After having received the pertinent reports from the different areas, the departments of Finance, Infrastructure & Works and Energy & Efficiency presented an agreement to the Plenary Session on Tuesday 31st to establish public prices for the provision of the vehicle parking service in municipally owned car parks. “This is an important approval that values a commitment of the government team to ensure that those future car parks that are started up will have public prices with a courtesy offering free time and a long time period in which citizens will pay only one euro”, assured the mayor, Josele González (PSOE).

The objective, as pointed out by the councillor for Infrastructure & Works and Energy & Efficiency, José Carlos Martín (Cs), is that the rates “are to be homogeneous in all car parks”, both in those that are already in service and those that will enter into operation in the future. “We seek to find a balance, in such a way that we can offer sustainable prices that are an attractive option for tourism and commerce and at the same time allow the mobility of residents in the areas where the parkings are located”, explained the councillor.

The proposal that was presented to the Plenary Session states that the first hour of parking in municipal car parks will be free; from the second hour to the ninth, a single rate of one euro will be applied. From the ninth hour to midnight, a maximum rate of nine euros will be charged, prorated in fractions of five minutes and the resulting amount will be rounded up in fractions of five cents of a euro. Finally, from the second day (included), a maximum rate of 10 euros per day will be applied, prorating that rate in fractions of five minutes and regardless of the total number of days the vehicle is kept in the car park.

 

Measures for all car parks

The councillor for the Treasury, Roy Pérez (PSOE), recalled that these rates will be applied in the parking lot of the Branch Office in Las Lagunas and in the parking lots of El Juncal and La Candelaria, which will soon come into service, as well the one to built in future in the Andalucía park, the Fernán Caballero park and the Los Santos neighbourhood, reaching a total of 1,252 places.

In the case of the Virgen de la Peña Parking in Mijas Village, these public prices will not be applied until the repeal of the current ordinance is approved, which has not been applicable since 2013, and, according to Pérez, will be presented for approval in the next Plenary Session.

“We are betting on popular and affordable prices in accordance to the needs of the residents. Those people who have to park in other municipalities such as Marbella, Malaga or Fuengirola are going to notice a great difference in price”, said the head of the Treasury.

In the same way, the proposal contemplates the rates established for the rental of parking spaces, “where residents in certain areas of influence where these car parks are located will be given priority”, assured municipal sources.

“To be able to offer public prices, the Local Council has previously had to carry out a feasibility study”, added the same municipal sources. There will be a single payment of 50 euros per month charged for a variable duration of one or two years, providing a single, numbered parking lot per home or business that the driver may occupy at any time. In each municipal car park, a certain amount of spaces will be reserved for rent.

The Government Team regretted that the remodeling of the Virgen de la Peña square was not taken advantage of at the time to build a large underground car park in this space. In this regard, the spokesman for the Partido Popular, Ángel Nozal, recalled that, “when the projects to be executed under the ‘Qualifica’ and ‘FOMIT’ plan were processed in 2010, for whatever reasons, they did not foresee the underground parking. When the works began it was not possible to obtain the millions needed and the period of execution could not be extended. Therefore, we could only carry out the remodeling of the square”.

The mayor, for his part, revealed that “this situation should have been avoided at all cost. It is one of the big mistakes we have made as a corporation because it was the ideal place for the large parking solution for Mijas Village”. The mayor recalled: “the complications” that, from the government team, “we are trying to overcome”, to double the current parking offer, which is intended to provide 400 more places, arise due to the continuous discrepancies with the Ministry of Culture.

Both the PP and the non-attached councillor, Carlos Rivero, who asked Martín about his assessments with regard to the unfavourable reports from the auditor and the secretary, abstained from voting.

On the other hand, non-attached councillor, Esperanza Jiménez, voted against the motion, considering: “it seems to us that little importance is given to an item as serious as this, when it is being presented as urgent”.

Martín reminded Jiménez that he had personally explained all the details to her, and therefore her complaint surprised him. He also told both councillors Jiménez and Rivero that the management of the car parks will be “direct and public” and added that he agrees with the reports presented by the municipal secretary and the auditor.

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