Mojacar Town Hall's war on noise calms down

MOJACAR Town Hall’s war on noise which divided opinions in the town this summer seems to have calmed down. At least this was the message of Mayor Rosa Maria Cano, during an interview with Spectrum FM radio.

Cano denied that the town hall wants to do away with live music in the area, pointing out that this weekend there is an event for PAWS-PATAS, in which the town hall is allowing the venue to be used free of charge.

What the town hall does want, she said, is for live music to be played at reasonable times, without disturbing others. She also said that many bars which had been cautioned about noise levels and had installed limiters had since told her they were happy with the change and were not having any problems.

However, she also spoke of the BBME, a Mojacar Playa bar popular with young people which was closed on August 28 by Local Police.

The owner of the BBME, Maria Rosa Soler, has since said that she felt she had been unfairly picked on by the town hall and “made an example of”. Meanwhile, Rosa Maria Cano says that the BBME was closed because although the owner did install the noise limiter before the stipulated date of July 31, she failed to connect it and continued to play loud music, leading to complaints from local residents.

When confronted about this she allegedly said that she would not be connecting it because her clients “like loud music”.

This corresponds with statements made by Soler to the local press, where she said that people were leaving her premises to go next door when she was playing the music at the legal levels.

She then claims she spoke to the town hall and was told that the change was “voluntary” so she decided not to do it but then found her premises being closed down with just one day’s notice.

Since then she claims to have lost more than €10,000 and has made a formal complaint against the mayor with the Guardia Civil in Garrucha.

Drinking in the streets

When asked who was to blame for the ‘botellon’ problem which was causing the town headaches this summer, although she didn’t point the finger at anyone, Cano suggested that hotels should not lower their prices or offer rooms at special prices for stag and hen parties for one night only during July and August.

Fines amounting to €15,000 were for drinking in the street.

She rejected the idea of allowing drinkers to concentrate in the area used as a car park on Mojacar Playa, which could possibly making fining the culprits easier, as she recalled that the area was originally a football pitch, and encouraging drinking there would be favouring them over youths who prefer healthier entertainment such as sport.

She said the town hall would be working on promoting Mojacar as a destination for adventure, sport and family holidays, as well as working with universities to put it on the map as a location for conferences and congresses.

Other points raised by Cano in radio interview:

– Dogs are not allowed on the beach at any time. They must always be on leads in any part of the town.

– Work to repair the pavements along the seafront has started at the area near the Parador.

– There are plans to create more disabled parking in busy areas and the town hall will look into putting parking spaces for the disabled outside chemists.

– The town hall will make an effort to put Christmas decorations in the Mojacar Playa area this year.

– The idea of companies ‘sponsoring’ local roundabouts, as suggested by ACEM, was well received by the mayor, who asked interested parties to talk to her directly.

– A weekly market in the car park near the Beachcomber was rejected as she said it was easier for people to get into the Pueblo on Wednesdays and Sunday where there is plenty of parking, and this means Mojacar business is not divided into Pueblo and Playa.

There is now a person speaking English, German, French and Italian at the town hall from Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm who will help foreign residents who don’t speak Spanish and visit any department with them.

By Jennifer Leighfield
jennifer@euroweeklynews.com