Blurred deadlines for Marbella San Bernabe festival

ORGANISERS of the Marbella San Bernabe festival, due to take place in three weeks’ time, are under fire amid accusations of poor planning and a lack of foresight.

On Monday May 15 it emerged that the collectives who traditionally occupy one of the ‘casetas,’ temporary buildings where food and drink is normally offered, still have no idea how much they will be charged this year, or which hours they will be permitted to open.

President of the Youth Association ‘Impulse,’ Christian Moreno, who usually helps to construct the wooden booths, is worried. “We are very concerned that less than a month before the festival we still have nothing, we do not know if we will have time to organise everything.

“For example, we hired someone to decorate the caseta, but we have no clear idea if we will have a caseta or bar this year, because we don’t know how much it will cost and when we have to pay.

“This has never happened before.”

Moreno added that the events office is not providing answers: “every time we call they say the same; that we will receive information, but nothing happens.”

Head of the events office, Manuel Garcia, said that “there is no need to worry, we are on time,” without going into any further detail.

Fairground operators are also being affected, with official documentation still lacking, and the programme is pending publication, so families are currently unable to plan their visits to coincide with ‘Children’s Day’, when attractions will be half price.

The festival is one of the city’s main annual events, and although it began two days earlier in 2015, all planning was completely finished by May 4.