WHEN the mayor of Mojacar, Rosa Maria Cano, accused her opponents of depicting the town as a “Banana Republic” (her words not theirs) she may have been wise to have verified the meaning first.

Councillor Jessica Simpson told EWN: “Had the mayor checked her facts, she would learn that the definition translates in any language as “an economically threatened working class economy that relies on a single limited resource and is ruled over by a plutocratic political group.”

As opposition to the ‘illogical reasoning’ behind her new by-laws grows, so does the domino effect on the economy.

In an interview with EWN, the President of the Mojacar Traders Association, Karin Schroter, warned: “Our suppliers tell us that their business with the town’s bars and restaurants is already down on last year, and reports from surrounding villages indicate a definite knock-on effect.”

Wholesalers, brewers, electrical and plumbing contractors, florists, fruit and vegetable merchants, property management companies, even the friendly Chinese retailer, all supply Mojacar’s bars and restaurants.

On behalf of the business community, Ms. Simpson claims that her colleagues on the council have asked the mayor to consider common sense and logic. “There are,” said the councillor,   “other places for the already dwindling number of visitors to spend their hard-earned holiday money, and the town’s suppliers know this.

“Her group may have a stranglehold on the council, but tourists vote with their feet, not at the (postal) ballot box.”

 “Instead at a recent town hall meeting the mayor had members of the public ejected, read out the personal information of neighbours and business owners who have made or received noise complaints (from police reports)  and gave her subjects 30 days to complain in writing about her edict. Banana Republic?”

THE provincial government has pledged to uphold a law that guarantees children from under-privileged backgrounds a fulsome diet.

According to Equality Councillor Susana Diaz: “School children will be guaranteed three meals a day, consisting of breakfast, lunch and snack, because one in six children in the community is in a situation of extreme poverty.”  

The measure will also apply to day care centres and has a budget of €16 million.

A TOWN mayor has been blasted as ‘lacking humanity’ after making four of five disabled employees redundant. The row over the13 redundancy notices issued to municipal workers in Macael was re-ignited when the mayor issued a list that featured the names of four of the five council employees who have disabilities. 

The mayor’s opponents accused him of “Choosing people who do not show an affinity with his (PP) party, and presiding over a process characterised by a lack of humanity and common sense”.

The PSOE spokesman continued: “It is inconceivable that the mayor (Raul Martinez PP) has not had the courage to explain the criteria taken into account when deciding who gets (or loses) a job. He has shown not the slightest regard for people who will have difficulties accessing the labour market.

“He has thrown out people who have proven that they are productive, and citizens who perform a public service to the community should take precedence because the social effect outweighs the economic cost.

“This is a shameful process because since its inception there has been a lack of information or communication, and it simply promotes the social exclusion of people with disabilities through political persecution carried out by the PP.”