5,000 less mechanics jobs in Alicante

More than 5,000 mechanics jobs in the province of Alicante have been lost from garages since the beginning of the crisis, with more than 10,000 lost throughout the region of Valencia.

The underground economy and illegal workshops are to blame for the majority of these losses.

So far this year Fautcova (the provincial governing body for garages) has already denounced 200 illegal garages and the Guardia Civil are investigating another 70.

In the last few months there has been a marked increase in the amount of small businesses and individuals who are offering vehicle repairs without having the correct licenses.

This proliferation of illegal businesses is bad for the consumers, the environment (there is no control over where they dump their dangerous residues) and road safety (there is no quality control on the repairs) explained Guillermo Moreno, president of Fautcova.

Due to all of these illegal garages Fautcova is currently promoting a campaign under the title ‘What price do you put on your safety? Repair your car in a legal garage; we are your guarantee.’

All participating garages are displaying the sign.

Moreno underscored the statistics which show that 90% of all repairs in legal garages are completed satisfactorily whereas only 30% are resolved to the customer’s satisfaction in the ‘black’ garages.