Motril councillors join others in slashing own wages

THE national trend experienced since the municipal elections of May 24 has seen dozens of mayors lowering their own salaries and Motril politicians have decided to follow suit.
The town’s local government has begun its term in office with a measure to become a “role model” – salaries of all councillors and the mayor have been lowered and the council expects to save up to €55,000 with the initiative.
“Even though this sort of job comes with great responsibility, the people hold the power and they were outraged, so we have to react with austerity measures,” said Economy and Finances councillor, Francisco Sanchez-Cantallejo. He explained that this measure was designed with three main goals in mind: reducing the number of board members (from 12 to 10), adjusting wages (lowering excessive ones and increasing those considered too low) and reducing personnel expenditure.
In total, the spending on wages this year will be 6.7 per cent lower than before.
For instance, the new mayor Flor Almon’s salary has gone from €56,000 to €53,000 per year, while the deputy mayors, who earned €42,500 per year, will now receive €40,000.