Costa towns need more funds for the summer

TOWNS across the Costa del Sol are in urgent need of some budget boosting during the summer.
With the dramatic fall in tourists to African destinations such as Tunisia and Egypt due to insecurity and the scourge of Islamic terrorism, the Costa del Sol has increased its share of European tourists to its coastal areas.
Even though tourism is the main source of income for the province, there is still one major problem which continues to trouble business owners and local governments alike: the increase in population during the summer season and the lack of resources that coastal areas have to deal with them and guarantee their safety and wellbeing.
The main criticism voiced by local governments is that the aid received by regional and central government does not increase as it is still measured by the number of residents registered in the padron (census), which does not take tourists into consideration in its statistics. In many towns across the Costa del Sol and Axarquia, the population can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled during the summer months.
In Estepona, the number of residents grows from 68,000 during the low season to 200,000. The same happens in Marbella, from 142,000 to more than 280,000. Fuengirola becomes the municipality with a highest population density in the summer, not just in Andalucia or Spain, but in the whole of Europe. Mijas, Benalmadena and Torremolinos experience similar situations, with the most worrisome issues being keeping streets clean, road safety and having to deal with the needs of all tourists with a budget which was originally earmarked for a much smaller population.