Cashpoints for Costa Almeria inland villages

THE Almeria provincial council has launched an initiative to address ‘financial exclusion’ in inland villages with the installation of a cashpoint in Laroya.
The Diputacion said this was the first of 33 multi-service cashpoints which will be installed in municipalities currently lacking any kind of banking or financial service, and which provide access to personal accounts and allow for dealing with any payment due to the administration.
The aim, the council said, is to contribute to creating “equal opportunities among all Almeria residents, wherever they live”, and address the problem of depopulation.
Diputacion President Javier A Garcia and local Mayor Dolores Moreno did the honours of officially inaugurating the Laroya cashpoint on Tuesday morning.
“Today is a key day for the 103 municipalities, and especially the smallest,” Garcia commented.
He said the cashpoints represented “one of the most important commitments of this legislature…to take services to all corners of the province and bring financial services closer to all the villages.”
He also affirmed that Almeria is the first province in Spain to install these kinds of multi-service automatic cashpoints, stressing they are 100 per cent financed by the Diputacion.
The Laroya mayor said the cashpoints represented a service for the village’s inhabitants, but also for tourists.
She pointed out that rural tourism is one of the main pillars of the local economy and said the cashpoint saves having to make a seven-kilometre trip to Macael.
Over the coming months more cashpoints will be installed in the Almanzora, northern and Poniente regions of the province.