Ciudadanos halts Nerja
censure motion
Nerja was on the verge of appointing a
new mayor last month when the town’s
ten Partido Popular councillors signed
a censure motion. The intention was to
unseat the present incumbent, Rosa
Arrabal of the socialist PSOE party,
which the PP said would return Nerja,
“to the path of progress.”
However, the support the party needed
from the town’s one Ciudadanos
councillor, Mari Carmen López, was
not immediately forthcoming. A
coalition between the two parties
would give it a majority of 11 on the
town council but after more than a
year of negotiations, Ciudadanos held
back at the last moment, claiming it
“never” closed the deal with the PP.
By the following day it became clear
that the sticking point is the scandal
over an illegal rubbish tip at Río de la
Miel which was finally closed in 2016
after 18 years of use. Around 40 local
politicians, municipal workers and
business owners are presently under
investigation by a court in Torrox and
may face various charges including
offences against the environment,
administrative prevarication, fraud and
belonging to a criminal organisation.
Ciudadanos explained that its national
leader, Albert Ri