The Málaga Provincial Council (Diputación) is reportedly finalising the imminent closure of the Manilva fire station, a decision that has set alarm bells ringing across the municipality and prompted a unanimous reaction from the Municipal Corporation. At today’s council meeting, mayor Mario Jimenez said that the Provincial Council had intended to close the station today, but that thanks to his intervention the measure has been postponed for at least a week. PSOE councillor Diego José Jiménez was categorical in describing the move as an «attack on safety» for residents.
«This is not a political issue, this is a matter of life and death. Losing the fire crew could mean a difference of 20 minutes, which translates into lives lost. We cannot allow it,» Jiménez stated vehemently.
The Consortium’s debts should not be paid by the residents of Manilva
During his speech, Jiménez said that the Manilva fire crew, one of the busiest in the province along with Nerja’s, is essential for the area and that its possible closure is down more to economic and political reasons than technical ones. According to the councillor, the Provincial Fire Consortium is carrying a debt of more than 2.5 million euros, 92% of which corresponds to town halls governed by the Partido Popular.
«The president of the Provincial Council, José Francisco Salado Escaño, mayor of Rincón de la Victoria, owes the Consortium itself a million and a half euros. And yet they want to close the Manilva station, which does work and does save lives. Why don’t they start by closing their own?» Jiménez asked.
The councillor also said he had the backing of the station’s own firefighters, who are calling for improved working conditions but flatly reject its closure.
«This is not about parties, it is about people. And I will be at the forefront of whatever it takes to prevent this essential service from being taken away,» added the PSOE spokesperson, who has been the most forceful and the most opposed to its closure.
URGENT CALL TO THE PUBLIC
The firm stance is not that of the Socialist councillor alone, as it has been unanimously backed by all groups with municipal representation. The mayor of Manilva, Mario Jiménez, together with the spokespersons of Compromiso Manilva, Partido Popular, Con Andalucía IU, PSOE and VOX, signed a joint motion at the council meeting demanding that this vitally important service for the town be kept open.
POLITICAL UNITY AND URGENT CALL
In an unusual development, all the parties represented in the Town Hall (Compromiso Manilva, PP, IU, PSOE and VOX) agreed to sign a joint motion demanding that the service be maintained. Following this initiative, mayor Mario Jiménez has called on the public to attend a public appearance tomorrow, Friday 6 June at 12:30, at the door of the Manilva fire station.
«The reasons that justify this much-needed demand will be set out, as the lives of citizens and of our surroundings are at stake,» says the official statement.
THE FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION ALSO SAYS NO
The institutional protest is joined by a forceful document seen by this newsroom, signed by the Sindicato Andaluz de Bomberos, which is also firmly opposed to the closure of the station. In its statement, the union warns that:
The Manilva station has been serving for more than eleven years an area «of special geographical and demographic sensitivity».
The closure would leave areas such as Casares, Secadero and a large part of Manilva unprotected, breaching the maximum response times set by the Junta de Andalucía.
The measure contradicts the provisions of both the CPB Action Plan 2018-2022 and the Junta de Andalucía’s Master Plan, which guarantee effective coverage for communities of more than 1,000 inhabitants.
The alternative of moving resources to a more distant municipality «increases the risk for the public and for the firefighters themselves».
«There is no sufficient technical justification. There are deficiencies that can be corrected without closing the station. The only viable alternative is to keep it open until a new one is built, as the Town Hall has already proposed,» the union says in its report of 1 June.
The document ends with a formal request to halt the closure, strengthen the station’s minimum staffing, improve its infrastructure and equip it with a BUL vehicle for urban areas that are difficult to access.
