Manilva Town Hall has taken another step in its battle against the closure of the town’s fire station. Through its official social media channels, it has published an image identifying those directly responsible for a decision that has provoked an unprecedented wave of public and political outrage in the municipality.
Under the headline: “The Provincial Council of Málaga and the Fire Brigade Consortium are putting the lives of our residents at risk”, the Town Hall explicitly names the president of the Fire Brigade Consortium, Manuel Marmolejo Setién, the technical director, Francisco Soriano García, and the manager of the CPB, Salvador Cristóbal Pérez Zumaquero, as those who carried out the closure order issued today, 10 June, and the post includes a photo of these officials, according to the Town Hall itself.
“While our town was fighting for its safety, they were condemning Manilva”, reads the municipal statement.
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY: THE PARTIDO POPULAR IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The post does not stop at the technical level. The Town Hall holds the president of the Provincial Council of Málaga and of the provincial PP, Francisco Salado, directly responsible for allowing and endorsing this measure. In the words of the mayor of Manilva, Mario Jiménez, who commented on the same post:
“These are the people responsible for endangering the lives of our residents, with their decision, without negotiating or heeding the requests of our Town Hall. THE PARTIDO POPULAR”, he declared.
Jiménez has already argued that this is a unilateral decision, taken without dialogue, without alternatives and without any willingness to cooperate in finding a solution.
REACTIONS FROM THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION: OUTRAGE AND RESOLVE
Other members of the corporation have also reacted. Juan Carlos Morejón, councillor for Con Andalucía, has been equally harsh about the Provincial Council’s way of acting:
“Our residents have the same rights. It is outrageous that the Partido Popular decides to take security and emergency services away from Manilva. They do not listen to us, they do not look for solutions. They are shameful. Afterwards they will come and climb onto the stages of Manilva to promise medical services… Not only do they bring nothing, they set about plundering us. WE WILL NOT FORGET, AND WE WILL NOT GIVE UP.”
For his part, Diego José Jiménez, spokesperson for the PSOE, has condemned the institutional neglect suffered over the years:
“They have been in government for a long time and have not allocated a single euro to improving the supposed deficiencies of the station. Now, as a solution, they decide to close it. OUTRAGEOUS.”
A VITAL SERVICE BEING SWITCHED OFF
In recent years, the Manilva fire station has been one of the busiest in the province, with numerous call-outs each year and cover for neighbouring municipalities such as Casares and El Secadero. Its closure leaves more than 20,000 residents without a rapid response, a figure that begins to multiply at this time of the summer.
The Town Hall has reiterated that it will continue to defend the safety of its citizens “to the bitter end”. The battle continues, now with names and surnames at the centre of public attention.
«The lives of our residents come above any political interest. We will keep fighting.» — Mario Jiménez, mayor of Manilva.
LEGAL MEASURES
Likewise, at an emergency meeting held this Wednesday with the governing team and the Town Hall’s legal department, it was announced that a complaint will be lodged against the Provincial Council of Málaga and the Fire Brigade Consortium.
According to the Town Hall, the measure not only breaches institutional commitments and the basic principles of public protection, but has also been adopted without offering any viable alternative, without dialogue and without taking municipal reports into account.
NEW PROTESTS ON THE WAY
The closure of the fire station comes on the eve of the summer season, when Manilva’s population triples, and the Town Hall considers that the situation puts tens of thousands of people at risk. For this reason, new mobilisations and public demonstrations have also been announced, to be organised in the coming days in response to this “institutional outrage”.
CONSENSUS BROKEN: NO DIALOGUE POSSIBLE
Everything suggests that the diplomatic route and institutional consensus have completely broken down. Despite repeated attempts by the Town Hall to seek a negotiated solution, the Provincial Council and the Consortium have acted unilaterally, without heeding reports, residents’ requests or possible alternatives to avoid closing the station.
There is no sign of an understanding. Neither side appears willing to give way, and it will be up to the courts to decide whether the reports submitted in support of the imminent closure of the station have sufficient legal basis and consistency to prevail over leaving a population that will fluctuate between 20,000 and 70,000 inhabitants without a nearby service that can respond in under 15 minutes.
