Much has been said about La Manga’s touristic future

Published on september 08th of 2011 – Printed Edition Nº 57

Councillor for Tourism Pedro Alberto Cruz meets hoteliers and business heads in Hotel El Galúa, gathering with San Javier mayor on following day. Concludes on need to change area’s promotional model, improve services and attract youth.

Two meetings in two successive days, the 17th and 18th August, have been the platform for a series of pledges made by tourism councillor Pedro Alberto Cruz regarding the commercial re-launching of La Manga. “We are going to change the perception of La Manga and will do so in record time”, said the councillor upon leaving the first meeting in the Hotel El Galúa which also included board president Manuel Campos (also in charge of the environment department). At the meeting were many local business people, hotel directors and heads of trade groups including Hostetur and Hostemar who were able to express their views on the strengths and weaknesses facing the area. The medium term objective is to work towards La Manga “Living its second youth” and to attract a type of tourism aimed at the younger generations. The meeting talked about the roads to achieving this including the need to have restaurants, bars and nightclubs offering every type of service in order for La Manga to offer quality cultural activities, be able to hold large scale concerts, more variety in cinemas, sporting events during the mid and low seasons and other similar events and initiatives.

Promotion campaign

After the brainstorming and pitching there were two highlighted factors at this primary meeting. The first was a roundtable between businesspeople and the regional government and the announcement of councilor Cruz of the launching of a promotional drive to begin “Before Christmas and aimed at attracting national and foreign tourists”, he indicated.

on the next day at San Javier…

On the following day the councillor held another meeting to talk specifically about La Manga. This time he did so with San Javier mayor Juan Martinez Pastor, with the meeting recapping points from the encounter the day before. Also discussed was the need to change the area’s promotional model.

Drainage and sewers

However, not everything discussed was a declaration of intentions as the subsequent press conference touched on more specific themes. The first, and most important, was the announcement of a ‘comprehensive’ study regarding the drainage and sewer system which, according to mayor Pastor “Would allow for the planning of necessary funding with the aim of avoiding the problems of spills and bad smells such as those experienced this summer”. There have been three instances of sewage water overflowing from drains in San Javier Other issues worthy of mention include this year’s jellyfish invasion, the problems with youth outdoor drinking sessions in El Zoco.

Demolish ASAP”

In the second of his announcements, Martínez Pastor gave a serious message committed to demolishing the abandoned Lago y Mar building, located next to the Doblemar hotel “As soon as possible”. It can be said, then, that the current administration will place emphasis in getting this task completed and will receive support by the regional government. Proceedings were filed under the previous San Javier administration of mayoress Josefa García, but to no avail. Notification was send to the firm Intramaga Turística S.L. (alleged owners of the property as they are in charge of its yearly IBI property tax) informing them of the demolition. However, the paperwork got tangled among the legal knots as Intramaga proved they were not responsible for renewing the property. Months went past and nobody discovered who exactly was in charge of its upkeep and maintenance and who to send the public demolition order to; leaving the entire issue in a bit of a pickle.

Regarding the sports-complex

Finally and rather briefly the meeting touched upon finding a solution to the San Javier sports centre topic, “With the aim of finishing the work and opening up to the public”. In issue 21 back in July we reported on the long, tricky and onerous task facing San Javier Council in making this facility operational before the end of the legislature. Sources from the town hall explained to this newspaper that the legal steps regarding the issue would each take a few months to resolve.

Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish