The mayor of Benalmádena, Víctor Navas; the Councilor for the Port, Encarnación Cortés; and the manager of the Puerto Deportivo, Manuel Jiménez, have offered a press conference to report on the completion today May 13, 2022 ofthe concession to the City Council of the management of the Marina, as well as the progress of the procedures for its renewal.
The first mayor has communicated that the renewal of said concession has already been requested for another 25 years, the maximum term allowed by law. In this way, I detail that “the City Council has already publicly requested the Andalusian Ports Public Agency (APPA) to extend the terms of the concession, and a file has already been opened that contemplates an investment of about 5 million euros. to renew said concession.
The APPA is expected to confirm in the coming months the renewal requested by the Consistory, “convinced that we will continue working and improving to maintain the Benalmadena marina as one of the best in southern Europe”, he stressed.
The mayor has assured that the City Council has the “unequivocal will to continue working and managing the port area, and we will do it through the public company Puerto Deportivo”. About this, I point out that “when we became mayor in 2015, we found the public company Puerto Deportivo close to bankruptcy, under the shadow of some alleged cases of corruption and other additional management problems, but in recent years we have been able to clean up the accounts, and offer an image of administrative normalityin the management of the port area, bet on water sports as an additional element of tourist attraction”.
For his part, Cortés wanted to convey peace of mind to all the users of the Marina and to the citizens and clarified that “we are already in the process of achieving the renewal of the concession for another 25 years, and we have been working for years on the processing of the new concession”.
Cortés stressed that “we are the first marina in Andalusia that has started the process of renewing the concession in accordance with the new regulations, after the last modification of the Andalusian law”.
Likewise, he informed that “we are sending APPA all the required documentation, and all user contracts will remain in force until the date on which they confirm the renewal of the concession”.
The manager of the Marina recalled that, according to the new law, the APPA required the City Council to invest 4,256,000 euros, “and we have presented projects for an investment of more than 5,200,000 euros, so we more than meet this requirement” .
“Those investments will be allocated fundamentally to three large blocks: taking advantage of surface parking for install solar panelsthat would guarantee around 50% of the Port’s electricity supply, the renovation of all the pontoons to gain efficiency and the reorganization and expansion of the Nautical Center to give it greater use and thus take advantage of all its potential and be able to award professional nautical qualifications”, the manager detailed.
Jiménez stated that “all the required documentation is presented, and we have a fluid relationship and communication with the APPA so that they will send us any clarification or correction they require immediately.”
