Axarquia villages fear loss of local bus service

Benamargosa, Cútar, Almáchar, El Borge and Moclinejo are asking the regional government for "a solution" after the company Autocares Valle-Niza announced its intention to abandon the service "due to accumulated losses"

Eugenio Cabezas

Tuesday, 28 March 2023, 17:47

More than 6,100 registered residents in the Axarquía villages of Benamargosa, Cútar, Almáchar, El Borge and Moclinejo, face the loss of a bus service that connects them with Malaga city and Vélez-Málaga, after Autocares Valle-Niza-Axarquía Bus S. L. communicated in writing to the Junta de Andalucía its intention to stop providing the service "due to the high losses" it is incurring as a result of rising fuel prices.

According to the mayor of Almáchar Antonio Yuste, "there is much concern" about this situation among the residents, after the company has been asking the regional administration for more than a year to review the contract to improve the conditions of the service. "We appreciate the effort they have been making and continue to make, it is the Junta de Andalucía which has to find a solution," the mayor told the local radio station Cadena Ser Axarquia.

The company offers daily services connecting El Borge and Moclinejo with Malaga city; Cútar, Benamargosa and Almáchar with Torre del Mar. "Then we promote tourism at Fitur and launch measures to combat depopulation, but something as basic as having a bus service is not achieved," said Yuste, for whom the solution for these villages is their integration into the Metropolitan Area Transport Consortium.

Political decision

Vélez-Málaga, Almáchar, El Borge and Moclinejo town halls began collecting signatures last week. The four town councils, governed by the socialist PSOE party, highlight that going to Malaga by bus costs 11 euros round trip instead of the 3.5 euros that it would cost with the public consortium. "It is the easiest solution, we meet all the requirements, we are less than an hour from Malaga by road,” said the mayor of Almáchar.

In his opinion, the extension of the Metropolitan Area Transport Consortium is political and points out that the “Junta de Andalucía announced that it is going to be extended to Riogordo”, which is run by a Partido Popular mayor; the same party that currently governs both the regional and provincial governments. “We think it's great, but we ask for the same treatment for our villages," said the mayor of Almáchar.

Sources from the Junta de Andalucía have sent a message to the villages stressing that the service "is not going to be suspended" and that they are "negotiating and considering alternatives". The message went on to say, "The objective is that services are not interrupted, that is what we are working on". The same sources also stressed that a solution to keep the same company is imminent.

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