Days numbered for the half-sunken Mississippi paddle steamer in Benalmádena marina

The half-sunken Mississippi paddle steamer, the Willow, in Benalmádena marina has its days numbered, local mayor Víctor Navas announced this Wednesday, 1 February.

The appeal filed by the marina against a previous sentence that ordered it to pay 400,000 euros for the termination of a contract with the company that owns the boat has been accepted by the provincial court of Malaga.

"We announce good news for Benalmádena: the Willow has a date for its removal from the marina and scrapping - 26 April - which will allow us to recover the image and aesthetics of Benalmádena marina," said Navas, at a press conference he gave with the local councillor responsible for the port, Encarnación Cortés.

The mayor said the initial sentence, which ruled that the town hall had to pay 400,000 euros to terminate the contract with the boat's owners, “has finally been reduced to only 4,000 euros”. The new sentence also orders the owner to pay the costs of removing the old steamer.

"This ruling confirms that the strategy of the town hall and its municipal company Puerto Deportivo was the right one, defending the interests of all the citizens of Benalmádena, and demonstrating that we are a responsible government that works for the town," Navas said.

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"The provincial court of Malaga has partially upheld the appeal lodged by the marina, and completely dismisses the appeal lodged by the owner of the Willow," Cortés said.

"After the ruling of the provincial court, the compensation that the marina must pay to the owners of the Willow goes from the 400,000 euros of the first instance ruling to only 10,000 euros, because it considers that there is new damage as a result of the contract they signed with municipal company Puerto Deportivo for the repair of the boat," Cortés added.

"At this point, it should be clarified that we have detected a mathematical error in the calculations. The sentence includes an inaccurate amount. We believe that the compensation that we should pay to the owner of the Willow is 4,000 euros, and we have told the court," the mayor said.