ARCHIVED - Frustration in Isla Plana as the neighbours association bar is still closed after 14 months

No sign as yet of bids being invited for a new management contract

Frustration is growing among residents of Isla Plana, in the municipality of Cartagena, as It is now fourteen months since the popular neighbours’ association bar was closed down by the Policía Local on the grounds that the owner was allegedly serving hot food without a licence to do so and there is little sign of a new contract to run the establishment being put out to tender.

As a result the building remains closed to the public except for a limited period during the afternoons and for special functions and meetings, and neighbours have nowhere to meet up: it should be remembered that the refurbished centre was used not only as a watering hole but also as a venue for multiple social events within the community, and was constantly treated as a kind of community lounge by the Spanish residents of the village.

With views out towards the church and the island which gives the village its name, this has always been a popular establishment among both the Spanish and the expats living in Isla Plana and La Azohía and its closure was most unwelcome. This is arguably even truer in winter, when other beach-front restaurants and bars take a long break before re-opening for Easter and the summer, as the terrace provides welcome winter sunshine.

In July of last year there were hopes that the procedures to re-open the premises might be sped up when a motion was passed in the Town Hall to accelerate the steps by which a new management contract at the canteen can be put out to tender. But another six months have passed and still the latest news from the local government is that this will take place “soon”, and that council staff will be instructed to clean the building thoroughly – there have been reports of rats in and around the Asociación since it was closed.

But until that tender process is completed, what has become known to many expats as “the social” looks like remaining closed at least until after the Easter holidays, when large numbers of visitors arrive from Madrid and northern Europe. The delays may be annoying for visitors, but for the locals the frustration is even greater as they feel that the decision to close it was made on the grounds of an unimportant technicality, and various requests have been made by Luis Lozano of the neighbours’ committee for the building to at least be open to the public even if the bar remains shut.

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