ARCHIVED - Parking war breaks out again at Percheles beach in Mazarrón

Conflict re-ignites as landowner attempts to charge parking fees and councillor alleges threatening behaviour

The on-going conflict between the owner of land next to the semi-wild beach of Percheles and the Town Hall of Mazarrón shows no sign of having become less heated during the coronavirus pandemic, and as the summer beach tourism season nears its peak a local councillor is claiming that he was the victim of aggressive behaviour when he visited the access road which is the cause of the disagreement last Friday.

The controversy concerns a money-making scheme devised by the owner of the land, David López, who for the fourth consecutive summer has erected obstacles on the only access road and announced that he is charging motorists to park there. In previous years he has explained that as the owner of the land near Cañada de Gallego he is entitled to do so due to the appropriate documentation having been delivered to the Town Hall of Mazarrón, but it is reported that local residents are once again upset by his actions this summer.

On the other hand, last year new Mayor Gaspar Miras stated that the charging of a parking fee is totally illegal as he has no licence to engage in commercial activity at the beach in Percheles, and that if he blocks a public thoroughfare by parking a van across it he is guilty of obstruction.

It was against this backdrop that last Friday councillor Tomás Ureña travelled to talk to locals before visiting the beach, where he claims he was subjected to aggressive and disrespectful behaviour and insults. He says that a man approached him and “was about to attack me”, although he has also decided not to report the matter to the Guardia Civil in order, he says, to avoid causing inconvenience to the witnesses who would be obliged to give evidence in court.

However, David López is adamant that Sr Ureña’s account of events is completely false. He is quoted in local newspaper La Voz de Mazarrón as warning that the whole visit was recorded on video footage and there was “no kind of conflict”. Sr López also comments that he has filed a charge of slander against Sr Ureña with the courts in Totana and hypothesizes that it is for this reason that the councillor has made his public statements.

In the meantime, those who would like to visit the beach of Percheles but are unwilling to pay to park can easily search for other spots along the coastline in the south-west of Mazarrón and the municipalities of Lorca and Águilas, which is well served by beaches and offers plenty of others within a short distance. Click here to visit the Murcia Beach Guide!