According to the locals, you will find a pothole or crack every couple of kilometres wherever you drive in the area. That is if you can find the road, in the cases where it has slipped down the valley.

There are three main access roads to the Alpujarra Granadina and all three of them have problems.

The first one joins the capital of the comarca (county) to the Contraviesa, running through places like Haza de Lino and Murtas, for example.

The second major road joins Órgiva to Ugíjar (the second largest town in the area), passing through Torviscón and Cádiar, amongst others.

The third one is the highest one, joining Órgiva to the Alpujarra Almeriense via Trevélez – probably the best-known road for tourists. Between them they comprise about 300 kilometres of road, sprinkled with around 150 ‘problem areas.’

It’s hardly surprising of course, when the average rainfall for the area is anything up to 600 litres per sq/m, whereas last winter it was well over the 2,000 litres mark – some even claim nearly 3,000 litres.

Whereas the problem most certainly ‘fell out of the sky,’ there are many that believe that the Junta de Andalucía hasn’t been exactly ‘on the ball.’ How else can you explain that right in the middle of summer the debris of an angry winter has not been swept away and damage made good? After all, six months ago the Ideal newspaper published an article that listed 71 landslips just between Torviscón and Cádiar, five of which were the result of gales the previous year!

In their defence, six months ago the Junta announced that it was going to build seven diques de contencíon (dry weirs designed to stop flash floods eroding the dry riverbeds) in the Barranco de Poquiera within the municipalities of Pampaneira, Bubión and Capileira. This work, with a budget of 600,000 euros is being carried out at the moment. The Junta is also carrying out emergency repair work between Torviscón and Cádiar on the A-348, this time with an estimated budget of 1,200,000 euros.

Oil by Sollmann of church in Albacín

The photos belong to the descendents of Paul Sollmann (1886-1950) from Germany who took many photos in that year of Granada city and province, as well as other cities in Spain. This photographer and impressionist painter live in Granada until the 1920’s when he returned to his homeland. Whilst living in Granada, he married Granadina Angelina Macho Millet Martos.

The photos will be on display until September, so there is plenty of time, but don’t forget, of course.

As one of them was armed with a katana (ceremonial sword), nobody was keen to tackle them. For this reason, their chosen victim didn’t put up much resistance, as he had been promised a liberal dosage of sword wounds if he hadn’t complied. He handed over his mobile and his wallet containing a 20-euro note.

All told, the Guardia Civil believe that the Dynamic Duo ‘visited’ chapels in Lanjarón, Pórtugos and Juviles in the early hours of the 10th, 17th and 28th of May.

After reportedly forcing the main doors, the thieves made off with the collection funds, as well as the ceremonial chalice belonging to Juviles (of scant value) and a gold embroidered alter cloth.

Deals were struck between the Junta and several town halls and Alpujarra-based businesses. The Alpujarra Rural Development Group, headed by the Mayoress of Órgiva, María Ángeles Blanco, has been given the task of co-ordinating the fund awarding.

I was going to make a flippant comment about where some of it might be ending up, but it would have been baselessly speculative, cheap and inaccurate. I would have enjoyed it, mind…

The villages that have been earmarked to receive some of the funds are Lanjarón (surprise!), Órgiva, Cadiar, Pampaneira, Albón, Busquítar and a councillor’s country villa… Nah! Just joking… sort of.

Strangely enough, the lad reported that his car had been stolen moments after he rocketed past a speed camera. According to the driver, he had been driving along – at an exemplary speed – with his girlfriend, along the N-340 within the municipality of Castel de Ferro. Suddenly, he was struck by an implacable necessity to empty his bowels. His girlfriend also got out of the car, he claimed, leaving it unattended.

Then, he complained, two dastardly individuals jumped into his car and as he was unable to ‘cut short’ what he was doing, he could only witness their driving off in his car. He explained that he was in such a rush to ‘download’ that he left the keys in the ignition. However, thanks to a stroke of luck, some friends drove by moments after and were able to rescue them. Off they all set, in hot pursuit, only to find, seven kilometres further one – just the other side of the said speed camera – they found his car, abandoned.

The Guardia Civil, clean out of gullibility, dug a little deeper, examined the images from the speed camera and suggested to him that he might like to revise his statement. He owned up to inventing the whole thing and now faces criminal charges as well as a speeding fine.

The Mayor got together with his counterparts from Albuños (María José Sánchez) and Sorvilán (Matías Rodríguez) to analyse the situation. They are also in contact with a lawyer from Adra, who is handling the affairs of several affected clients.

The Mayor of Polopos claims that they are disposed to do whatever is necessary to force the long-awaited payout to those that lost their land through compulsory purchase along the Polopos-Albuñol stretch of the A-7 Autovia del Mediterraneo.