Torrevieja council has barred car parking around the site of the weekly La Mata street market because of warnings from the site owners that there is a risk of collapse. Torrevieja councillor Fanny Serrano said that concerns about the five thousand square metre area between the N-332 road and La Mata beach had been raised by the State Heritage department for 12 years and claims that the previous council administration did not act on the warnings.
The Canal del Acequión site, says Serrano, is not strong enough to take the continuous weight of parked vehicles, especially larger vans and trucks, and so traders will now have to load and unload at the stalls and park elsewhere. The canal underneath the site was built to provide water from the sea to La Mata lake, and local and State Heritage officials are looking into ways of making the area safer. The parking ban on a site that can accommodate one thousand cars is also seen as a major blow to visitors who use the area as a free car park on visits to La Mata beach.
