Council employees in the border town of La Linea, who haven´t been paid since April, blocked access to Gibraltar for 30 minutes in a protest which involved burning tyres. They say they have run out of ways to get their plight noticed.
It's hard to imagine, isn't it. We think the funcionarios have a cushy job for life, and all our concern goes to the unemployed. But all over the country there are people in the same situation. Many local authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy, and the interest on their borrowing has to be paid before the wages of their staff.
Not to mention all the businesses and their employees who have done work for the ayuntamiento and not been paid.
The town halls run out of money because their budgets are based on predicted tax revenues from previous years, which for various reasons don't materialise; businesses going broke, properties remaining unsold, individuals unable to pay their IBI, etc. They are then stuck with spending commitments they can't pay for.
Why are they so bad at managing their budgets? Because unlike local councils in the UK which have a large permanent staff of accountants and financial experts to advise the elected councillors, here the work is largely done by the Mayor and the elected councillors themselves, who often lack the necessary skills to run what is essentially a large corporation.
There has to be a better way.
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