A Tragedy Which Was Waiting to Happen

This post is still of the ‘no me lo puedo creer!’ type, but it is serious.

We live in a smallish village in Andalucia. We love it here. The people are friendly, the sun always shines (even though it can be bitter cold!) and the surrounding scenery is stunning.

Our village is part of a community of mountain villages in the south of Andalucia. It is reached by narrow, winding roads as are all villages in the area. On the whole the roads, although often appearing precarious (with sheer drops and hidden bends) are pretty well-maintained by the La Junta de Andalucia, who must have an enormously difficult task keeping all these roads open leave alone repairing them (as they frequently do).

But they are not really the best place to take a stroll.

Having said that, walking along the mountain roads is the only way that many villagers can get to see their neighbours (or in some cases go to the shops) as many, particularly the older women, do not drive. There has also been a spate of ‘advice’ given by doctors all over Andalucia to their more elderly patients – to “go for at least one longish walk every day”. And this advice has been taken up by the majority of pensioners in the villages. After all, they can walk in the sun, get some fresh air, and meet their neighbours (also taking a stroll) at the same time and have a great gossip!

As you drive along the mountain roads in the early evening, you can see many, many Andalucians taking their evening stroll. Locals know that the only safe way to navigate these roads in with ‘mucha precaucion’. They know the hidden bends and the really dangerous (as opposed to dangerous) spots and they drive with care and regard for those (people and animals) who also use the road. But not so those who want to enjoy a fast drive despite the dangers, or those unfamiliar with the area.

This was, of course, a tragedy waiting to happen.

A few days ago, on a mountain road fairly close to our village, an elderly gentleman was hit by a car and killed instantly. He had made this walk hundreds if not thousands of times. He knew the ‘safer’ places to walk and he knew where to watch out the most for oncoming traffic. But, for whatever reason (and no one is still certain), the oncoming vehicle hit him at one of the most dangerous bends in the road.

The gentleman was a well-loved figure in the neighbourhood and many turned out for his funeral. We didn’t know him very well, but we can understand what a loss his death was to his family and the community.

And we wondered if anything would be done about the dangerous bend in the road.

We didn’t have to wait long. A couple of days later we saw workmen along the road cutting down undergrowth, which at least gave a slightly clearer vision to walkers and drivers. We talked about the dangers of walking along these roads (I won’t even attempt it) and how on earth the Junta could organise widening of this and other local roads when most of the carriageways have cliffs on one side and a sheer drop on the other. And we decided that the road planners would have their work cut out if they even tried!

But then we saw new road signs up. The roads already have signs saying “carretera muy estrecha, mucha precaucion” and “peligroso!”, but now we had new ones.

The road had been allocated a number, or at least the road number had been advertised. Now at each kilometre post was a sign giving tis number. I’m sure that most villagers didn’t have a clue that it had one!

I suppose the reasoning is that someone reporting an accident can get emergency services there quicker if they can give the road number and kilometre post and that makes sense.

However, I hope that isn’t all that is done to make the local roads safer (and I don’t mean speed bumps!).

But I have a feeling that, considering the difficult and costly nature of any real safety improvements, that is going to be it for now.