The title is a wonderful Spanish term, probably just coined by a word wizard, to describe what happened in the Avenida de Salobreña in the early hours of yesterday, when a car landed in one of the large, plate-like fountains. The fountain is round and large, like a paella dish, so it wasn’t long before it acquired the local nickname of ‘la paellera.’
This is not the first time that ‘extra parking’ has been instantly found near the municipal market, because in September last year a small car did exactly the same.
Mind you, the first to ‘climb the fountain’ was a municipal bus in June 2010, just after the fountain was inaugurated. In the case of the bus, however, it wasn’t because it was going too fast and launched itself into the fountain pan, but because the driver obviously wasn’t used to the obstacle and the rear wheels climbed up the sloping facing stones and dropped into the fountain.
In this latest incident, the Town Hall was going to claim for damages from the driver’s insurance, but the insurance company would have refused as the driver had already had his licence withdrawn and had obviously been driving far too fast in a lane with a 30 kph speed limit. So, the Town Hall, as well as exploring suing the driver, will submit a claim to the Consorcio de Compensación (Compensation Consortium), which covers incidents where vehicles involved in accidents have no valid insurance policy, etc.
Looks like it’s turning into an annual event, with a new metallic ingredient being added to this paella motrileña every year. Who knows, it could become a local sport, with the Keys to the City being awarded to the first lunatic that manages to hit the sloping, facing wall fast enough to actually clear the paellera!
