Orihuela Costa bites back
Further action promised by disgruntled residents
THE EVER-increasing determination among Orihuela Costa residents to demand adequate treatment from the town hall was evidenced by a sizeable demonstration on Friday.
A crowd which the organisers estimate to have been 400-500 people, including many different nationalities, met at La Zenia beach at 18.30 and marched to the building site of the still unfinished emergency services centre.
Many carried placards and chanted to make their demands known, in particular calling for an equal allocation of the municipal budget since the area contributes about 60% of the town hall’s income but receives a mere fraction of the investment, according to Félix Arenas of residents’ association Movimiento Ciudadano La Zenia.
He told Costa Blanca News there is now union across all the local associations and collectives, as well as increasing sensitivity among the population.
“They have all said they are not going to vote for this council again, which has not kept any of its promises,” he said.
He pointed out that every project that has been approved by the council has still not been carried out due to the lack of political will.
These include a multi-cultural centre, library and auditorium, all of which were promised in the manifesto of mayor Emilio Bascuñana’s Par- tido Popular (PP).
“The mayor must know Orihuela Costa is not just for building, people live here. The centre for the elderly was bought over 20 years ago (Alameda del Mar) but still does not offer any social attention for the international community, which was also prom- ised in the manifesto,” said Sr Arenas.
“There is nothing for young people either, who were promised a youth centre in 2012 and money was even allocated to draw up the project but it has never been done.”
Even approved initiatives that were proposed by the PP’s coalition partners, Ciudadanos, have been blocked, such as the pedestrian footbridge over the AP-7 motorway at Lomas de Cabo Roig.
He claimed the council treats the coast as merely a place with public land to sell off, without sharing out the income from this as agreed, and then putting up property tax (IBI) by 30% and still giving nothing in return.
“It has all been lies, the mayor should step aside for more people who will work for the whole municipality,” he stated.
Sr Arenas added that international residents are now ‘very motivated’ and have proposed a number of further actions for September, which will be revealed as soon as the details are finalised.
Also, lawyers are studying the possibility of an appeal to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that the town hall is not fulfilling its obligation to treat all citizens equally, which could potentially lead to judges ordering reparations to be paid for underfunding the area for so many years.