The future of Floridablanca, now almost reduced to ruins, but with more than a century of history, currently divides the residents of Lo Pagán.
There are many people in the town who want to see the spa rebuilt but there are those also who choose to leave the seafront free of parapets and completely cleared for the enjoyment of the beach with its wonderful view to the Mar Menor.
A decade after its closure and after seven years of a lack of use, the boat-shaped wooden building, built by Ambrosio Orsí, in 1910, as a bathhouse rental business, only provokes agreement among those residents who want the current image of neglect and abandonment to disappear, before the start of the next summer season, so as to avoid further tourist deterioration of the Mar Menor.
But the diversity of opinions has now led to Ciudadanos requesting that the council organise a public vote among local residents, a request, they say, for a popular consultation, “because until now, nobody from the Government has asked for an opinion from any of the interested parties and we cannot let them take a decision without listening to our views,” they said.
The spokesman for the Fishermen’s Association, Jesús Gómez, said “that the Floridablanca be demolished and the beach be left completely free”. He said that the area where the former restaurant is located is a fishing ground: “We have already given up many fishing areas in the last twenty years.”
The mayor, Visitación Martínez, ruled out the organisation of a public vote. “It is not the time for such a vote”, said the councilor, who considers that “the majority want the site to be rebuilt”. Martinez believes that “the project’s memory has already been submitted to the vote of the Plenary and approved unanimously,” although she admits that “residents are tired of seeing nothing other than the spa’s derelict remains. We cannot afford another summer without taking action. ”
However, dismantling or rebuilding before the summer does not depend on the City Council, but on Costas, who must decide on the environmental impact that any decision will mean.”
