The council says that it has no intention of restricting parking on the 20,000-square-metre municipal parking lot next to the main parking area of ​​the La Zenia Boulevard shopping centre, which is used almost exclusively by its customers. Nor is it going to ask the multinational company that manages the complex, the largest shopping centre in the province, any compensation for it’s use.

As such the municipality has chosen to snub the proposal made by the Chamber of Commerce that parking on municipal land be regulated and the income diverted into commercial activities actions or projects that benefit the taxpayers in Orihuela Costa.

The Chamber of Commerce has said that residents and visitors who visit La Zenia Boulevard shopping Centre should pay for the privilege of parking, which includes the many companies that park their vehicles on the site as a way of advertising their services and, of course, the regular stream of campervans and motorised holiday homes.

In response, the City Council observed that the parking lot around the Ociopia shopping centre in Orihuela also occupies municipal land, so why has the Chamber not also considered payment for parking on that site also.