Orihuela Town Hall is moving out of it’s eighteenth century stately palace, the Marquis de Arneva, where it is headquartered, as the rehabilitation works get underway in the building, that was damaged by floods during DANA in 2019.

The work will be carried out by UTE Construcciones Uxcar 97 SL-Pramoram SL at a cost of 794,902 euros (VAT included), half of which is financed with a grant from the Ministry of Territorial Policy.

Last week workers from the removals company began taking out furniture and pictures, many of them historical and of great value. The intention is that the work will begin in September.

Staff will be moved to four locations. Some will move to the offices of the Palacio del Agua, others to the municipal building La Peineta located next to the Town Hall.  Further offices have been rented next to the Prop building with the remainder located in the CAM Foundation building.

The move has generated criticism from the socialist group, who in May denounced the fact that the government had not carried out refurbishment of the old courthouse building – destined for new municipal offices – instead deciding to pay expensive in rents in other offices.

The rehabilitation works, which are divided into five procedures, will take 288 days. They are reinforcement of the structure deteriorated by the humidity in the subsoil, repairs to the facade where there are cracks and fractures, carpentry repairs, repair of the roof, waterproofing of the basement that was flooded during the Dana of 2019.