On Thursday, the coastal gardens will become the exclusive responsibility of the Orihuela Council, managed by the municipal company Ildo.

The PP-Vox coalition has finally included this project on the agenda of the February plenary session. The initial plan was to approve it at the end of last month, but in the end the local executive decided to postpone it until the plenary.

The decision would support the direction taken by the new PP-Vox government: municipalise the conservation of coastal parks and gardens.

The decision is crucial, as the maintenance service for green areas on the coast has been provided for years without a contract and covers only 40% of the coastal gardens. Until now it has been managed in an outsourced manner. Its re-tendering was recommended by Ciudadanos in the previous mandate. At the close of the tender presentation period, the contest ended up becoming a hotbed of accusations between municipal staff about alleged coercion and interests.

With the bidding stalled, Pepe Vegara proposed its entrustment to Ildo, a risky decision that would allow the service to be provided in the medium term with certain guarantees, but, at the same time, it is assumed that it will also open a new and feared problem: that of compensation.

Three companies, STV-Evocivil, Actúa and Doalco-AVV, took part in the municipal tender and submitted their respective offers. They have been waiting for a year for the Contracting Board to make a verdict on which of the three is the best to carry out the 10-million-euro contract, and now, with this solution, they may get, at best, just the scraps of the work as sub-contractors.

STV-Evocivil strongly oppose the award to Ildo and announce that they will appeal to the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Resources.