The construction of the leisure area in the new Torrevieja port, “Paseo del Mar” is now expected to triple its initial cost, from the 16 million announced in its presentation to the 43 million that the concessionaire, Empresas del Sol, now estimates it will need to invest.
The budget includes the provision of almost 700 underground parking spaces which are expected to be available for this summer, the investment in building a new fish market and the rehabilitation of the Customs building, which is now the headquarters of the Generalitat in Torrevieja. These last two projects were required by the previous Consell del Botànic by the concessionaire.
It has also been necessary to finance the demolition of the previous fish market and the fishing fleet sheds. But along with the parking lot, the bulk of the costs will be the construction of the 8,500 square metres, distributed in six buildings, some of which are now beginning to take shape, with restaurants, movie theatres, bowling alleys and leisure activities, together with the development of 20,000 adjacent square metres.
The complete opening of the entire project is scheduled for the spring of 2025, a date that, for the moment, extends by a few months the initial estimate made at the start of the project in October 2022, when there was talk that it may be concluded by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.
On Friday the site was visited by the general director of Ports, Vicente Martínez Mus , who held a meeting with the mayor Eduardo Dolón (PP) and the businessman, Enrique Riquelme, manager of the 50-year concession of the port.
One of the few contributions made during their appearance before the media is that the bridge between the new Paseo del Mar leisure area and the elevated promenade of the Levante dam will not be drawable, as initially indicated by the City Council.
The access ramp to the Levante dam must retain the road that will connect the urban area with the Marina Salinas marina and the fishing market. The infrastructure will be resolved with a much simpler structure, easy to maintain and at a much lower cost.
Sources close to the technical project have said that a drawbridge is not necessary because the transportation of boats by road, whether small or large in length, is not carried out with the masts in place.
During the visit, Dolón was not able make the expected announcement of the award of the remodelling work on the Levante dock promenade, another fundamental action to complete the redevelopment of the port complex.
In response to questions from the media, the mayor has been forced to admit that one of the companies that submitted a bid for the work, valued at more than 8 million euros, has appealed the result. He did not provide more details on whether this forces the entire procedure to be repeated or how much it delays the adjudication, which is already burdened by a long history of administrative stoppages.
