It seems that unless the Orihuela Council appeals to the Supreme Court, the road along the front of La Glea beach, next to the mouth of the Nacimiento River in Campoamor, is history.
Prior to the current works that are replacing the pavement with a wooden platform, the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) had already made a decision regarding the appeal that the Council had filed with the Territorial Coastal Demarcation.
It is unknown when the mayor was notified of the judges’ decision, but it is evident that Pepe Vegara’s council and his legal team had already considered the lawsuit lost prior to the work that was started by the Costas two weeks ago to remove the remnants of the tarmac road.
The solution adopted by Costas is the installation of a platform of wooden slats 55 metres long, three wide and three deep. There will also be improved access to the pedestrian walkway through improvements in the pavement, slope and levelling of the sand.
This is an action that the State says is correct because “it does not imply any modification of the drainage capacity of the river since the platform would be left at the level of the natural terrain and anchored to the old buried base of the road to prevent it from being carried away by floods.”
So it seems that the complaints of the residents of Campoamor are being ignored. The closure to road traffic of the road following the 2019 Dana caused serious harm to them. While before they could cross from one bank of the river to the other along the beachfront, now drivers are forced to make a detour inland to go through the other road that crosses the promenade under the famous stone bridge, or, when this road is flooded, which is regularly the case, drive onto the N-332 itself.
The court’s decision comes at a time when the government team shows some optimism in their relations with Costas. The hope of the local executive is that authorization will soon arrive from them to clear the mouth of the Nacimiento River of weeds. A place that once served as an improvised parking lot for bathers who came to La Glea and which is now completely inaccessible and represents an obvious fire risk for the summer.
Following the court ruling one Campoamor resident said, “I think that seeing the ways in which the Orihuela Council acts and the years and decades it takes to fix, repair, renovate and build any new construction, this, at least, is a solution that will be carried out immediately and effectively and of course it does not depend on the Council. The residents of Campoamor had little hope if we expected the City Council to win this lawsuit. They are clumsy even at litigating.”
