Article by “ MEJORAMOS” formally known as POC
Not so long ago the city of Orihuela spent well over 130,000 euros on two months of events for young people living in the city.
The May Gala de la Juventud splashed out the staggering sum of 52,998 euros on hiring the popular singer David Bustamante to close this cultural event.
The young people of Orihuela city are consistently being treated to hundreds of cultural events throughout the year in a regular programme of entertainment that is the envy of the young residents living on Orihuela Costa.
The large concert that had featured Bustamante would have been a great attraction to Costa teenagers who enjoy Spanish pop music. However, as usual, there was no transport provided to enable coastal youths to travel to Orihuela, and no attempt was made to ensure that all members of the municipality could enjoy this free extravaganza.
Young people of Orihuela Costa not only have had to put up with substandard schools (which is still the case today), where many students had to spend their entire school years in portacabins or in schools without the full range of facilities one would normally expect in a modern society, but also there was, and still is, a total lack of any provision of youth services.
This is in stark contrast to the range of facilities offered to the youth of Orihuela city, where youngsters can visit the Concejalía de Juventud and receive a full range of services.
If just a small proportion of the extravagant fee that was paid to David Bustaman had been diverted to the coast it could have paid for at least two full time youth workers, with change left over. However, as most Orihuela Costa residents are well aware there is no youth centre or even one proposed for this area, A purpose-built cultural centre with youth facilities on the coast is a priority, The excuses that the centre needs council employees to open would be invalid if the youth workers were employed by the council.
There could be youth workshops, drama, music, mechanical, are just a few examples, and businesses could be invited to talk about graduateships, universities about degrees, and apprenticeships, but everything is geared up to benefit the youth of Orihuela and discriminate against the youth of Orihuela Costa. Even applying for a job one needs to go to Orihuela, when in fact we should have an office here.
Most small towns and villages making up the Orihuela municipality have youth clubs and services for their young people, but the coast, with a population of exceeding 33,000, has again been totally neglected by these nefarious people living 34 kilometres away in Orihuela City.
Until Orihuela Costa has a sufficient number of elected representatives from this area, the needs of all sections of the coastal community will continue to be ignored by politicians regardless of whether they are from Orihuela, Valencia or Madrid.
All residents of Orihuela Costa need to ensure that they are registered to vote in local elections and make sure they also cast their votes at election time.
The residents of the Costa can make a difference to local politics and ensure that this fantastic region, which is continually being overlooked, gains the same services that are enjoyed by residents living in other parts of the municipality.
