The councillor revealed that, following it’s deconsecration, the church, situated on C/Triton in the east of the city, will be repurposed as a municipal office.
The councillor revealed that, following it’s deconsecration, the church, situated on C/Triton in the east of the city, will be repurposed as a municipal office.

The Torrevieja Council has taken responsibility for €200,000 of the debt incurred to construct the El Salvador parish church on municipal land. The decision follows the closure of the church, just 11 years after its inauguration.

This development was announced by Federico Alarcón, councillor-secretary of the Government Board, who confirmed the termination of the agreement between the City Council and the Bishopric of Orihuela-Alicante.

The councillor revealed that, following it’s deconsecration, the church, situated on C/Triton in the east of the city, will be repurposed as a municipal office. He noted that the Orihuela City Council lacks dedicated spaces in this area for providing its services.

El Salvador parish church, with a capacity for 235 people, was built with a loan exceeding €700,000 and inaugurated in 2013 by the then-bishop Jesús Murgui. The groundwork for its construction had been initiated earlier by Bishop Rafael Palmero. Located near the Ciudad del Mar school, the church occupies a 1,287-square-meter building on a 1,789-square-meter plot, which also includes parking, parish halls, and a chapel.

The construction of churches on municipal land is not unprecedented. In the past 20 years, similar agreements have led to the establishment of other religious buildings, such as the ecumenical centre in Orihuela Costa, inaugurated in 2011.

With the closure of El Salvador, Torrevieja now has six Catholic churches. Among them, the most prominent are the Church of the Immaculate Conception, home to the city’s Patron Saint, and the Sacred Heart parish in La Punta. Other churches include San Roque and Santa Ana in Acequión, Virgen del Carmen in Los Locos, and San Pedro and San Pablo in Las Torretas. Additionally, the church in Los Balcones remains closed, pending rehabilitation.