Orihuela, 17 March 2026 – Describing them as a necessity for local tourism, Orihuela City Council has awarded the contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of four electric bicycle parking units under the municipality’s Tourism Sustainability Plan. The new units, which will combine secure parking with electric charging points, are to be installed at:
- UMH Desamparados Campus
- RENFE Station
- UMH Salesas Campus
- El Palmeral Sports Centre
The facilities will consist of enclosed, covered and secure modular bicycle parking stations, designed to integrate into the urban environment with minimal visual impact. They will include automatic opening systems and will be self-sufficient in energy terms through solar-powered photovoltaic panels. Each unit will have capacity for ten bicycles.
The contract has been awarded to Servicios Urbanos Avanzados, S.L. for €164,983.50, with a maximum execution period of three months.
The scheme is being funded through a subsidy from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism as part of Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU programme.
Tourism Councillor Gonzalo Montoya said the project represents another step forward in the council’s commitment to sustainable mobility and improved tourism services.
But for many residents, especially those living on the coast, the real headline is not where the new facilities are going — but where they are not.
Once again, Orihuela Costa has been completely ignored.
Despite being one of the busiest and most populated parts of the municipality, and arguably the area where electric bikes are most widely used by both residents and visitors, not a single parking and charging unit will be installed there. The omission will come as little surprise to many on the coast, who have long complained that Orihuela Costa is repeatedly overlooked when it comes to infrastructure investment and public services.
The decision is likely to prompt fresh criticism, not least because the Costa is exactly the kind of area where this sort of initiative would make the most sense. With its spread-out urbanisations, busy coastal routes and high number of cyclists, electric bike parking and charging points would appear to be far more useful there than in some of the locations chosen inland.
For coastal residents, this latest announcement is likely to reinforce a familiar sense of frustration: when new projects are unveiled, Orihuela Costa too often seems to be the part of the municipality left behind.
