Socialists accuse the council of ignoring months of complaints and vow to demand urgent action over staff shortages at next plenary session
The PSOE has launched a fierce attack on Orihuela City Council over what it describes as an “administrative collapse” in Orihuela Costa, warning that residents are being treated as second-class citizens as basic municipal services continue to break down.
Socialist councillor Isidro Grao, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Municipal Group, has tabled a formal question for debate at next Thursday’s ordinary plenary session in March 2026, demanding immediate action over what he says is a chronic lack of staff in the municipal offices serving the coast.
Grao says the situation has become intolerable, with residents left battling delays, uncertainty and repeated disruption simply to carry out basic administrative procedures. He argues that the failure to act has exposed a deeper crisis in the way the council manages its personnel and public services.
The PSOE insists the problem has been building for months. Since last summer, Orihuela Costa residents have lodged repeated formal complaints over what they describe as persistent failures in municipal administration. According to the opposition, those warnings have been met with silence from the ruling team, with no effective investigation and no visible attempt to solve the problem.
“What respect does this local government show its citizens by simply ignoring their complaints?” Grao asked, as frustration among residents continues to grow.
At the centre of the row is the operation of the municipal registration office, which, according to complaints from local residents, is effectively being run by a single employee with no fixed opening pattern. Residents claim the worker arrives at different times each day without notice, creating confusion and forcing people to rearrange their working lives, lose hours from their jobs and, in some cases, make wasted journeys only to find the office shut.
For the PSOE, the situation is the clearest sign yet of a service in disarray.
Grao says the current model is completely unsustainable in an area where the population continues to rise and demand for public services is increasing year after year. He warns that the lack of planning and resources is fuelling delays, tensions and a growing loss of confidence in the local administration.
“The growth in the population of Orihuela Costa and the increasing number of procedures make this model unsustainable,” he said, warning of mounting conflict and a serious erosion of trust in the council.
The Socialists also argue that the crisis is not only hitting residents but is also exposing dysfunction inside the Town Hall itself. According to the party, the councillor responsible for statistics has repeatedly asked the Head of Human Resources to provide an additional member of staff for the service, even submitting copies of complaints received from residents. Despite that, Grao says, no effective response has been given.
He believes the failure to act points to a wider structural problem in the management of municipal staff — one that now requires urgent political intervention.
At next week’s plenary session, Grao will demand answers from the governing team with a direct question: what immediate measures will be taken to guarantee fixed opening hours and reinforce staffing at the Orihuela Costa registration office so that residents no longer face such serious difficulties and are provided with a dignified and accessible municipal service?
For the PSOE, the issue goes far beyond day-to-day inconvenience. Grao says it is about equality, dignity and the right of all residents to receive proper public services, regardless of whether they live in Orihuela city or on the coast.
The Socialist councillor has made clear that the party will keep up the pressure until the situation is resolved and Orihuela Costa residents get the level of attention they have been demanding for months.
