Orihuela City Council is to buy around 10,000 square metres of land in San Isidro from Sareb, Spain’s state-backed “bad bank”, to create space for public housing and municipal facilities.
The purchase will cost 254,347 euros and forms part of the council’s wider strategy to increase publicly owned land for affordable housing projects.
The plot is located in Execution Unit 2 in San Isidro, one of Orihuela’s most recognisable neighbourhoods. The area sits at the foot of the Sierra de Orihuela and is known for its open-air murals dedicated to poet Miguel Hernández.
The funding was approved during the latest full council meeting as part of five budget modifications worth a total of 7.7 million euros.
Urban Planning councillor Matías Ruiz said the purchase would serve two purposes.
“This operation will provide space for future municipal public facilities and will also open the door to the construction of public housing in the area,” he said. “It responds to the need to increase the supply of affordable housing in the municipality.”
New municipal housing company
The move is linked to the creation of Orihuela’s Municipal Public Housing and Land Company, known as EMVS.
The company was approved in January, around a year and a half after it was first proposed in July 2024. It was originally announced with a budget of 5 million euros, later adjusted to 1.46 million euros for three initial projects.
These include the construction of 25 subsidised homes for social rent, the creation of a housing rehabilitation office, and the launch of a register for people applying for public housing.
The plan was backed by the local coalition government but criticised by opposition groups PSOE, Cambiemos and Ciudadanos, who described it as poorly managed.
The council says the company will help regenerate the city centre, outlying districts and the coast, while also promoting publicly protected housing across the municipality. A particular focus will be placed on the historic centre and surrounding areas, with the aim of encouraging young people and families to live there again.
The company will be fully publicly owned. It will manage housing and land projects, although it will not carry out construction work directly. Building contracts will have to be awarded through public tender.
Homes planned near Las Salesas campus
As well as the San Isidro land purchase, the council plans to build 15 of the 25 subsidised homes on Calle del Río, next to the Las Salesas campus of Miguel Hernández University.
That plot was originally intended for the expansion of the university. Until 2011, it carried a sign advertising future apartments, garages, storage rooms and commercial space. The land was later put up for sale and is currently used as a car park.
The housing plan for this site has caused controversy. The citizens’ platform Tu Pueblo y el Mío called for the council to reverse the decision, describing it as another setback for Orihuela’s university development.
In 1996, an agreement was signed between the university, the Valencian regional government and Orihuela City Council to create the Las Salesas campus. The project was meant to include three buildings: Casa del Paso, Romancero de Ausencias and Gallo Crisis. Only Casa del Paso was built, opening in 1999.
Wider housing plans
Orihuela has also offered the Valencian regional government several plots of more than 24,000 square metres each under the regional VIVE Plan, with the aim of building up to 775 social housing units.
Even so, the current figures remain below those of nearby municipalities such as Torrevieja, which has similar housing pressures, especially in coastal areas.
