Orihuela Costa is set to get its own permanent vehicle removal service for the first time, as Orihuela City Council puts a new municipal tow truck contract out to tender.
The contract, worth almost €1.5 million, will cover the removal, towing, impounding and management of vehicles across the whole municipality, including Orihuela city, the outlying districts and the coast.
Until now, the service has operated from Orihuela city, which the council says has led to excessively long response times for incidents on the coast.
Councillor for Citizen Security and Contracting, Mónica Pastor, said the new arrangement will include a permanent operational unit in Orihuela Costa, improving response times for illegally parked vehicles, traffic incidents, accidents and abandoned cars.
Under the proposed contract, the successful company must provide tow truck coverage 24 hours a day, with one operational unit based in Orihuela city and another on the coast.
Regular daytime service will run in two shifts, from 6am to 2pm and from 2pm to 10pm. Overnight, from 10pm to 6am, the contractor must remain available through an on-call system when requested by Local Police.
The maximum response time will be 15 minutes in Orihuela city and Orihuela Costa, and 30 minutes in the outlying districts. Night-time response must also be within 30 minutes, although urgent cases involving accidents, road safety risks or serious traffic disruption must be handled as quickly as possible.
Two temporary municipal vehicle pounds will be used. One will be based at the police headquarters on Calle Monserrate Salinas for the city and districts, while the coastal pound will be located at the Emergency and Security Centre. Each must have space for at least 50 vehicles.
Vehicles may remain at these municipal depots for up to 15 calendar days. After that, if they have not been collected, they will be transferred to an authorised alternative depot with capacity for at least 150 vehicles, located within 10 kilometres of the main city depot.
The tender covers an initial period of three years, with the possibility of two one-year extensions. The annual cost is estimated at €493,324, based on recent service demand, staffing, tow truck rental, storage, fuel and other operating costs.
The successful bidder must provide six qualified drivers, with three assigned to the city service and three to the coast. Each area must also have one main tow truck and one backup vehicle, although either unit may be sent anywhere in the municipality if required by Local Police.
The council will also be able to order extra tow truck cover during busy periods or special events, including weekly markets, fiestas, Holy Week, Moors and Christians celebrations, sports events, concerts, demonstrations, special traffic campaigns and peak tourist periods in Orihuela Costa.
The service will also include the removal and processing of abandoned vehicles. Once requested by Local Police, abandoned vehicles must be removed from public roads or municipal premises within 72 hours and taken to the appropriate depot.
Where required, vehicles classified as abandoned or end-of-life must be transferred to an authorised centre for destruction and decontamination, in line with current regulations.
