Public healthcare platform accuses authorities of reviving “empty promises” three years after expansion plans were first announced
Pressure on San Miguel de Salinas’ health centre has risen sharply, with healthcare consultations increasing by 66% in just one year, according to figures released by the municipality’s public healthcare platform.
The group has denounced what it describes as a growing healthcare crisis in the town, warning that the long-promised expansion of the local health centre remains blocked three years after it was publicly announced by the Regional Health Ministry and the Town Hall.
According to the platform, San Miguel recorded 35,997 more medical consultations in 2025 than in the previous year. It says the surge is directly linked to the rapid urban and population growth the municipality has experienced in recent years.
The organisation points out that San Miguel de Salinas currently ranks second in the province of Alicante for new housing starts, with 320 building permits granted, behind only Torrevieja. It also notes that the official municipal register has grown by around 2,000 residents over the past five years, now exceeding 8,000 registered inhabitants.
However, the platform claims the real resident population is “double that figure”, due to the large number of people living in the area who are not officially registered.
Despite this growth, the group says San Miguel continues to operate with “the same medical resources and healthcare services” it had more than 25 years ago, when the town had barely 3,200 inhabitants.
The platform also warns that the existing health centre, which serves not only San Miguel de Salinas but also Los Montesinos, Torremendo and the Entrenaranjos residential area, no longer has enough space to incorporate new services or increase staffing levels.
It claims San Miguel is “the worst equipped” of the five basic health zones in the Torrevieja health department and remains the only one without an integrated health centre. As a result, residents must travel to Torrevieja Hospital for services such as X-rays, rehabilitation and specialist consultations.
The group recalls that in February 2023, the management of the Torrevieja Health Department and San Miguel Town Hall publicly announced plans to expand the health centre. A feasibility study was reportedly prepared, along with a technical report reviewed by municipal staff.
Three years later, the platform says, “no progress has been made”.
The criticism follows recent comments made by the councillor for health on social media. The platform has accused both the Town Hall and the Regional Health Ministry of “selling empty promises again” by presenting as new a project that, according to the group, had already been agreed years ago.
The proposed expansion is estimated to cost €401,763, an amount the platform describes as “minimal and insignificant” when compared with the healthcare benefits it would bring to residents.
It also questions why the project has not moved forward when the Town Hall closed 2025 with a treasury surplus of more than €4.2 million, while the municipal health budget for 2026 stands at €30,000.
The platform further warns that around 3,000 additional homes were approved in the municipality three years ago “without providing for the necessary public services”. It says there is not even a designated plot of land reserved for future healthcare infrastructure.
“Waves of new residents keep arriving, but the increase in public services, such as healthcare, is neither present nor expected,” the platform concluded.
