Orihuela’s Socialist Party has accused the Urban Planning Department of mismanagement after the council took six months to transfer the €3,000 needed to formally establish its municipal housing and land company.
Socialist councillor Milagros Lacárcel said the company had been presented by the PP-led government as an urgent priority when its statutes were approved in January. However, the capital transfer required to make it operational was not completed until June.
The PSOE said the delay exposed a gap between the council’s public announcements and its actual management. Lacárcel also criticised Urban Planning Councillor Matías Ruiz’s response to earlier opposition concerns, calling for “more education and less arrogance”.
The Socialists said the housing company had been discussed for more than two years before being brought before the council and claimed its statutes had required correction following PSOE objections.
They also questioned why €5 million in municipal reserves had previously been set aside in connection with the project when the company was ultimately created with capital of only €3,000.
The PSOE is now calling for part of the council’s budget surplus to be used for direct rent and home-purchase assistance, particularly for young people and families struggling to access housing.
It has also proposed creating a municipal housing bank to encourage owners to place empty properties on the rental market, with the council acting as an intermediary and providing greater legal security.
Lacárcel said Orihuela needed practical housing policies with an immediate impact, rather than announcements that took years to deliver.
