The long-overdue second health centre for Orihuela Costa has taken a major step forward after the Generalitat Valenciana formally delegated powers to Orihuela City Council to deliver the project.
The resolution, published on Friday in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat, assigns a maximum of €8.9 million in regional funding for the construction of the new primary care facility, with the aim of having it operational by 2029.
For residents of Orihuela Costa, the announcement marks an important but still cautious milestone in a demand that has been repeated for years. The coast currently relies on a single health centre at Aguamarina to serve around 30,000 registered residents, a figure that rises threefold during holiday periods and the summer season.
The existing centre has long been considered insufficient for the size and needs of the coastal population. Residents have repeatedly called either for its expansion or for the construction of a second facility, arguing that healthcare provision has failed to keep pace with the area’s rapid growth.
Now, under the newly published resolution, Orihuela Council will be responsible for managing the project, including the tendering of the design, technical work and construction. The council had requested the delegation of powers in October, following a Consell decree establishing a framework for cooperation between the Generalitat and municipalities on the construction and expansion of primary care centres.
A supporting report issued in April by the regional health ministry’s Director General for Economic Management, Contracting and Infrastructure justified the project on the grounds of rising demand and future population projections. The assessment calculated the need based on a population of 28,379 patients to be shared between the existing health centre and the new one.
The overall funding limit has been set at €8,903,435. Of this, €690,188 is earmarked for project drafting and construction management between now and 2029, while €8,213,247 is assigned to the building work itself from next year.
The timetable foresees the design contract being put out to tender this year, with construction expected to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2029. However, the schedule remains dependent both on elections and on the annual budget allocations approved by the Generalitat.
Eligible expenses include administrative contracting procedures, project drafting, technical studies, project management, assistance services, fees, taxes and the construction works themselves.
However, the regional funding will not cover every cost. Any compensation arising from contract termination or suspension attributable to the City Council will be excluded, as will cost increases caused by contract modifications during execution. The council must also cover the preparation of the site, estimated at around €1 million.
Ongoing expenses such as building maintenance, general furniture, cleaning, security, utilities and minor future improvements will also fall to the local authority.
Before the delegation becomes definitive, it must be approved by the municipal plenary.
The new health centre is planned for a plot on Calle Trepadora, in the H1 Villa Rosa sector, covering approximately 2,852 square metres. In November 2024, the council ceded a larger 12,000-square-metre site in the northern part of Orihuela Costa, between Calle Beduinos and Calle J’Alhamed.
The location, around six kilometres from the existing Aguamarina health centre and close to the Torrevieja municipal boundary, is intended to improve healthcare coverage for a growing population. The size of the plot also allows for parking areas and a building of up to five storeys.
The planned services, first outlined by the local government in August 2025 when the project was still at an early stage, include five general medicine consulting rooms, five nursing rooms, two paediatric consulting rooms with corresponding paediatric nursing facilities, extraction rooms, a midwife consultation, women’s care, rehabilitation, sexual health, dentistry and radiology.
The centre will also include patient-care areas, general service spaces, storage rooms and changing facilities.
For Orihuela Costa residents, the project cannot come soon enough. The existing Aguamarina centre has been the coast’s only primary care facility despite the area’s year-round population growth and its transformation into one of the municipality’s busiest residential and tourist zones.
Its limitations are evident even from the outside, with deterioration visible and old signage from the former concessionaire still remaining on the building after two decades.
Although the latest announcement does not mean construction will begin immediately, it does give the long-promised second health centre a formal funding framework, a proposed timetable and a defined route forward after years of pressure from residents, healthcare users and community groups.
