A court has overturned Torrevieja City Council’s award of the contract to operate sunbeds, parasols and water sports facilities on the municipality’s beaches between 2025 and 2028.
The judgment found that the council’s Contracting Committee failed to provide sufficient justification for rejecting the accessibility proposal that municipal technicians had rated as the best submitted.
The concession, awarded by the Local Governing Board in July 2025, went to Actividades Torrevieja, a joint venture formed by Actividades Náuticas Torrevieja and Baliser Equipamientos de Playas. The four-season agreement involved an operating fee of approximately €1.2 million for the commercial use of public beach space.
However, rival bidder Recreativos Acuáticos Horadada challenged the decision after the committee awarded it no points for an accessibility improvement to which technical officers had previously given the maximum score.
The Administrative Law Section of the Elche Court of First Instance has now partially upheld the company’s appeal. The ruling cancels both the original contract award and the council’s subsequent rejection of the company’s appeal for reconsideration.
The dispute centred on a proposed adapted bathing platform for people with reduced mobility at Torrevieja’s natural pools.
Recreativos Acuáticos Horadada offered a €109,918 installation comprising an access walkway, pontoon modules, pilings, anchors, a ladder, pergola and a lift for disabled bathers. Its budget included two ramp sections, each measuring six metres long and 2.5 metres wide.
Questions arose because the budget listed two sections while one of the plans appeared to show only one. Council technicians asked the bidder to correct the possible mistake or explain why both were required.
The company said the two modules would create a 12-metre walkway capable of reaching water at least 70 centimetres deep, which was necessary for the safe operation of the lift. It supported its explanation with information about the depth and underwater profile of the natural pools.
Two municipal technicians accepted the explanation. Their June 2025 report concluded that the ramps were not duplicated and that both were required to position the pontoon far enough from shore. The proposal was awarded the maximum 16 points, taking the company’s overall score to 88.37.
The Contracting Committee subsequently decided that the clarification had altered the original bid and removed all 16 points, reducing the score to 72.37 and preventing the company from winning the concession.
Judge Ricardo Barrio Martín rejected that argument. He concluded that the original offer had always included two six-metre sections and that the later documents merely explained the apparent inconsistency between the budget and the drawing. There was no change to the price or the substance of the proposal.
The ruling described the decision to award zero points as disproportionate and unjustified. Although contracting committees may depart from non-binding technical reports, the judge said they must give adequate reasons for doing so. In this case, the committee had failed to explain why it disregarded a detailed and conclusive assessment by municipal officers.
The court also noted that the successful bidder initially proposed a seven-metre walkway but later sought one measuring eight or ten metres after the original proved inadequate. That platform entered service at one of the natural pools on July 10.
The judgment does not automatically award the contract to Recreativos Acuáticos Horadada, as procurement decisions remain the council’s responsibility. It also rejected the company’s claim for €55,619 in lost profits.
Instead, Torrevieja City Council must return the tender process to the stage immediately before the committee’s June 2025 decision and produce a new, properly reasoned proposal.
The ruling may be appealed before the Valencian Community High Court. The current operator could also request interim permission to continue providing the beach services while any appeal is considered.
