I am probably putting my head on the political chopping block by writing this.
So be it because things has to be said
I was a founder member of PIOC, and I remain firmly in favour of independence for Orihuela Costa.
But believing in independence does not mean I have to believe every strategy proposed in its name is effective.
Nor does it mean residents should be told that independence is just around the corner if only enough people sign a petition or attend a demonstration.
It isn’t.
Independence is a journey, and I believe it will take more than one election to reach the final station.
The late American journalist I.F. Stone once wrote:
“The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you’re going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins.”
That quotation could almost have been written for Orihuela Costa.
Because independence may not be won at the first attempt.
It may not be won at the second.
Those who begin the journey may not even be the ones who eventually reach the destination.
But if nobody is prepared to begin that journey — and keep going after setbacks — then nothing will ever change.
We must build representation election after election.
We must persuade more residents to register to vote.
We must turn frustration into votes.
We must gradually build sufficient political strength that Orihuela Costa can no longer be treated as an inconvenient appendage of a municipality whose centre of political gravity lies more than 30 kilometres away.
That is how lasting political change is achieved.
Petitions can have value as a demonstration of public feeling, but too often they become political theatre rather than instruments of change.
Over many years, residents of Orihuela Costa have signed petitions about roads, services, infrastructure and countless other problems.
I saw it when I was involved with Claro, and I have seen it again with PIOC.
How many of those petitions fundamentally changed the direction of Orihuela Town Hall?
In my experience, very few have achieved anything substantial — and none has fundamentally altered the way the coast is treated.
Collecting thousands of signatures may demonstrate public anger, and there is nothing wrong with doing that.
But a petition has no ballot box attached to it.
Politicians understand votes.
That is the currency of politics.
Protests are different.
I believe demonstrating outside Orihuela Town Hall has value because it allows residents to confront those exercising power and publicly express their frustration.
I have done it myself.
For anyone who has forgotten, the last time I protested against Mayor Pepe Vegara and Councillor Manuel Mestre, they were attending the switching-on of the Christmas lights while residents were outside making their feelings known.
The Local Police even took my details.
That did not suddenly transform Orihuela Costa.
But it made our anger visible.
Sometimes making politicians uncomfortable is part of democracy.
What protests cannot do, however, is substitute for electoral strength.
Even if one day a coastal political movement achieved an extraordinary electoral result — even a majority — independence would still not arrive on Monday morning.
That is perhaps the most important truth residents need to understand.
The Ayuntamiento of Orihuela is only one obstacle.
There is Valencia.
There is Madrid.
There are legal procedures, financial assessments, territorial questions, public assets, liabilities, municipal employees, contracts, services and infrastructure that would all have to be resolved.
Anyone who believes Orihuela would simply shake our hand, wish us well and hand over the keys has misunderstood politics.
No Mayor of Orihuela wants to be remembered as the mayor who lost Orihuela Costa.
And nobody should assume that the Generalitat Valenciana or the wider institutions of the Spanish state will simply stand aside and wave independence through without intense scrutiny, argument and resistance.
There will be obstacles.
There will be setbacks.
There may be political attempts to derail the process.
There may be legal battles.
And we may lose some of those battles.
But that is exactly where I.F. Stone’s words become important.
Some fights are worth fighting precisely because they take time.
Because somebody has to start them.
Somebody has to keep going.
Somebody has to lose, regroup, learn and fight again until eventually somebody wins.
That does not mean we accept failure.
It means we understand the nature of the struggle.
I still believe Orihuela Costa can ultimately govern itself.
PIOC has a commitment towards Orihuela Costa. But Orihuela has an obligation to resolve the many problems that have plagued us for years.
Those are not the same thing.
PIOC can argue for change, campaign for independence and try to build the political strength needed to alter the future. But until any new municipality exists, Orihuela Town Hall remains responsible for the roads, services, infrastructure and day-to-day problems residents are living with now.
Independence cannot become an excuse for the Ayuntamiento to neglect its present obligations, nor should residents be expected to wait years for basic problems to be addressed simply because a political movement is fighting for a different future.
But we will not achieve it through slogans, wishful thinking or by telling residents what they want to hear.
We achieve it by building electoral strength.
One election.
Then another.
And another if necessary.
Every councillor gained is another station along the route.
Every resident registered to vote strengthens the argument.
Every serious financial and legal study makes the case harder to dismiss.
I support independence because I believe Orihuela Costa deserves control over its own future.
But if we are going to ask residents to join this journey, we owe them the truth about how long and difficult that journey may be.
Independence may not be won by those who begin the journey.
But if nobody begins it, nobody will ever reach the destination.
The destination is independence.
The ballot box is the train.
And there are going to be many stations before we reach the end of the line.
