By Tomas Moreno
More than three years after taking office—and with less than a year remaining before the end of its term—Orihuela’s local government continues to be plagued by serious and unjustifiable delays. Measures of vital importance to residents are simply not being delivered quickly enough.
This is an administration moving at a snail’s pace, failing to fulfil its programme or respond adequately to the needs of the municipality.
The Public Sector Procurement Portal, which records tenders and contract awards, provides perhaps the clearest indication of the administration’s performance. What it currently reveals makes disheartening reading for residents.
Schools
The council had the entire summer holiday period in which to carry out essential maintenance at Orihuela’s schools. Yet, as of September 1, the contracts had not even been put out to tender. As a result, the work will now have to be undertaken after pupils have returned to the classroom.
AP-7 pedestrian and cycle bridge at Lomas de Cabo Roig
The mayor’s supposed flagship project for Orihuela Costa continues to suffer delays. The scheme has had to be revised, with the proposed bridge width reduced from the original design to keep the cost within the approved €1.4 million budget.
It appears that additional funding cannot be found for the coast, although money seems readily available for other projects in Orihuela city.
Unless the remaining procedures are accelerated, the land expropriations, tendering process and construction work could extend beyond the end of the current council term in May 2027.
Street cleaning and waste collection
The municipal company established more than two years ago to manage street cleaning and waste collection has still not begun operating.
The council now says it will launch “early next year”—conveniently close to the forthcoming local elections.
We shall have to wait and see whether the service lives up to the high expectations being raised about its promised quality and efficiency.
Waste containers
Since the previous contract, worth almost €700,000, was awarded in May last year, the council has failed to publish a new tender for the purchase of the more than 1,000 waste containers promised to the coastal area.
This is despite the council reportedly having more than €100 million sitting in the bank, tied up because of ineffective management.
Seaweed removal
A contract to transport seaweed from the beaches to an authorised landfill site was published on the Procurement Portal at the beginning of June, but it has still not been awarded.
Meanwhile, seaweed that should have been removed at the start of the high season remains on the beaches. The Street Cleaning Department now says that, once the high season is over, it will be returned to the sea. Seeing is believing.
Beach lifts at Punta Prima and Barranco Rubio
The lift at Punta Prima was finally repaired just as the high season was coming to an end. The delay followed the late launch of the tendering process, which did not begin until July 14.
All three beach lifts are supposed to be replaced using the €250,000 allocated in the 2024 municipal budget. Two years later, that investment has still not been carried out.
Drainage at the N-332 underpass
The tender for a rainwater drainage system at the N-332 underpass, valued at just over €500,000, was published on January 30, 2025.
Following a lengthy delay, the contract was eventually awarded on December 26, 2025. However, work has still not begun.
This is yet another setback to an essential project intended to address the serious inconvenience suffered by residents whenever heavy rain affects the coastal area.
My impression is that Orihuela’s PP–Vox government is completely out of touch with the reality of the municipality. It has failed to set the council’s administrative machinery in motion and deliver the services residents deserve.
As the mayor himself recently admitted, the administration is moving at “one kilometre per hour.”
