The opposition Partido Popular (PP) group in Orihuela, who themselves have faced years of criticism for neglecting the Orihuela Costa whilst in power, is raising concerns that the beaches along the municipality’s coasts will not be awarded the Blue Flag status this year.
According to the PP, the eleven beaches on the Orihuela coast may not display the important ‘Blue Flag’ distinction this summer if the deficiencies that they currently present are not corrected in the coming days.
The government team promised, when the summer season ended and requested to apply for this year’s call, to keep them in the same state they were in 2022. The PP has expressed its concern since at this time the requirements to qualify are not met. Namely, the contract specifications for the Chiringuitos have not yet been published, so it will be very difficult for it to be in force for the Easter period, even though the government team is aware that the previous contract expired on December 31.
In addition to lacking beach services, there is, allegedly, also a lack of cleaning support, after the company, UTE Playas de Orihuela, terminated the contract due to the non-payment-delay of the invoices that have been submitted since last June (the current government team took over in April). “The company has not been paid for 6 months, despite having a consignment, we will also have to pay late-payment interest and we are left without support for Easter”, according to the former councillor responsible for cleaning, Demaso Aparicio.
In addition to all of the above, they say, we must add that the works on the long-awaited Work Centre on the Coast are not going to start either. “If we were already late, as we already denounced, and the councillor promised that they would start in January, it seems that we will have to wait and, as happens with the Beach Bars, we find ourselves once again facing a breach of commitments.”
The Blue Flag inspections are notified in advance, and take a very short period of time in order to check the qualities for the next seasonal awards.
