Orihuela seals up the Costa beach bars

Having detected attempts to reopen the Chiringuitos Orihuela Council has sent a patrol of police officers to seal up the beach bars on the Orihuela Costa.

The facilities have been closed since 1 January, when the contract, including provision of sunbeds, umbrellas and water sports, was terminated, after an extension was made in extremis on 31 December, 2021 and despite the fact that Chiringuitos del Sol had submitted a request for a 12 month extension, while the new tender document was written and the contract awarded.

And the bars will continue to remain closed over the busy Easter holiday period, because, although the specifications for a new tender are ready, the any decision cannot be made in time, despite the fact that in January, Antonio Sánchez, the councillor for beaches, clearly stated that they would be reopened for that date.

At that time the forecasts were that the tender would be published that same month and the evaluation of the offers would then be carried out in February, with the award proposal being made in March. But now it would seem that they might not be ready for the start of the summer, given the complexity of a contract in which many bidders are likely to be involved.

Despite the councillor for Beaches stating in the Municipal Plenary of 24-2-2023, that “in the next few days the tender will be launched and by the end of February the toilets will be operational,” the beaches are still without toilets, one of the most important services demanded by members of the public.

Having failed miserably he is now promising that portable toilets, with three daily cleanings, will be available on all the beaches at Easter, along with the renewal of footbaths and walkways, and, from 1 to 10 April, a lifeguard service.

We understand that the new tender will be similar to the previous one, with an amount of about  900,000 euros payable to the council for four years, and the possibility of extending it for two more years.

Meanwhile, Chiringuitos del Sol, the company that has operated the service since 2018, has asked the council for compensation to offset their economic losses due to storm Gloria, the DANA of 2019, the pandemic and inflation .

It is necessary to highlight the great negative impact that the lack of beach bars and toilets has on tourism on Orihuela Costa and the city of Orihuela, the main economic engine of the municipality, an impact that the mayor and her councillors either don’t care about, or are unaware of.

It is unacceptable and incomprehensible that, in the more than 14 months since the contract ended those responsible have not been able to organise a tender. All they seem capable of doing is collecting their fat salaries at the end of every month and posing in front of a camera.  Anywhere else they would accept the fact that they have badly let the public down and resign.