Orihuela’s Partido Popular has obtained ten councillors, one more than in the 2019 elections, but not enough to govern in a minority, in a municipality in which the City Council, made up of 25 councillors, requires a majority of 13 out of 25. As a result, Vegara will have to make a pact with either Vox or Ciudadanos.
Vox, led by former Air Force General, Santiago Abascal, with four seats, has won two additional councillors representatives, monopolizing 14% of the votes, that is, 4,261 ballots, 2,366 more than he achieved four years ago, and almost the same as Ciudadanos, led by Jose Aix, has lost. The C’s obtained only three councillors, a loss of two council seats, so the Aix party no longer has the key to the Mayor’s Office.
Despite his pre-election rhetoric, however, on Monday Jose Aix was already extending a hand to Vegara, asking him to choose between the extreme right or moderation. Vegara’s response was somewhat less conciliatory; “We must not fall again in the clutches of these parasites of politics that only have the objective of thriving and turning the City Council into their farmhouse or company”, said the PP campaigner. Without forgetting that he included in his lists two who are being investigated for prevarication in municipal contracts, Ángel Noguera (number four) and Luisa Boné (number two), the first of them twice.
But neither is there any agreement, at the moment, to govern with Vox, Vegara stressed, while adding that ” Orihuela does not deserve red lines , but people who come to add, work and really change this city in which we all live and belong to, a project of all and for all”.
Following the electoral hangover, Vegara has stated that “what we have to do is sit down, analyse the results and then interpret what Orihuela want “. As a result of this “we will make the decisions for the alliances.”
Vegara has not set out a timetable, but has stated that the deadlines given are “the shortest possible, without mornings or afternoons, we have to start now”, because “it is urgent to introduce some measures so that when we finally move into office we have much of the work done.” Undoubtedly, he must now also display his negotiation skills and understanding.
He also stated that “we have to think about what is important, but first we must do what is urgent” . In his opinion, “Orihuela is dirty, from the city centre to our beaches”. Walking through the centre of the city, he said that he has received many complaints from the residents about the state of the streets, the roundabout, the fountain.
For this reason, he continued, the first thing is to carry out “a shock plan for street cleaning, pruning, the day-to-day operation of a city, starting to get Orihuela up and running, cleaning it, tidying up, the playgrounds – there are some which are dangerous for our children. All this we have to change now, He concluded, “we will begin to undertake the big projects that we have and that we are going to start, some of them we will not be able to finish in four years or even in eight but we have to start”.
He said that he will focus on the restructuring of the urban cleaning and pruning collection service, he will put out to tender the maintenance service for roads and green areas, providing them with larger budgets as well as sorting out the beach bars.
He will also request the abolition of the toll on the AP-7 as it passes through Orihuela Costa, which, in his opinion, would considerably reduce traffic on the N-332, improve the mobility of the residents of the coastal zone and make pedestrian permeability possible, improving road safety and environmental sustainability.
He will also build the pedestrian walkway over the AP-7 Lomas de Cabo Roig bridge and a pavement in both directions, which he will include in his first budget.
In addition, among his promises for the Coast, is the creation of the Department of the Coast and International Residents, with a specific investment plan for actions and with a delegated councillor who will be a resident in the area, and who will coordinate with other areas such as infrastructure, street cleaning, beaches, parks and green areas.
In the longer term, he said that he is committed to the implementation of the business park and the reinforcement of the Puente Alto industrial estate, as well as the Sports City and the reactivation of the historic city centre.
Thus, Vegara said that his party “is the only one that can ensure the take-off that we all hope for”, because ” Orihuela has not only to play in the Champions League but to aspire to win it”.
