Over 500 parents and their children, protested in Orihuela City on Sunday over the appalling state of the municipal playgrounds. They were united as they marched to the town hall condemning the poor state and the lack of maintenance of playgrounds in the town, the districts and on the coast. The entire municipality was at one in their condemnation at the apathy demonstrated by Mayor Jose Vegara and his fellow councillors.
At the doors of the town hall, those gathered read a statement in which they stated that their only interest is to demand solutions at the abandonment of playgrounds across the entire area. They asked the City Council make a “budgetary effort” because, they say, play and sports activities “are vital and indispensable for the interaction and social development of children.”
The protest was entirely “peaceful” and “without colours or political flags as they asked the City Council to assume their responsibilities in the repair, cleaning and maintenance of children’s play areas stating that “it is everyone’s duty to be respectful of the facilities.”
The organisers gathered at midday at the Consistory in front of the Palace of the Marquis of Arneva with a banner that read “We want solutions now! Parks, sports facilities and green areas. They are a right, not a luxury”!
Among the crowd accompanying their parents were lots of children, many of who had many of who had manufactured and actually carried their own protest signs with slogans stating “we have the right to play in parks without danger”, “a park, a smile” or “You are forgetting about our children.”
Protesters chanted slogans such as “in Orihuela, the parks are sad.”
During the march, which was escorted by the Local Police, the protesters travelled across López Pozas, the Puente Viejo, San Agustín and Avenida de España until they reached the Glorieta where they demanded solutions from the council.
Images courtesy PIOC
