Press Release
The residents of Orihuela Costa have suffered, and still are, from an appalling lack of services by the current and the Previous councils for far too long compared, to all other local towns.
This cannot be blamed on population size as the Costa has a population far greater than most and in roughly seven years will be twice the size of old Orihuela. The coast is expanding by roughly 700 residents a year while old Orihuela is decreasing by 200 a year.
It is difficult to see how a city at 30 kilometres distance, separated by countryside and several independent towns, can lay administrative claims on the coastal area. Surely a district with a population exceeding 33,227 is of sufficient size to have its own municipal council and elect councillors who actually live in the area, who can truly represent the residents of the area they live in with its own Mayor.
It’s amazing that towns and villages of much smaller size have control of their administrative affairs. Just a few kilometres from Orihuela Costa, the town of Pilar de la Horadada with a population of approximately 25,000 gained independence from the strangle hold of Orihuela in 1986. Since that time this town has thrived and the amenities available to the residents have really grown.
Money raised from the area is actually spent on the residents contributing to the municipal income. There is no comparison between the public amenities in Pilar de la Horadada and Orihuela Costa, the former is a well resourced thriving area, the latter is a cash cow for the benefit of the well subsidised inhabitants of a location 30 kilometres.
It is only the residents of Orihuela Costa who can empower themselves, who can provide the development and advancement of their own locality, otherwise they will continue to receive little more than the scraps off the Orihuela table. Independence for Orihuela Costa is the only real way forward. This is the only way that will ensure that services and amenities appropriate to the size of the population are provided.
Several plots of land have been auctioned off which all together raised well over €21,000,000 where has all that money gone.
For too long the Costa has been marginalised, neglected and raided for the benefit of Orihuela. When the council looks at the coast they don’t view us as equals, all they see is the €, it is like the story of the farmer and the golden goose, they are the farmer and the coast is the goose that laid the golden egg for them to plunder at their whim.
It is now time that the residents gain the services that they have been desperately waiting for. At the very least the coast must have an appropriate number of councillors from the area.
With present population statistics a minimum of 8 councillors should actually be serving on the Orihuela Council from the coastal region, in the last election out of a possible 7,300 registered voters only 2,400 actually turned out, we have just over 2 years to work and prepare for the next elections, it is suggested that the number of registered voters will far exceed the 7,300 in 2019.
YOU MUST DECLARE YOUR INTENTION TO VOTE IN THE 2023 ELECTIONS, when you check your padron next year.
