The remains of the road that crossed the mouth of the Nacimiento River in Campoamor are now history as Costas decided not to wait for the appeal court ruling, by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, on the reconstruction of Avenida de las Adelfas that was lodged three years ago by the Orihuela Council. On Tuesday it moved in an excavator which began ripping up what was left of the road, largely destroyed by the DANA floods back in 2019.
The former road, they say, which connected the road traffic from Dehesa de Campoamor to Aguamarina and other coastal neighbourhoods, is to be replaced with a platform of wooden slats 55 meters long, three meters wide and three meters wide, for the sole use of pedestrians.
Although the work was briefly halted by the Policia Local, following a phone call from a local resident, work was resumed on Wednesday despite neighbourhood opposition, and despite also, any intervention by the Orihuela council, the mayor or the councillor for the coast, all of whom seem to have, once again, turned their back on the needs of the local population. Neither the Councillor for the Coast nor the Mayor has given any public explanation to the residents.
The government team, meanwhile, states that it has not closed its means of communication with Costas and that the Litigation “continues,” stating that the councillor of the Coast, Manuel Mestre, is waiting for a meeting to address the problem after the decision of the Costas to undertake the works at its own risk.
Since 2019, when the damage first occurred, the residents of Campoamor have been demanding that the road be repaired and reopened. Previously drivers could cross from one bank of the river to the other along the beachfront, but now they are forced to make a detour inland, to drive along the road that crosses the promenade under the famous stone viaduct, often impassable itself, in which case another kilometre inland to the N-332.
In a statement on its facebook page AVCRL concludes by asking, “Is the current government team in tune with the residents of Dehesa de Campoamor, who are simply defending their right not to be isolated.”
It is now becoming increasingly obvious to residents of the coast that, after 12 months establishing them in government, our failing Orihuela politicians are showing themselves to be increasingly invulnerable to public opposition by residents of the coast, and are being driven more by a pursuit of power and personal interests than by any genuine attachment to an ideal of public service.
