Costa Blanca

Elche is seeking tender for an additional 22,000 plants, shrubs, and flowers from 150 different species

The Parks and Gardens brigades of the Elche City Council can take comfort in the fact that the service they have been providing has been gradually outsourced. A new contract that is presently being tendered, which is similar to the one that was already signed in 2024, guarantees them “extra” work. This year, the municipal government plans to acquire over 22,000 flowers, plants, and shrubbery of up to 150 distinct species to enhance the city’s aesthetic appeal, a practice that has been a defining characteristic of Pablo Ruz since his appointment as Mayor in June 2023. More than €88,000 will be allocated from public funding for this purpose.

Last year, a contract was awarded to a company in Valladolid in June, with a value of just over €82,600. In February of last year, a decision was made to acquire additional flowers, plants, and shrubbery, totalling just over €8,000. This was due to the fact that there were no additional plants to be planted and the contract was set to expire in June. In other words, they completed the entire year’s worth of plantings in just eight months, but they believed it was worthwhile to acquire additional plants.

Complaint filed by the PSOE

The Ruz administration has acquired additional flowers in addition to this one. Councillor Patricia Macià has lodged a complaint alleging that the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) submitted €60,000 in purchases from nurseries to the Anti-Corruption Office in 2024 without a contract. In December 2023, the Socialists also discovered an additional €40,000 in purchases that were dispersed across flower and plant enterprises.

This new contract is anticipated to be implemented in June. However, it is not the sole ornamental plant initiative for 2025. The newspaper reported that another contract is being negotiated with a company to oversee the maintenance of all gardening and replacements in the Municipal Park. This is similar to the work being conducted on the Ronda Sur for the Elx Oasis project, which includes grass meadows.

Mayor Ruz disregards the opposition’s criticism, particularly that of Socialist spokesperson Héctor Díez, concerning the expenditures on flowers and their maintenance. In a plenary session, Díez denounced the payment of nocturnal overtime to water plants, which he regards as a “waste of public funds.” The governing team did not contest the accusation. It is possible that they intend to maintain this policy.

“Significant pressure”

What is the reason for the increased demand for plants? In accordance with the contract document, “it is due to the ornamental necessity to enhance the city’s living conditions.” These plants are subjected to a significant amount of stress in the urban environment, as they are constantly plagued by pests and diseases, as well as vandalism, accidents, and damage from trenching or other construction activities. This leads to a relatively high mortality rate among these plants, necessitating the implementation of campaigns to replace shrub species and floral plants in order to preserve the municipal plant heritage.

The City Council is not economising on plants and will acquire a diverse array of species, including shrubs, bushes, and subshrubs, climbers, ground cover plants, perennial plants, roses, seasonal flowers, and native plants for revegetation. With the exception of herbaceous plants and seasonal floral plants, which will be guaranteed for one month, a six-month guarantee is required. The plants must be delivered to the Municipal Nursery in a state of readiness for planting; in reality, the contract stipulates that transport conditions must be maintained to prevent dehydration. When would you like to plant them?

Fifteen days

The City Council specifies a five-day deadline for the delivery of the material if it is accessible at the company’s facilities, or a 15-day deadline if it is not. The technicians are requesting the ability to inspect the nurseries themselves in order to verify the quality of the material they are receiving. Additionally, they are requesting the ability to divide deliveries according to the municipal program’s forecasts. For instance, this involves associating a particular flower or plant with a particular season. This would be the case for the chrysanthemums in the vicinity of All Saints’ Day.

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Related Topics:2025 Construction Council Elche Elx Environment Mayor Public Vandalism

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Costa Blanca

Consum announces the opening of new stores in Aldaia, Alaquàs, Sueca, Xàtiva, Massanassa and Torrevieja

Consum expands its operations in the Valencian Community and announces the opening of additional stores in six towns throughout Valencia. The Valencian cooperative’s comprehensive network of supermarkets in the region is further enhanced by these new openings.

New Consum stores are scheduled to open in Valencia in 2025

The following are the new stores that Consum will establish in the towns of Valencia:

Alaquàs

Aldaia

Massanassa

Sueca

Xàtiva

Torrevieja (Alicante)

Three of the stores that were acquired from Kuups last year have enabled the establishment of some of these new supermarkets. These have already been assigned an estimated opening date:

Massanassa (C/ Medi Ambient), which is scheduled to commence operations at the conclusion of May.
Alaquàs (Av. Blasco Ibáñez) and Aldaia (Av. Miguel Hernández) will launch under the Consum brand in the middle of the year.
Consum intends to maintain its pace of establishing 53 new supermarkets in 2025, including 18 of its own stores and 35 Charter stores, as well as to execute 31 renovations and expansions.

In 2024, Consum achieved revenues of €4,707.03 million, a 7.3% increase, and profits of €108.7 million, a 7.5% increase from the previous year. These figures substantiate the business model advocated by the Valencian cooperative, which is founded on price competitiveness, a diverse selection of leading brands without sacrificing the quality of its own brand, and a steadfast dedication to ensuring customer savings through discounts and gift vouchers. More than €62.2 million has been allocated to this initiative.

Antonio Rodríguez Lázaro, the CEO of Consum, stated that “these results are indicative of the dedication of our entire team, the confidence of our customers, and our capacity to adjust to change while maintaining our commitment to sustainability and innovation.”

It maintained its sixth position in the national classification of distribution companies by surface area throughout the year, increasing its market share by 0.1% to 4.7% of the national market. Nielsen reports that its market share by sales in its area of influence is 13.45%.

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Costa Blanca

The El Raso, Guardamar celebrates with a Tapas Route and concerts between May 15th and 17th

The programme for the third edition of the Guardamar del Segura City Council’s festivities has been unveiled in collaboration with the residents’ association of the El Raso Urbanisation, an area that is home to a significant number of international residents.

Between May 15th and 17th, the El Raso Urbanisation will commemorate its festivities with a Tapas Route and concerts. The festivities will take place on Thursday, May 15th and Friday, May 16th, and will feature an International Tapas Route featuring twelve establishments, which is two more than the previous year. María Venerdi, the Councillor for Festivals, has announced that participants will be able to experience tapas and a drink for 3.50 euros. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to participate in a drawing for a variety of rewards and vote for their preferred tapa on the “Tapaporte.” Last year’s edition saw the sale of over 7,000 tapas, as emphasised by the local organisers.

José Luis Sáez, the mayor of Guardamar, has emphasised the significance of “neighbourhoods becoming increasingly integrated into the dynamics of the municipality,” and he has noted that this event has “consolidated itself and become a great gastronomic celebration for the municipality.”

The city council will also offer a transport service that will travel to all participating venues in order to simplify the process of travelling.

Auditorio del Campo will host a grand celebration on Saturday, May 17th, commencing at 6 p.m. The event will feature a variety of musical groups, including the Costa Blanca Singers, who will serve as the opening act.

The charitable nature of these festivities has been emphasised by the Guardamar councillor for Festivals. The El Raso festival committee has sold T-shirts for the Tapas Route at a price of 10 euros. The proceeds of these sales, in addition to those from the bar service on the 17th, will be donated entirely to charitable causes, including the ‘El Milagro de Ver’ Foundation, which is dedicated to enhancing eye health in developing countries, and to those impacted by DANA in Valencia.

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Costa Blanca

Elche joins the national protests for Palestine on May 10th

Tomorrow, Saturday May 10th, the Elche Palestine Solidarity Committee has scheduled a demonstration in accordance with the national mobilisations under the slogan “Move for Palestine.” The march will commence at 7:00 p.m., and the rally will be held at the Chimeneas de L’Algeps in Elche at 6:30 p.m.

The initiative aims to denounce the situation in Gaza and Palestine as a whole, and to encourage citizens to demonstrate their solidarity and demand genuine action to halt the violence. The Elche Palestine Solidarity Committee extends an invitation to all individuals, irrespective of their gender or age, to participate in this collective demonstration.

As part of a coordinated campaign to increase awareness of the situation in Palestine and demand an end to the violence and occupation, this mobilisation is one of a series of demonstrations that have been organised in various cities throughout Spain.