The San Miguel de Salinas Residents’ Association has filed an appeal against the final approval of the third revision to the SUS-A partial plan “Los Invernaderos.” This appeal comes after the group’s 21 objections were dismissed.

The alteration they oppose proposed increasing density and consolidating it in eight towers with ground floors and seven high-rise structures in the development’s proximity to the town centre, as well as situating social housing on the same land, they claim.

The number of dwellings in this partial plan has risen from 1,582 to 2,204 since its first approval. They protest that only 90 units are classified as public housing.

According to the association’s reasoning, the land earmarked for social housing should be 30% of the residential buildable area in the area, which equates to 48,886 m2. These 90 reserved homes total slightly over 11,000 m2.

According to the association’s statement, the legal department’s reaction is that this rule applies to “rural land that will be included in new development projects,” which is incorrect because the area is already heavily urbanised.

Another criticism raised by this group is that social housing not be concentrated on the same plot, as this would be a “segregationist” decision with no integration.

They also point out that the sector is divided into two half by a promenade, with no infrastructure connecting the two regions of development, allowing people to move more freely.

Fights at Playa Flamenca Secondary School or its vicinity are constantly recorded. “Everything is as bad as ever,” says one mother. The difference is that Pandora’s box was opened four months ago, following the murder of Cloe, 15, allegedly by her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend. Both young women attended the only secondary school in Orihuela Costa. She was in her fourth year of compulsory secondary education, and he was doing vocational training during the afternoon shift after dropping out of his first year of high school. Now, she says, there is a daily police presence, and parents are making complaints.

The films all follow a similar pattern: guys and girls fighting while being cheered on by the crowd. In many situations, the confrontations begin within the school and then spread to the street, or they are pre-planned and a “get-together” is organised to observe and record them in real time.

Expulsions of implicated students have occurred in recent days, but the prevalent perception is that no decisive action or measures to solve the situation are being implemented.

Local police sources confirm that they have escalated. Although cops have been working on this issue with the juvenile unit for over a year and have increased police presence, the same sources admit that it is a difficult problem to fix. Meanwhile, the centre’s management declined to comment.

After Cloe’s suspected killer sliced her throat in an alley in La Florida, the Parents’ Association stated that the school, which has roughly 1,000 kids, had been a true “breeding ground for crime” for years.

They described it as a pressure cooker, with no lack of fights, assaults, harassment, abuse, alcohol-related comas, narcotics, truancy, and firearms. In fact, at the start of the school year, a 12-year-old girl was brutally beaten and hospitalised, prompting a meeting at the Coastal Emergency Centre between the IES and the two coastal schools, the councillors for Education, Coastal, and Citizen Security, the Local Police (with their gender-based violence and truancy units), and the Civil Guard.

It was also discovered that certain people near the school give out little amounts of narcotics for free in order to “hook” young people and subsequently “recruit” them to conduct criminal crimes such as stealing cell phones or other products and trafficking in substances. In this setting, and once inside the “network,” many of them are equipped with knives and switchblades for protection.

The imprisoned minor’s surroundings were tied to a group that committed petty crimes such as theft and squatting. He frequented “the Chinaman’s house,” along with other young people who went there to do drugs and party. This unfinished residential complex has become a hotspot of disturbances in recent years, as reported by neighbours whose properties are across the street or only a few steps away.

This is one of the terraced houses on Calle Nutria that has been abandoned for more than a decade, about 500 metres from where the Guardia Civil believes the young man burnt his clothes and the knife in a semi-ruined warehouse next to a water tank on Morral Street, very close to the alley where Cloe received a cut on her neck that killed her shortly after in Torrevieja Hospital.

Residents of Colonia Requena have grown tired of the illegal street market that has been hosted every afternoon on Calle Cuarzo for more than two years. Around 5 p.m., sheets and blankets begin to spread throughout the pedestrian zone, along with slippers, cleaning supplies, clothing, toys, and everything else that can be bought or sold. Of course, there is no permit or traceability for the product.

The problem is not new, according to locals, who explain that there were only a few of these kiosks at first, but more are now joining. According to local complaints, the market not only violates the law, but it also creates an unsafe environment in one of the neighbourhoods with the highest risk of social exclusion. In fact, these stalls are directly adjacent to one of the urban enclave’s sports fields, where dozens of children train every day.

According to them, this illicit activity is commonly reported, and police frequently arrive to break up the market. However, once they leave the street, the stalls quickly return. In reality, the recently dead Antonio Colomina of the neighbourhood association had already condemned this behaviour and collaborated extensively with the authorities to put an end to it.

Residents of Colonia Requena are concerned about not just the illegality of selling goods of unknown origin, but also the likelihood that this place will be utilised to sell additional narcotics. This is why they are concerned it will become a hotspot in the neighbourhood.

Not only that, but when the stalls are taken, the space is left dusty and littered, rendering it almost worthless for any other purpose until they are restored in the same location the next day.

The police confirm that they take regular action, but they are still fighting to abolish this behaviour. Residents, for their part, are advocating for stronger action. They want that they not only remove vendor stalls, but also alert customers that they may be contributing to punishable criminal activity.

In September 2023, the Alicante municipal plenary session passed an institutional declaration that included the abolition of this market. Vox initiated the initiative, which was passed with the PP’s backing.