News
Torrevieja makes things difficult for applicants for new taxi licenses

Pablo Samper, a councilman and spokesperson for Sueña Torrevieja, openly questioned the Torrevieja City Council’s decision to issue taxi licenses with “inaccessible technical requirements” and a deadline of March 24th.
Following the City Council’s revision of the municipal ordinance and announcement of the introduction of 16 taxi licenses in multiple phases, the process was started. Six licenses are offered for tender in the first round. There are currently about eighty-four taxis operating in the city.
Since the tender was launched, Samper notes, interested parties have encountered “serious difficulties in being able to submit bids.” The opposition councillor claims that the procedure’s intricacy demonstrates that it was created “without taking into account the reality of the sector.” According to him, the process necessitates a level of computer proficiency and administrative procedure knowledge “that is unacceptable for any ordinary person,” to the extent that the profile of the contractor is utilised by municipal supplier companies to choose public tenders.
Giving more points to bidders who buy an electric or hybrid car—especially if it’s a Euro cab modified for persons with limited mobility—is one of the prize criteria.
No hybrids
Since there are presently no hybrid vans that are modified for Euro taxis available in dealerships and the models that could meet the requirements have delivery times of four to six months, Samper claims that “the lack of supply on the market makes this requirement practically impossible to meet.”
Additionally, these cars need to be adapted to accommodate disabled individuals once they are purchased, which results in an extra three to five weeks of waiting. Some hybrid versions aren’t even adaptable because ramps can’t be installed because the batteries are on the underside of the car.
The City Council demands that the licenses granted be operational within 60 days, notwithstanding these challenges, “which makes this process, quite simply, unfeasible,” according to Samper.
Five years old
Another requirement is that cars must be no more than five years old; newer models receive more points. The technical sheet is the sole way to confirm that the date of the vehicle’s first registration is the date required by the City Council to be used for assessment. “How is it possible for a bidder to display the technical sheet of an unpurchased vehicle? This opposing party notes that this is an obvious illustration of the process’s flaws.
Answers
Sueña Torrevieja cannot keep quiet about a tender that excludes the great majority of drivers and jeopardises our city’s taxi service because “Torrevieja needs solutions, not a process designed to fail,” says Samper.
“We have to deal with an unfathomable technical process, impossible timeframes, and unmet criteria. The councillor asserts that the City Council needs to fix these mistakes right away in order to make obtaining a taxi licence feasible, equitable, and open.
In Torrevieja, a municipality with over 106,000 residents according to the municipal register and ten thousand fewer according to the National Institute of Statistics’ official census, there are very few offers from Driver-Drive Tourism Vehicles (VTC) businesses like Uber, Cabify, or Bolt.
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Hospitality and recreation establishments in Elche receive 36 infringement reports from local police

The Elche Local Police conducted an operation that involved inspecting thirteen hospitality and leisure outlets in various neighbourhoods, resulting in one arrest and 36 violations. The data was made public on Friday, 28th March, mainly as a reminder of the work that is being done. Councilman Juan de Dios Navarro gave the police top for their efforts.
According to local police inspector José Antonio Corrales, the majority of the infractions included drug usage and possession, including four for cocaine possession and seven for hashish, as well as improper company documentation. Additionally, there were two reports for disturbing the peace or disrespecting law enforcement, four for not following the minimum hygienic standards for food storage, one serious infraction for conducting the activity after hours and behind closed doors, and seven for irregularities found on the property, including improper documentation.
Additionally, officers found six infractions for permitting smoking in unapproved indoor locations, three for type “B” slot machine identification guide deficiencies, and one major infraction for emergency escape and door flaws. Additionally, a report was made about the selling of illegal tobacco at a pub, where 20 packets were confiscated and one individual was detained on court order and imprisoned.
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Visitor to Catral cemetery locked inside

As nightfall approached on one of these soggy spring days in March, a young man decided it would be a good idea to visit a cousin or acquaintance’s grave and take a walk through the cemetery. Because the cemetery still closes its (automatic) gates at six o’clock at this time of year, but without the winter gloom that may discourage anyone from going.
However, the door was locked when he attempted to exit. The visitor didn’t seem to want to spend any more time among the cemeteries, despite the cemetery’s reputation as a particularly tranquil spot. Unaware of the placard bearing the mobile phone number for anyone needing help, he dashed out the gate. It was all on camera.
Joaquín Lucas, the mayor of Catral, maintains that this occurrence is unrelated to the privatisation of the cemetery works and feels that management by an outside company is an efficient approach to provide this service in a municipal office. He went on to say that the young man who who was locked in is from the nearby municipality of Dolores rather than Catral.
The local police took to social media and atacked the man’s “reckless” behaviour. He has been named in connection with “criminal proceedings for a crime against another’s property.” Nonetheless, the business will be liable for any damages brought on by the damaged door anchors.
In addition to clarifying that the business employs two workers—a gravedigger and a labourer who maintains the communal areas and restrooms—the Councillor for Services, Daniel Escudero, reaffirmed that the automatic door is an option offered by the company itself.
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Five arrested in Alicante and Murcia for shoplifting

Five individuals involved in grocery theft have been taken into custody by the Guardia Civil. In the regions of Alicante and Murcia, the thieves were stealing in a number of locations for a well-known supermarket company. The things that were stolen are worth over 8,000 euros in total.
The investigation started after the retail chain representative filed a complaint. The pattern was consistent across all cases: three or four people went into the store, and one of them loaded up a cart with expensive things like canned goods, extra virgin olive oil, sausages, or alcoholic drinks. The last one hurried out of the grocery without paying, and another diverted the attention of the staff.
It was discovered that the same people were responsible for the crimes in multiple towns in Alicante and Murcia after examining the security footage from the impacted businesses. Since the suspects did not live in the residences where they were registered and lacked a stable address, it was very difficult to find them.
Shortly after committing another theft at a store in a suburban neighbourhood of Rojales (Alicante), officers caught two of the suspects off guard and took them into custody. Many of the stolen goods were found at that time and brought back to the impacted business.
The other three were later taken into custody in the cities of Almoradí (Alicante) and Guardamar del Segura. The majority of the pilfered items were sold on. Additionally, the two cars that were utilised in the crimes were taken.
Eleven thefts have been resolved as a consequence of the investigation conducted by the Novelda Civil Guard’s investigation section. The cities of Novelda, Torrevieja, Almoradí, Catral, and Rojales in Alicante as well as the municipalities of San Javier, Jumilla, San Pedro del Pinatar, Cartagena, Archena, and Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia were the sites of these crimes.
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