Costa Blanca

In Torrevieja, the Mayors’ right-hand man resigns

Víctor Costa Mazón, the Director General of Urban Planning, Projects, Infrastructure, and Basic Services, has bid farewell to the civil servants in his department and declared his intention to resign from his position at Torrevieja City Council. He is anticipated to commence his responsibilities as the Deputy Director of Urban Planning for the city of Murcia at the beginning of May. The technician’s intention to resign from his current position at Torrevieja City Council, which he freely assigns as a position of trust held by Mayor Eduardo Dolón, has been acknowledged by sources from the People’s Party government team. However, this decision has not been “100%” confirmed.

The architect was employed by the mayor at the commencement of his 2019-2023 term as one of the critical positions in the new organisational structure of general directors, which is safeguarded by the “Large Municipalities Law.” Additionally, these directors were mandated to be high-ranking officials. The gross annual remuneration for one of these positions exceeds €100,000.

He has been able to progress with certain pending projects without encountering unfavourable technical reports from department heads, as a result of a customised organisational chart. Additionally, the unique position of “technical civil servant and position of trust” has been assigned responsibility for certain decisions that are more political than technical.

Costa had previously held a variety of roles in the Department of Urban Planning and Municipal Intervention at Torrevieja City Council before assuming the role of general manager. In this capacity, he has been a critical figure for Eduardo Dolón. He has been primarily responsible for the establishment of the framework agreement for the execution of works and projects, which should have expedited many of the contract awards, and for attempting to resolve some of the outstanding issues in the renewal of the City Council’s public service contracts within these years. In order to concentrate on particular management areas, Dolón was obliged to relinquish some of his responsibilities as general manager.

Nevertheless, his administration has been unevenly balanced. The municipal government has eventually completed several of the projects that were repeatedly announced, including the remodelling of the Sports Palace, the new La Mata sports centre, the La Mata pedestrian walkway, La Siesta Park, and certain port area projects. The most significant and expensive initiatives, including the redevelopment of Paseo de la Libertad, are still ongoing.

After more than four years of processing, the new urban transport service in Torrevieja, which has been operating without a contract and with monthly maintenance reports since 2012, remains pending. The project to renovate the Eras de la Sal and its environs, which are presently in a state of disrepair, is still pending.

Dolón is not in a favourable position as a result of the Director General of Urban Planning’s decision. The Urban Planning position, in contrast to other vacancies that may arise within the general directors’ organisation, cannot remain vacant for an extended period of time due to the pending and stalled projects. These projects include the redevelopment of the Salt Eras and its surroundings, which includes the construction of the Sea and Salt Museum, the rehabilitation of the Ice Factory as a tourist office, and the establishment of a walkway through the old Era Alta.

The project’s budget, which was €8 million when it was first announced in February 2021, has since increased to €31 million (including VAT). The municipality’s primary industrial heritage example, which is safeguarded by the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), is currently in a state of disrepair. This contributes to its undeniable historical value as an 18th-century architectural heritage, which also originates from the town of Torrevieja. It is imperative that the issue be resolved as soon as possible.

Additionally, the redevelopment of La Libertad Promenade and the access to the new leisure area are still undecided. The contracts for this endeavour only encompass a portion of the work, but not the most critical components. In the interim, in order to facilitate the renovation of the Levante Dike Promenade, other municipal departments were required to intervene in order to unblock the project and withdraw the contract from the framework agreement that Costa had established in order to expedite the process.

At times, Costa’s administration has been characterised by controversy, despite the fact that it is designated by the primary municipal public works and services providers as Eduardo Dolón’s right-hand man and possesses substantial decision-making power.

For instance, when he included an individual bid evaluation report in the award of the multi-million-dollar rubbish collection contract, the largest in Torrevieja’s history, without the contracting committee’s explicit request and concurrently with the report prepared by the contract’s lead technician. The committee solely requested that he examine certain arithmetic calculations in the main report, in conjunction with three other technicians. Nevertheless, he draughted his own, in which he disqualified the company that had been evaluated first and ultimately secured the contract.

Despite the fact that the contracting committee itself reported this irregularity in writing, he was able to maintain Dolón’s trust. Costa resigned from his position during the awarding of the refuse contract, which was worth €400 million over a 25-year period. However, he promptly reversed his decision and returned to his position one month later.

Some argue that this would not be the first time he has altered his mind, and he may do so again. This is due to the aforementioned background. However, at the moment, there are already polls being conducted to determine who will succeed him at the primary headquarters of City Hall, located in Plaza de la Constitución. Some individuals suggest that authorities are already present in the office.

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Costa Blanca

Orihuela will distribute 750 new bins throughout the municipality starting next month

The Orihuela City Council’s Department of Urban Solid Waste will begin distributing 758 new containers throughout the municipality in June, with the goal of increasing containerisation and encouraging selective garbage collection. This project has been awarded a total of €690,000 (including VAT).

Rocio Ortuño, Councillor for Urban Solid Waste, stated that the renovation aligns with state legislation and the Local Waste Plan, and is a significant step towards a more efficient, clean, and recycling-friendly model.

The new containers are available in both side and top loading configurations. Specifically, the delivery comprises:

Rotourban model (side loading)

-80 units for containers (yellow fixed lid)

-140 units for paper-cardboard (blue fixed lid)

-326 units for the remaining fraction (contactless lid, grey)

Rotoglobe Model (Top Loading)

-80 units for packaging

-132 units for paper-cardboard

All containers will be customised with vinyl specifying the proportion in Spanish and a heat-printed City Hall symbol. With this project, the municipality will install 432 additional recycling containers (containers, paper, and cardboard) and 326 for other fractions, thereby improving selective collection at the source and environmental compliance.

Ortuño observed that “the new 2022 Waste Law, approved by the government, has not only forced local councils to modify and increase their waste tax, but also imposes a new tax of 30 euros per tonne of waste, which in the case of Orihuela represents an annual cost of nearly one million euros.”

The councillor stated that another batch of rear-loading containers will be awarded in the coming days at a tender value of €110,000. This batch includes 877 units, which will begin arriving in late June or early July, concluding the municipality’s container fleet renewal operation.

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Costa Blanca

Power outages uncovered a ‘jungle’ of 800 marijuana plants in Orihuela

The National Police in Orihuela, Alicante, have dismantled an indoor marijuana plantation with 784 plants that was installed inside a warehouse on the town’s outskirts, and have arrested four men as alleged perpetrators of drug trafficking, document forgery, membership in a criminal group, and electricity fraud, as the illegal plantation was supplied with electricity via an illegal connection.

The inquiry began after diverse information was obtained concerning the likely existence of a facility on a property on the outskirts of the municipality of Orihuela that may be used for illegal activities, similar to indoor marijuana cultivation.

As a result of discreet surveillance of the surrounding area and other investigations, officers from the Orihuela Police Station’s Judicial Police Brigade noticed four individuals entering and exiting the warehouse. Investigators identified this conduct as common practice among the proprietors of this type of plantation.

Among these common acts, the agents saw how those involved performed counter-surveillance functions, looking in all directions to notify that no one was watching them as they entered and exited the warehouse.

Following confirmation of their suspicions, the exploitation phase of the operation began with the interception of a car driven by one of the suspects. The trunk included two green plastic bags with marijuana residue, as well as other plant-growing supplies like fertiliser.

The property under investigation was then entered and searched, resulting in the arrest of a second culprit, while the other two were held at their respective homes.

Following the arrests of people under investigation, a search of the warehouse was conducted, which was partitioned into two rooms and used for different purposes depending on the flowering stage of up to 784 cannabis sativa (marijuana) plants discovered within. Their development and culture were aided by a complete and modern lighting and ventilation system, and their electricity supply was later discovered to be obtained through an illegal connection to the power grid.

On the other hand, those arrested did not scrimp on passive technical methods of monitoring the farm, since there were cameras along the perimeter, forming a closed-circuit video surveillance system with motion sensors. This circuit covered all access angles to the plot, indicating a certain level of sophistication, resulting in increased security in the guarding and custody of the merchandise, as is typical of facilities designed by experienced individuals, with the goal of providing remote security coverage to the plantation located within.

Frequent power outages in the neighbourhood

As a result, the electricity consumption generated by this set of facilities was so high that local residents’ demonstrations revealed that they had experienced power outages on several occasions for no apparent reason, possibly due to consumption peaks caused by the illegal connection typical of this type of plantation.

Finally, another piece of evidence demonstrating the criminal group’s ability was the use of a falsified paperwork to rent the ship, which is usual among this type of organised gang; they impersonated third parties to mask their genuine identities.

The operation led to the arrest of four people suspected of drug trafficking, document forgery, electricity fraud, and membership in a criminal organisation. The plantation was demolished, and all 784 plants were seized.

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Costa Blanca

Torreta Florida, Torrevieja floodplain park has been inaugurated

Eduardo Dolón, Mayor of Torrevieja, was joined by Sandra Sánchez, Councillor for Urban Services; Concha Sala, Councillor for Parks and Gardens; Diana Box, Councillor for Sports; Jorge Ballesta, Manager and Deputy Manager of AGAMED; and Gemma Cruz to inaugurate the new skate park in the Torrealmendros rolling pond. This facility is part of a larger initiative to develop, improve, and integrate Torreta Florida Floodplain Park into the landscape.

Claudio Pastor, the president of the Puro Skateboard Torrevieja Skating Club, and secretary Silvia Jiménez led a large contingent of members to the opening ceremony. It is worth noting that Valeria Chacón, a young Torrevieja member of this club, is the Valencian Community champion in her category and is currently competing in an Olympic sport. The club’s skating squad complimented and thanked Torrevieja City Council for developing this enormous sports facility, which was created with their input to be as effective as possible for their training sessions.

The mayor congratulated AGAMED on the opening of the sports area located on the storm pond, which required an expenditure of about 700,000 euros, and praised the Puro Skateboard Club for its support and collaboration throughout the development of the park. The park has become a popular location for practicing this sport.

This new sports facility includes a modern skate park with specialised modules such as Quarter+Flat, Hand Rail, Manual Pad+Flat, Flat Rail, and Funbox+Hubba+Spine, allowing skaters to practise numerous modalities and techniques of this urban sport.

The project comprises not only the sports facility but also a callisthenics area, new street furniture, and a thorough landscape integration plan based on planting, all of which contribute to the space’s renaturalisation and the establishment of a new green space for all citizens to enjoy.

This project is a key step towards upgrading Torrevieja’s sports and leisure facilities by providing a modern and multifunctional place for skateboarding and other outdoor activities.