The City Council of Alicante has approved the fourth budget modification for 2025. They are giving €500,000 for emergency work at Santa Bárbara Castle. The work, which started quickly after a “serious risk of landslides” was found, has already begun on the outside of the fortress.
The Finance Committee authorised the new credit modification file for the 2025 municipal budget on Monday. It is worth half a million euros and will be used to pay for emergency work on the northwest slope of Mount Benacantil, which is being done because of a recently discovered risk. The accounting reform has been approved, but it still needs to be approved by the whole council next Thursday. The PP, PSOE, Vox, and Compromís all voted in favour, while EU-Podemos abstained.
Nayma Beldjilali, the Councillor for Finance, has said that this change to the credits is “necessary” because it is “an unforeseen situation” that needs to be dealt with right away “to guarantee security in the area around the castle.” She thanked the majority of municipal groups for their vote in favour of the change and said, “I hope it is maintained in the next municipal plenary session.”
Things that are still being worked on
While doing other work, including building the pedestrian path from La Ereta to the castle access gate, parts of the hillside that were very likely to have rock falls were found. Taking into account the technical information and the fact that “there is a real possibility of elements falling from the rock mass into the area of the aforementioned work,” all work and personnel access were stopped on August 19th, 2025, to avoid any possible risks that could come from landslides.
Work to defend Santa Bárbara Castle from damage has already started, with the installation of protective netting. It will go on next year with a budget of €1.5 million. The idea is to keep unstable rock material safe and contained in the Benacantil rock massif, which is underneath the main plaza of the citadel. This construction will include the front near to Ereta Park and other specified areas that need it or other steps to keep people safe from landslides. The Local Government Board accepted the contract with CHM on September 2nd and called it an emergency, which sped up the procedure so that the work could start as soon as possible.
The committee also authorised two further credit changes on Monday, October 27th, this time for the Local Economic and Social Development Agency and the Municipal Tourism Board. As part of the government team’s deal with Vox, they also agreed to raise the overall career productivity allowance for city officials and the water bill for 80% of the city’s homes by 30 to 80 cents per month.
Author: Derek Appleton
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