The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) in Torrevieja has openly criticised the Popular Party’s governing team for keeping a lease on a municipal property for the past year, even though it has never been used, which has cost taxpayers money without any reason. Since the deal was signed in early 2025, the municipality has paid €2,700 every month, which adds up to more than €30,000 in the last twelve months, according to the same sources.
The Torrevieja City Council signed a lease in February 2025 for a space at 26 Calle Clemente Gosálvez, which is on the corner of Calle Caballero de Rodas. They want to use it as municipal offices. This place is located in the middle of Torrevieja, only a few metres from the main municipal building. But a year after the contract was signed, the building is still closed and vacant. Work has not started on the announced offices, and the facility is not providing any services to the public.
The City Council bought a three-story building for 622,000 euros in 2023 to connect it to the City Hall on the same street, Clemente Gosálvez. They only use the ground floor of the building.
Bárbara Soler, a spokesperson for the Socialist Party, said, “For all this time, the City Council has been paying close to 2,700 euros a month in rent for a closed, unused building, with no clear date for its opening.” She thinks this is a “unacceptable” expense that shows how the Popular Party handles public money.
The PSOE says that the governing team often hides behind deadlines or a lot of work, but the Socialist spokesperson strongly disagrees: “When they want to, they can close multi-million euro sales deals in a single morning, deals that should require much more caution.” There are no difficulties with the administration; there is just a lack of motivation and effort.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is looking into the purchase of the surface rights of La Plasa and other deals that were made in a matter of days, like the purchase of the Ice Factory, which is now being turned into a Tourist Office, the adjacent plot of land where the old Gloria Cinema used to be, or the building on the same street as Clemente Golsálvez, which was bought four years ago for more than 600,000 euros to expand the City Hall. Only the ground floor is being used for municipal
The Socialist Municipal Group “demands” that the people of Torrevieja take on “political responsibilities” and “calls for efficient, transparent, and respectful management” of their money. This ends a style of government that is known for making things up and wasting public resources.
Bárbara Soler, the Socialist Party’s spokesperson, said, “During all this time, the City Council has been paying close to 2,700 euros per month in rent for a closed, unused premises, with no clear date for its opening.” She called this a “unacceptable” expense that shows how the Popular Party handles public money.
What is it being rented for?
People’s Party government sources say that the administration can’t plan or do work on a property unless it can show that it is rented or owned by it. The procedure of giving the contract to write the renovation project began when the home was rented. The project was given a six-month deadline and cost €12,000. Now that the proposal has been approved, the building work is up for bids for €200,000.
The main goal of this lease is to move most of the people who work in the Human Resources department and IT department to a new location. At the moment, these workers are split out throughout several municipal offices, with the Town Hall’s first floor being the most common place for them to work. The Finance and Economy departments also work there. The Finance and Economy departments have also had to move their workers around to different places. So far, the only thing that has helped with the shortage of room is telecommuting. Once the rented space is ready, the Finance and Human Resources departments will each have their own work areas.
Author: Derek Appleton
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