The Socialist Municipal Group has called the decision of Mayor Toni Pérez and his Government team to ask for “at the last minute” membership in the Economic Stimulus Fund to help pay for part of the Serra Gelada sentence “improvisation.”
A system that will cost about 13 million in interest, according to the PSOE. This means that the total cost of the court order would already be 365 million for Benidorm.
The Serra Gelada sentence has been final since April 2025, and Mr. Pérez should have gotten all the answers by now.
Also, the legal interest grows by €25,000 per day, no matter what loan the Ministry of Finance still needs to approve. This is because a court evaluated the land in question at €283 million. This number doesn’t include any interest that has built up since 2018, when the lawsuit was filed with that value. The total is now €352 million, according to the Murcia Puchades family, who are the landowners and started an enforcement action last week.
Cristina Escoda, a Socialist spokesperson, said yesterday, Thursday January 29th, that the Mayor asked for the loan on Wednesday after spending almost a year “doing nothing and denying the real seriousness of a sentence that mortgages the future of the municipality.”
He waited until the final day to approach the Ministry of Finance for support, which shows that there is no one in charge at the most important time in Benidorm’s recent history.
Cristina Escoda
— The PSOE’s spokesperson in Benidorm
Escoda said, “Since April 2025, the Serra Gelada sentence has been final, and Mr. Pérez should have had all the solutions on the table a long time ago.”
The Socialist councillor said, “Instead, she waited until the last day to ask the Ministry of Finance for help, showing that there is no one in charge at the most important time in Benidorm’s recent history.”
The PSOE says that the 55 million euros they asked for from the Treasury are “clearly not enough” and that “we will pay very high interest rates.”
The Socialist Party has made it clear that the requested 55 million euros are “clearly insufficient” to cover part of the compensation awarded by the High Court of Justice to landowners in the APR-7 Serra Gelada area. They also said that “we will pay quite high interest” on a loan that will be paid back over 12 years at a rate of 3.5%.The interest on this loan will cost everyone in Benidorm roughly 13 million euros more. “It’s the cost of the mayor’s arrogance that made him deny reality and not do his homework when he had the chance. Now we have to pay a lot for his mistakes,” he said.
Toni Pérez has been hidden how terrible the punishment is from the public for years. Benidorm doesn’t deserve this degree of improvisation on a problem that could put the City Council’s very existence in danger.
Cristina Escoda
— Spokesperson for the PSOE in Benidorm
But the socialist leader said that the current scenario shows that the Mayor is “disoriented” and “has lost control of the situation and should step down and resign.”
“Toni Pérez has been lying to the public about how serious the ruling is for years.” This level of improvisation on an issue that puts the City Council’s own future in danger is not fair to Benidorm. Escoda said, “It’s time for the mayor to stop hiding and take responsibility for the biggest economic disaster in our city’s history.”
Author: Derek Appleton
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