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COUNCIL DIVISION OVER SPORTS CLUBS disagreement is the Municipal sports service. ■ SUZANNE O’CONNELL suzanne@costablancapeople.com
Sports provision conflict
The mayor of Torrevieja, José Manuel Dolón has asked the councillors representing the political party Sueña Torrevieja to take back their announcement that they have lost confidence in him or to withdraw from their roles.
The stand off has occurred because of disagreements over the Municipal sports school. It is claimed that the contracts on which the school is based are not legal and to continue with them in their current form could even carry a prison sentence for a councillor. As such, the council wanted to change the terms under which the sports clubs were being run. The proposal was that the
T
he two councillors, Pablo Samper and Alejandro Blanco are responsible between them for sports, culture, works and services. Dolón has explained that the governing body of Torrevieja and the workings of the council depend upon them having faith and trust in one another and that this must be mutual and reciprocal. The Sueña councillors have indicated that they might withdraw from the government. The main source of the
service would be privatised with help for families with very low incomes. However, this suggestion proved highly controversial due to the likely hike in prices that would have resulted for most of those using the clubs. The provision for children and young people runs throughout the academic year and parents only have to pay a €60 registration fee to benefit from a whole range of sports activities. The main clubs include football, netball, handball, athletics and hockey. Nicki Mortimer currently has two
children who benefit from the Municipal sports service. ‘We pay €60 a year for this. A private club would charge probably €30 a month. We can’t afford that kind of money.’ The council has not only subsidised the provision of coaches in the past but also additional resources for the club such as the buses that take the children and young people to sporting events in other parts of the country. Nicki wasn’t the only one who was concerned about the proposals and a demonstration was planned to object
against the changes. However, following the intervention of Councillor Pablo Samper on their behalf, objectors felt assured that the sports clubs would continue as usual.
Government U-turn Parents then paid the registration fee with the expectation that the clubs were to go ahead as planned. However, they have now been told that in fact the clubs are still not going ahead because of the illegality of the contracts. ‘The mayor is adamant that everything will be done following all the legal requirements. But it is the children who will miss out if the terms of the municipal club change,’ points out Nicki. ‘How can we advertise ourselves as being a sports city if we can’t even provide affordable sports opportunities for the children who live here?’ On the 30th September an announcement was made by the town hall that as the contract for monitors had Continued on page 3
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