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Residents brand Orihuela budget a sham A FTER WHAT THE FEDERATION of Associations of Orihuela Costa reportedly called a ‘total fiasco’ in relation to the budget of 2016, the municipal government (PP-Ciudadanos)has again launched a proposal for local residents to submit ideas and vote on schemes for the 2018 budget. They are presenting this as a generous, democratic initiative. However, according to local political party CLARO reading the details immediately makes it clear that this is not the case. Orihuela citizens registered on the Padron are invited to make proposals equal to €660,000. Last year’s budget was some €85,000,000. On this basis, the initiative relates to 0.78 per cent of the prospective
budget for 2018. Hardly a ground breaking initiative and what is more, for this purpose, the €660,000 total is to be distributed in equal shares to the 11 districts which have been designated to cover the whole municipality. Therefore, €60,000 each district means locals are invited to consider directly 0.08 percent of the prospective budget. Orihuela Costa with some 28,000 registered residents, equal to nearly 40 percent of the total registered population of Orihuela, has two of the 11 districts, 18 percent of the total of eleven. Correspondingly its two districts will receive 18 percent of the €660,000. However, the real taxpaying population of the coast is probably nearer 50 percent of the total
population. It is obvious from these facts that discrimination against Orihuela Costa which contributes 60 per cent of the Town Hall income is inbuilt and institutionalised. When it comes to real money, the discrimination against the coast is blatant. In 2017 the total amount available for investments was €12.8 million. Orihuela Costa will receive €2 million, less than 20 percent and this discrimination is historic. It is not surprising that Orihuela Costa has no cultural or social centre and no proper professionally staffed library, only a reading point with second hand books staffed by volunteers. The city, on the other hand, has three Libraries which provide opportunities for study for young people as well as leisure reading. Recently, Orihuela Town Hall allocated €400,000 to revamp the abandoned bullring which will provide the city a third venue for cultural events, in
CostaBlancaPeople - 30th January - 5th February 2018
addition to the Teatro Circo and the Lonja. Other recent investment decisions benefiting the city include restoring the Rubalcaba palace (€1.9m), the Industrial Estate (€1.6m), and the Paseo Andennes (€0.8m). The city and the coast have more or less equal populations of registered residents but nowhere near an equal share of municipal facilities. The big question on which the voice of Orihuela Costa residents should be heard is the distribution of the estimated €14.5 million which the Town Hall will obtain this year from the further sale of municipally owned land, mainly of course in Orihuela Costa. A CLARO spokesman said:“If the coast does not receive at least 40 percent of this sum, the failure to provide it with a fair and democratic allocation of the Town Hall’s
funds will be demonstrable and Orihuela Costa will be able to draw the appropriate political conclusions. The citizens’ participation exercise just launched will have little concrete importance. However, it provides a smoke-screen for the current PPCiudadanos (Citizens Party) government to hide the continuing, blatant discrimination against Orihuela Costa which they are perpetuating.”
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