Benidorm's PSOE Denounces Eight-Month Delay in Blue Zone Tender

Benidorm's socialist municipal group has denounced what it perceives as the "paralysis of the local government." Councillor Miguel Soldevila, responsible for overseeing the Mobility area, criticised the Town Hall for failing to tender the new ORA contract, which includes the blue zone, other regulated areas, and the municipal tow service, despite it having expired on June 1st.

According to Soldevila, the PSOE has been "warning for months about the urgency of renewing this essential contract for the city," while Toni Pérez's team "continues without progress, delaying a key procedure and demonstrating," in the councillor's words, "a lack of foresight and willingness to work" by the Popular Party government.

Soldevila linked this situation to what he describes as the mayor's "abandonment roadmap," accusing him of being "more focused on public appearances, his activities in the Provincial Council," and internal party conflicts than on Benidorm's everyday issues.

In his view, the blockade of the blue zone contract adds to other examples of municipal paralysis, such as the absence of budgets or lack of progress in the Urban Planning area, reflecting the inertia of "an exhausted government that does not manage."

The socialist councillor lamented that the Mobility head merely expresses in the press his wish for the new tender to be issued "as soon as possible," interpreting these statements as clear evidence "of improvisation."

Soldevila believes this unjustified delay harms both residents and visitors, who continue to rely on an expired service without possible improvements until the administrative process advances. He also recalled that the company still managing the regulated parking continues the service despite breaches detected and accredited by the Town Hall: from charging higher fees than allowed to the lack of communication about additional income, reducing staff assigned to the contract without authorisation, eliminating technical assistance, lacking a public office on a street with regulated parking, the malfunctioning of an ATM unable to dispense money, and the absence of basic materials and equipment.

For Soldevila, it is "incomprehensible that, with these precedents, the municipal government has not yet completed drafting the specifications." Therefore, he demanded that Toni Pérez's team "stop making excuses," conclude the administrative process as soon as possible, and tender a contract he considers "essential for Benidorm's mobility."

The councillor emphasised that the city "cannot continue accumulating expired or precarious contracts in essential services," and that "the local government's inability to manage is taking a toll on the daily lives of residents, merchants, and visitors."