European Funds Denial Halts First Project in Alicante

The "discrimination" by the central Government, which has not accepted any of the ten projects submitted by the Alicante City Council to the European EDIL funds, has claimed its first collateral victim. The government team is abandoning the construction of the Tómbola sports pavilion after the company awarded the contract withdrew due to delays in starting the works as the City Council did not have the necessary funds.

This withdrawal, moreover, costs the Alicante City Council €123,986 in compensation to the awarded company, in addition to the return of the €206,000 guarantee. Delays due to administrative reasons are one of the grounds provided by law to terminate a public contract. The Local Government Board, therefore, had no choice but to accept the withdrawal from the contract and the payment of these amounts.

The Tómbola sports pavilion was part of the planned sports axis on Vía Parque, which includes other infrastructures such as the Lucentum Basketball City or the transformation of the current Virgen de los Lirios track into an open-air multidisciplinary complex.

The execution budget was €4.4 million, of which €2.6 million came from the EDIL funds (Local Integrated Development Strategy). However, the resolution of the Directorate General of European Funds of the Government of Spain has already rejected all the projects submitted by Alicante. "Zero euros," summarised the mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, the amount the Executive has given to the city in this call.

The City Council has requested a second clarification from the Government of Spain on the reasons why Alicante has been left out. While the government team demands answers, time is running out, and the first of the ten projects has already fallen, "most in the North Zone," recalls the deputy mayor, Manuel Villar.