Torrevieja’s Socialist Party (PSOE) has criticised the continued state of neglect at the park bordering Calle Rafael Antón Pérez, at the northern entrance to the city, running alongside the CV-905 in the Hoya Hermosa area.
Councillor Margarita de Francisco described it as “unacceptable” that the park has been left without functioning lighting for years and allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that local residents have been forced to purchase and install litter bins at their own expense.
The PSOE previously raised the matter at a full council meeting in September last year, asking whether any action had been taken to repair or replace the park’s streetlights. Many of these had been non-functional for years due to lack of maintenance. At the time, the relevant councillor claimed that a week earlier the public lighting maintenance company had been tasked with reviewing the infrastructure for installing lights “from one end of the park to the other” and promised that not only would the park be restored, but it would be “notably improved” in the near future.
Francisco says the reality is very different: “A year later, the lighting is still in the same state and the condition of the park has worsened.”
Residents have endured long-term neglect, with large sections of the grass left to die due to failed irrigation systems—despite a maintenance contract being in place—leaving barren patches across the park. The area was also made virtually unusable for more than eight months while 37 open holes awaited the replanting of trees relocated from other sites, a situation also criticised by the PSOE at the time.
Most recently, neighbours have taken matters into their own hands, organising the purchase and installation of communal litter bins to encourage responsible waste disposal. Francisco praised the residents’ initiative as “a clear display of civic responsibility and commitment to the park’s environment,” contrasting it with “the ongoing lack of responsibility shown by the Partido Popular towards both these residents and Torrevieja’s public spaces.”
You might remember the pomp and celebration of the Parks and Gardens department launching a social media channel recently, and indeed the excellent work the team are doing… mostly in the town centre… so this clearly once again shows the oblivious neglect beyond the immediate vicinity of the town hall, much like the image we posted showing the same location 20 years apart, where nothing has ever been done to tidy the area, and although much of it is now covered with a blanket formed by mother nature herself, this latest monitoring and failure can be added to the list of a deeper rooted neglect.
