The Socialist Group (PSOE) has strongly criticised the 2026 municipal budget approved by the ruling Partido Popular (PP) during an extraordinary plenary session of Torrevieja Town Hall, describing it as “unrealistic, unbalanced and antisocial.”
Councillor David Villanueva argued that the new accounts “once again plunge the city into debt while reducing services and abandoning social policies.” According to his statement, Torrevieja’s municipal debt will rise to nearly 50 million euros, representing around 42 per cent of the city’s ordinary income, and creating a financial burden of almost five million euros per year for the next twelve years to repay loans.
“The PP is spending not only Torrevieja’s savings, but also its future. This budget is a mortgage on public services and on the well-being of our citizens,” Villanueva stated.
The socialist councillor also criticised the PP’s decision to withdraw the 182 planned municipal social housing units, calling it a clear sign of the government’s “lack of interest in the right to housing.”
“For the PSOE, housing is a basic right that must be protected. For the PP, it is simply a source of revenue,” he added.
Villanueva further revealed that the Town Hall had returned funds allocated to social services because the necessary staff had not been hired, which he described as proof of “a lack of commitment to those most in need.”
In response to government claims that the PSOE had failed to present amendments, Villanueva explained that rejecting the budget was not a matter of inaction but of principle. The party had carried out a detailed analysis of the budget and preferred to present a full amendment to the budget rather than partial ones that would inevitably be rejected.
As examples of viable alternatives, Villanueva cited:
- 2 million euros for the full refurbishment of the Polígono Casagrande industrial estate.
- 3 million euros to pave currently unpaved areas of Las Torretas.
- 2 million euros to create a fast, paved access road to Torrevieja Hospital parallel to the N-332.
“We wanted the debate to focus on the disastrous budget itself, not on our amendments, which the PP would have dismissed as usual,” he stated.
Politically, the PSOE said the outcome of the vote confirms that it remains the only true opposition to the Partido Popular in Torrevieja.
