The Socialist Party of Torrevieja (PSOE) has announced formal challenges against the 2026 municipal budget, accusing the Partido Popular (PP) of serious irregularities in the use of public funds, and has welcomed the recent administrative ruling that annulled the PP’s contract proposal for the city’s urban transport service.
Budget Objections
Socialist spokesperson Bárbara Soler said her group had voted against the 2026 budget “out of coherence,” arguing that it increases municipal debt while failing to address social priorities. “We will present our proposals through motions,” she said, adding that “none of our contributions have ever received PP support, while we have backed proposals from all groups.”
Soler also criticised the PP for inviting Vox to include new spending items after the deadline, presenting them as amendments. “We weren’t called, but if their aim was to make us look isolated, we’re quite comfortable being the only real opposition. We are the alternative,” she stated.
The PSOE will submit a formal legal challenge against the budget for including €18 million in revenue from the sale of land originally allocated for social housing (VPO). Soler warned that this could violate public land regulations, as such transactions require a formal sale process, valuation, and open competition. “This income may be illegal,” she said. “If confirmed, it would mean there’s not enough credit to cover the planned investments.”
The party also criticised the regional government, led by President Carlos Mazón, for approving a new law that allows the early deregulation of protected housing, enabling it to enter the free market much sooner than before. “By 2040, homes meant for young people will be private assets, even though they were built on public land with institutional support. We’ll lose the land, the homes, and the social purpose,” Soler warned.
Urban Transport Contract Annulled
The PSOE welcomed the decision by the Central Administrative Court for Contractual Appeals (TARC), which annulled the PP’s tender documents for the city’s long-delayed urban transport contract. “The court has stopped a process we’ve long considered irregular,” said Soler.
The contract has remained unresolved for six years, leaving the city dependent on outdated “Flintstones-era” buses while paying €260,000 a month to operate without a formal contract. Soler accused the PP of “years of chaos,” noting that the city has already lost €3.5 million in European funds, some of which had to be returned with interest.
Three years ago, the council awarded a €17 million contract for new buses that was never formalised because there was no money to pay for it. The PSOE claims the PP later tried to transfer this cost to the new operator—raising the figure by more than €1 million—without any legal basis. The TARC ruling supports this interpretation, confirming that the proposed increase “had no legal foundation.”
“The PP sells itself as a party of good management, but behind the marketing lies incompetence,” said Soler. “We will continue to scrutinise every step to show residents that what they call progress is really improvisation and opacity.”
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