The Socialist Group in Torrevieja (PSOE) has criticised the governing Partido Popular (PP) after it rejected a motion calling for the rehabilitation of unused municipal buildings in order to progressively reduce the Town Hall’s annual rental spending of more than €240,000.
According to PSOE spokesperson Bárbara Soler, the governing team justified its rejection by claiming that no municipal buildings are unused or underutilised — a statement the Socialists describe as “demonstrably false” and contradicted by official documentation issued by the Town Hall’s own technical departments np rechazo moción alquileres.
The PSOE says it presented written responses from municipal technicians during the plenary debate showing that several publicly owned buildings have no defined use, no active projects, and no rehabilitation plans, despite remaining closed for years.
“Using the Old Town Hall as a Store Room Is Not Effective Use”
Soler dismissed the government’s claim that all buildings are “in use or in planning”, stating that redefining storage as effective use is misleading.
“Unless storing the festival ‘big heads’ in the old Town Hall now counts as a proper public use of a historic building, what the government said simply isn’t true,” she said.
Among the buildings highlighted by the PSOE is the three-storey municipal property on Calle Clemente Gosálvez, purchased for more than €620,000, of which only the ground floor is currently in use. Soler explained that a rehabilitation project for the upper floors, budgeted at €577,000, has been inactive for years.
“Instead of investing in a building we already own, the council plans to spend over €200,000 refurbishing a neighbouring rented unit — with just two and a half years left on the lease,” she said.
The Socialists also pointed to the former Parroquia del Salvador, acquired for public use after requests from several municipal departments. Despite documented need and declared intent, the building remains closed with no project in place.
Protected Buildings Left to Deteriorate
Another example raised was the protected historic building on Calle Azorín, acquired in a land swap in 2011. Soler cited an official response from the Municipal Heritage Department confirming that no rehabilitation or usage project exists, beyond the original acquisition file and a 2018 report warning of façade deterioration.
“This building has been unused for more than a decade,” Soler said. “The same applies to the old Town Hall, which is being allowed to deteriorate despite its symbolic and historical value.”
The PSOE warned that continued neglect of these properties represents a serious failure of the council’s legal duty to preserve municipal and historic heritage, with damage that could eventually become irreversible.
‘Administrative City’ Branded a ‘False Headline’
Soler also addressed the PP’s promotion of a future “Administrative City”, which the PSOE claims has been deliberately misrepresented. According to the Socialists, the signed agreement behind the announcement is limited to a €50,000 collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Madrid, specifically linked to interior design studies for part of the current Town Hall building.
“The so-called Administrative City does not exist,” Soler stated. “It is nothing more than a headline to mask the lack of planning and justify continued waste.”
PSOE Left Alone in Defence of Public Assets
The PSOE noted that it supported a separate PP motion calling for the completion of outstanding desalination compensation works by ACUAMED, but stressed that the company is not the Government, despite repeated attempts by the PP to suggest otherwise.
By contrast, the governing team stood alone in rejecting the PSOE’s proposal to rehabilitate municipal buildings, protect historic assets, and reduce rental expenditure.
“They said there were no unused buildings. There are.
They said there were projects. There aren’t.
They said the Administrative City was under way. It isn’t,” Soler concluded.
“Against their empty headlines, we have documentation.”
