The future Elche tram is starting to look beyond the municipal limits, and other cities are ready to join the project as an important piece of infrastructure for integrating southern Alicante province. During his formal visit to Elche City Hall on Tuesday, the mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, sent this political message. He publicly said that the Elche tram project, which the Valencian regional government (Generalitat) would carry out but has no set timetable, may be the start of a future public transport network that could also connect with the Vega Baja region.
Dolón told the press while he was with his Elche counterpart, Pablo Ruz, that “the present and future of our communications depend on Elche.” He stressed that making it easier for people to move around is a top concern for both towns.
They said that once Elche is linked to Alicante by contemporary transport systems, it could be viable to think about adding inland routes that would slowly include the Vega Baja region into that network. So, they suggested a strategic link to the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, which both mayors thought would be the main hub for future growth to the south. Both mayors said that the tram may become a “major platform for territorial integration” that could connect Elche, the airport, and Vega Baja through a sustainable mobility paradigm that meets the needs of the area’s growing population and economy.
Agreement
Ruz agreed with this point of view and said that the City Council has taken strong action since striking an agreement with the Valencian Regional Government last December to start studies for the tram system. The agreement to start the technical phase, which would set the routes, the operating model, and the project’s financial feasibility, was signed during the first official visit of the President of the Valencian Government, Juanfran Pérez Llorca.
The actual signing, on the other hand, happened a full year late. This was because the €100,000 set aside for exploratory tram studies had been moved from the 2024 regional budget and was ultimately released in mid-November. In the end, the City Council gave the contract to the company for €62,000. But there is no way to know when the work on the ground would start because there is no defined regional budget. The mayor of Elche said at the time that it was unlikely to be done before the May 2027 elections.
When this publication asked the regional president for more information regarding this investment in transportation on Monday, he likewise refused to give anything. Even still, the senior official in Torrevieja thinks it may be a goldmine, even though there isn’t a clear strategy.
A palm tree that is dedicated
Dolón’s official visit, which included signing the City Hall’s Book of Honour in front of most of the Elche government team, giving a replica of the Lady of Elche, and dedicating a palm tree to Torrevieja in the Municipal Park, was meant to show that the two municipalities were working together. The PP-Vox coalition government has done the same thing for other cities run by the People’s Party. “Now we are a little closer,” both sides said just before making common demands on mobility, land use planning, and state spending. This led to multiple times when they criticised the central government.
Officials from both Elche and Torrevieja agreed to speak out against the lack of communication with the Ministry of Transport, even though they are the second and third most inhabited cities in the province.
Óscar Puente’s letters
Ruz was especially harsh, saying that both city councils have been asking for meetings for months without getting an answer. He said that the Elche City Council has written as many as six letters asking to meet with Óscar Puente or members of his team to talk about projects that are still in the works, such the Torrellano bypass, the possible train station in the Business Park, and the prospective high-speed rail bypass.
Dolón agreed with this request, saying that mayors need direct information in order to answer questions from their residents. The mayor of Torrevieja talked about the N-332, which goes through Torrevieja and handles around 40,000 vehicles a day in the off-season and up to 65,000 in the summer, but the municipality has not yet received a final project.
So, he stressed how important it was to reorganise traffic at Santa Pola after years of requests and no action to ease the burden on a road that connects the Baix Vinalopó and Vega Baja regions. Dolón said that even though the ministry has said the project is going well, the municipalities that would be affected still don’t have any technical specifics about the route or the planned diversion. Instead, they get their information from the news.
So, both sides agreed to call for better coordination between governments and said that their requests are not based on political reasons, but on legitimate needs for mobility and economic competitiveness.
Ruz criticised the Consell (Valencian Government) for taking on the Southern Ring Road “in the face of the State’s withdrawal.” He said that the central government should at least pay for the expropriations, as it did in previous phases. The mayor of Elche even asked the regional deputy for help with this, and Dolón agreed.
Working together
The visit also stressed working together in sports, tourism, and higher education, in addition to infrastructure. Dolón talked about how more and more students from his town are going to the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, the UNED (National University of Distance Education), and the CEU Cardenal Herrera University. He also talked about the sports ties between the two cities and why he wanted better communication.
It just so happened that the mayor of Torrevieja’s welcome was at the same time as a meeting called by Riegos de Levante with the Secretary of State for Agriculture. The mayor of Elche was invited to this meeting but did not go. Ruz explained that the City Council’s connection with the irrigation organisation is “extraordinary and fluid.” He said he couldn’t go since he had already promised to meet with his counterpart.
