Alicante City Council has confirmed it will appeal against a court ruling that annulled parts of the municipal bus contract specifications. Despite the legal challenge, local government representatives maintain that the process was handled correctly, stating, “We did it well.”
The legal dispute centres on specific clauses within the tender documents. A judge has ordered Alicante City Council to reformulate the technical solvency requirements to ensure they are proportionate and open to equivalent experiences. The court considers these requirements to be the central point of the litigation.
While the council prepares its appeal to the High Court of Justice of the Comunidad Valenciana, the entity that originally took the matter to court, GTV, also intends to appeal. GTV believes the ruling does not go far enough and will seek the full annulment of the contract. They argue that urban transport in Alicante is an essential public service that requires bidding procedures to be transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory.
The Deputy Mayor has expressed confidence that the higher court will side with Alicante City Council. He also indicated that, in his view, no compensation would be due to the current concessionaire if the contract were eventually withdrawn. Opposition voices have called for any potential restart of the process to be conducted with complete equality and transparency to improve public transport for the people of Alicante.