The Valencian Health Ministry is set to close at least 250 beds per month this summer in public hospitals across the province of Alicante, amounting to approximately 750 beds between July and September. Across the wider region, closures will exceed 600 in August alone. This data comes from union and staff sources, as the department led by Marciano Gómez has not provided department-specific figures to employee representatives this year. The overall plan includes a vacation budget of 85 million euro, which is three million more than last year.
According to Gómez, the Valencian government will increase resources for staff replacements by 4% this summer compared to last year. Additionally, 25 auxiliary clinics will open on the beaches, with five located in the province of Alicante: Calpe La Fossa, Javea Arenal, Alicante Urbanova, Santa Pola Casa del Mar, and Dénia Les Marines. The opening of the Dénia Les Marines clinic depends on pending municipal procedures. This is one fewer clinic than last year, when Santa Pola-Playa Lisa also opened. Furthermore, 74 health centres across the region will receive extra staff, including 30 in the Alicante district.
The regional health ministry intends to allocate around €85 million to the vacation and healthcare reinforcement programme, hiring between 9,000 and 10,000 professionals to cover staff vacations and expected summer activity. Gómez explained that staffing plans are based on demand forecasts from each health department and the right of workers to rest, aiming to guarantee healthcare services throughout the summer.
Information obtained reveals that the Doctor Balmis University General Hospital in Alicante, the main hospital in the province, will close 215 beds this summer: 77 in July, 87 in August, and 51 in September, compared to 69 beds closed each month last summer. For the first time, the Gynaecology ward will close, joining other wards usually used for summer reorganisations, such as Gastroenterology, Traumatology, and the Outpatient Surgery Unit (UCSI). No closures are scheduled for late June or early October.
These figures appear in the proposed 2026 vacation plan submitted to the staff committee by the management of the Alicante-General Hospital Health Department. The plan notes this restructuring will happen “if healthcare pressure allows.” The Regional Ministry of Health has set a spending limit for the plan in this area of just over 5.5 million euro, compared to 5.2 million euro for the summer of 2025.
In August, half of the operating rooms at Doctor Balmis Hospital will be combined. Normally, 24 are operational, but in July only about fifteen will be available for operations under general anaesthesia; in August, about ten; and in September, between twelve and fifteen. Two rooms for local anaesthesia will remain available in each summer month.
At Sant Joan Hospital, 48 beds will close over the summer, including 36 inpatient beds in Internal Medicine due to renovations. Five beds will close in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), leaving 10 operational, and three will close in the Neonatal ICU, leaving three active. The CCOO union noted that the Neonatal ICU capacity could reopen to 80% with extra staff if needed. In the Neonatal Unit, four beds will close while four remain open. Scheduled surgeries will maintain 61% of activity in July, 62% in August, and 63% in September.
As for the Marina Baixa Hospital, it will close one ward with 34 beds throughout the summer. In contrast, the Torrevieja Hospital, located on the coast in a popular tourist area, will not close any wards or reduce its beds, maintaining full usual capacity.
Elsewhere, the Vega Baja Hospital in Orihuela, which is under construction, will lose ten beds, and the Virgen de los Lirios Hospital in Alcoy will lose ten beds in August only. The UGT union reports that the Virgen de la Salud Hospital in Elda will have 35 fewer beds, and the Elche General Hospital will close a half-floor with 30 beds. This is lower than last summer when Elche closed an entire floor of 54 beds. The Marina Alta Hospital in Dénia has not released any information.
Eva Plana of UGT Servéis Publics PV criticised the closures, arguing that heatwaves driven by climate change cause summer illnesses and sustained hospital admissions. She stated that closing departments is unacceptable given existing waiting lists and high demand. The CCOO union also criticised a “lack of transparency” regarding the regrouping of hospital beds.
