Orihuela Costa plans to declare independence from inland council

In the coastal area of the province of Alicante, where tourism has transformed the economy and demographics over recent decades, a political split is taking shape. Orihuela, a historic inland city known nationally for its cultural heritage and vast agricultural area, is facing a growing rebellion along its coastal strip. Located nearly thirty kilometres from the administrative centre of the city, the Party for the Independence of Orihuela Costa (PIOC) has launched a bureaucratic and social campaign to secede permanently and create its own local council.

Rather than relying on sudden administrative moves, the political group has adopted a long-term strategy. Aware that territorial segregation processes often face major legal and institutional obstacles, the promoters intend to use democratic rules to achieve their goal. Their plan involves securing enough councillors in future municipal elections to force a council vote in Orihuela in favour of the split. This move would theoretically reduce regional procedures to a maximum of two years.

However, the main obstacle to the proposal is voter apathy among potential electors. Although the coastal area is growing rapidly, attracting around three thousand new registered residents each year and projected to reach 60,000 inhabitants within a decade, political participation remains low. Abstention reached over 51 per cent at coastal polling stations during the last municipal elections. The large number of foreign residents living outside local administrative channels left the platform without council representation, despite receiving the most votes from those who did attend polling stations.

To build momentum, the group has increased efforts on the streets, pointing to successful historical emancipations in the region such as Pilar de la Horadada and Los Montesinos in the late twentieth century. They are currently finalising a technical dossier to submit to both the Generalitat Valenciana and the local council in the final quarter of the year. The document, which already has the support of several hundred signatures collected online towards a goal of ten thousand, aims to prove the economic and demographic viability of the proposed new municipality.

A similar sentiment exists a few miles away off the coast of Alicante. The island of Tabarca, the smallest inhabited settlement in the country, is seeking to become a minor local entity under the Local Regime Law to reduce central control from Alicante. Tired of severe winter isolation and the summer pressure of up to 5,000 daily tourists, more than half of the fifty registered residents have signed in favour of taking over their own budgets and responsibilities, following self-management models used in the Marina Alta region.

Back on the beaches of Vega Baja, the campaign for separation is driven by complaints over local taxation. Spokepersons argue that substantial tax revenues generated by tourism and property development are spent on inland administration, leaving a permanent population of over thirty thousand without adequate healthcare, educational, and cultural facilities. The movement has also offered alliances to other distant outlying districts, including La Murada and Torremendo, encouraging them to seek greater autonomy. Despite the campaign and support from groups such as Unidos por la Costa, dividing the municipality remains legally complex due to requirements for strict political consensus and binding official reports.