The Torrevieja City Council has officially approved the awarding of the new ornamental public lighting contract to Iluminaciones Granja SL for 758,510.99 euro, VAT included. The company stood as the sole bidder in the tender, which originally carried a starting budget of 760,869.69 euro. This means the winning bid represents a reduction of just 2,358.70 euro from the maximum budgeted amount.
The Local Governing Board adopted the agreement during an extraordinary and urgent session held on September 22nd. This step successfully culminates the procedure launched to renew the deployment of festive lighting across Torrevieja.
The contract will run for a duration of one year, with the possibility of a one-year renewal. The award is formalised for 626,868.59 euro plus 131,642.40 euro corresponding to 21% VAT. Iluminaciones Granja must comply fully with the submitted technical specifications and has committed to reducing the maximum response time for breakdowns and emergencies to two hours.
This decision concludes a process in which only this single company participated. As previously reported, the Procurement Board accepted its proposal at the end of August and subsequently evaluated both the technical report and the financial offer. The company ultimately obtained 71 out of 100 points: 60 for its financial offer, six for the technical report, and five for its commitment to address serious breakdowns within a maximum of two hours.
No video mapping or additional arches
The contract award, however, excludes several improvements that the City Council had included among the criteria for enhancing the initially planned display. Iluminaciones Granja did not offer additional ornamental arches, an improvement that could have contributed up to 15 points, nor did it include the video mapping show projected onto the facade of the Sacred Heart Church in Plaza de Oriente, which was valued at another five points. Furthermore, the company will not implement the planned LED lighting umbrella at the roundabout located at the junction of Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas and Calle Ginés Saura Sánchez.
The video mapping proposed in the tender documents featured three daily showings at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. These projections would have lasted between seven and ten minutes, combining traditional Christmas motifs with elements linked closely to the identity of Torrevieja, such as salt and the sea. The estimated cost for this feature was 10,000 euro, but it was ultimately left out of the winning bid.
The proposal also failed to secure points in the section concerning the reduction of polluting emissions. The municipal report explains that although the company identified the vehicles it intended to deploy, the documentation provided did not allow for an objective, unequivocal and sufficiently reliable verification of the carbon dioxide emissions for three of those vehicles. Consequently, technicians opted to award zero points in this specific criterion.
Technical evaluations and planned displays
Regarding the technical report, the company achieved six out of a possible ten points. The municipal report highlights the strong level of definition given to the elements and their effective adaptation to the coastal character of Torrevieja. Materials and systems have been prepared specifically to withstand exposure to offshore winds, although the report detected generically formulated solutions and some variations in the level of detail depending on the locations.
Judges also awarded one point out of a possible two for innovation, noting that despite incorporating some differentiating elements, a significant portion of the proposal relied on common solutions such as arches, lampposts, garlands, curtains and signs. Another single point out of two was awarded for the graphic documentation, following the discovery that certain renderings did not accurately represent the final solution submitted.
Even without these extra improvements, the contract maintains the extensive deployment stipulated as mandatory within the tender documents. The service covers Christmas lighting, patron saint festivals, Carnival, the May Fair, Habaneras, the Molinos del Calvario bonfire and the La Mata celebrations, alongside the ongoing maintenance and dismantling of all installations.
Among the scheduled events, the project on Concepción Street stands out for featuring a specialised light and music show complete with microLED garlands, three-dimensional elements and directional sound. Trees and monumental structures measuring roughly 15 metres in height will also be positioned at various points across the city, alongside a 20-metre-high ornamental feature next to the Monument to the Man of the Sea on the Juan Aparicio Promenade.
The festive display will extend to several main thoroughfares within the town centre. During the patron saint festivities, 31 arches will be installed along Calle Caballero de Rodas, alongside another 25 on Calle Clemente Gosálvez, Joaquín Chapaprieta, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and Azorín. These structures will subsequently be replaced with dedicated Christmas decorations.
La Mata will receive its own distinct display, featuring 17 arches on Calle Mayor, another five on Avenida Virgen del Carmen, a monumental 15-metre tree in Plaza de Encarnación Puchol, and targeted lighting for the facade and bell tower of the parish church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
Prior to the formal award of the contract, Iluminaciones Granja was required to provide a final guarantee of 31,434.43 euro and demonstrate complete compliance with all remaining requirements set out in the tender documents. The final documentation received a favourable report from municipal technical services, successfully concluding the last step prior to the award.
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