Insurance companies in Elche are promising graveyard niches that do not exist, leaving local families in difficult situations when a relative passes away. Residents who have paid into policies for years, believing they had a secured burial space in the municipality, discover upon needing it that the insurer has no claim to the location and the local council has no record of any such concession.
José Claudio Guilabert, the councillor for Public Services, stated that numerous residents visit the department to report the issue after discovering their policy cannot deliver the expected space. He explained that some insurance providers offer these funeral spaces as though they hold official municipal concessions or ownership when they do not. When a policyholder dies, the insurers pass the problem to Elche Council to find whatever alternative space might be available.
Guilabert advises residents not to assume a niche is secured simply because they have paid insurance premiums for years. He recommends that policyholders ask their insurance provider to show official proof of ownership or the specific municipal concession.
He stressed that Elche Council has not granted niche concessions to insurance companies, meaning insurers cannot claim ownership over municipal spaces. He urged companies to be transparent with customers regarding policy conditions instead of promising specific locations or categories they cannot guarantee, noting that the issue extends beyond Elche to other municipalities.
The situation forces Elche Council to step in to check available space and find options for affected families, though officials warn they cannot guarantee the specific category or location families thought they were paying for.
Compounding the problem is a shortage of new burial spaces while a project to construct 2,000 new niches at San Antángelo cemetery remains blocked. The scheme, involving an investment of nearly €5million, was halted following a legal appeal filed by a company involved in the tendering process. The council remains waiting on a tribunal ruling before it can formalise the contract and begin construction.
Thirteen companies submitted bids for the project, which was originally scheduled to start last September. The dispute arose over a low financial bid that required justification. Although municipal technicians accepted the explanation provided, a competing bidder challenged the assessment, causing an automatic suspension of the contract execution until the court reaches a decision.
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