Calpe has steadily developed its regulated parking scheme to manage the surge in residents and tourists. Credit: Ayuntamiento Calpe
The launch of Calpe’s new blue zone parking system has been delayed following a legal ruling in favour of a company that contested the town council’s tender process.
The Administrative Tribunal for Contractual Appeals (TARC) has ordered the council to restart part of the procedure, specifically requiring the tender panel to allow the appellant company to justify the figures in its offer — which had originally been rejected for being “abnormally high”.
The controversy stems from the council’s assessment that the company’s projected usage rates for Calpe’s blue zone were significantly above the available data and likely unrealistic. While the annual fee proposed by the council for the public contract was €350,000, the company submitted an offer of €575,000 — a figure deemed economically unjustified based on the anticipated revenue from the regulated parking scheme.
Believing the offer to be financially unsound, the council excluded the company from the bidding process. In response, the firm filed a formal appeal with the TARC. The tribunal did not rule on the feasibility of the offer itself, but found that the council had failed to follow the proper procedure. According to the ruling, once the tender panel identified a possible irregularity, it should have invited the bidder to justify its figures within a reasonable time frame.
In such cases — whether a bid appears unusually low or unusually high — the law requires that the company be given an opportunity to explain and defend its proposal. As this step was skipped, the tribunal upheld the appeal and ordered the process to be rolled back to allow the company to provide its justification.
As a result, the entire public tender process must be partially repeated, which will prevent the new paid parking system from being launched during the summer season. The local government expressed disappointment with the outcome but has already instructed the tender panel to resume the necessary steps to move forward with the contract as quickly as possible.
Residents and tourists
Over the past decade, Calpe has steadily developed its regulated parking scheme to manage the surge in residents and tourists. The original “zona azul” system began in 2015 under a contract with Pavapark, covering both the central town and extended “zona verde” areas, along with a summer “zona naranja” by the beaches. This tiered model introduced varied tariffs and discount schemes—including half-price rates for residents and traders—to promote vehicle rotation and support local businesses.
In 2019, the contract briefly expired and was suspended, causing free parking for several months until a new concession was awarded in mid‑2020, again to Pavapark. Since then, the council has refined the scheme: converting the morning-only green zones into full blue zones in October 2024, extending summer orange‑zone enforcement from July–August to June–September, and mandating payment via mobile apps such as EasyPark. These changes reflect a gradual evolution towards a fully digital, year‑round parking management system.
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