Protestors at the event held up signs in English and Spanish to demonstrate their viewpoints on the situation
Credit: Tory Tustin
ON Thursday, November 27 at about 9:15am, members of the community of Orihuela Costa gathered outside of the Orihuela Costa Town Hall to fight for their rights.
The Partido Independencia Orihuela Costa
Around 150 people attended the peaceful protest, with the gathering being led by the ‘Partido Independencia Orihuela Costa’ (PIOC).
The organisation handed up pamphlets of information about what exactly they were fighting for. In summary, the pamphlet explained how Orihuela used to be huge – stretching from Guardamar del Segura to Pilar de la Horadada, towns that are now all independent.
Over time, little by little, Orihuela has lost people and land. Orihuela Costa is a part of Orihuela, but the people of the Costa are not treated the same, the pamphlet explained. Orihuela Costa is located on the coast of the Costa Blanca South, while the town of Orihuela itself is more inland, about 15-20 km from the beach.
Orihuela has over 83,000 inhabitants, with a third of them living in the Orihuela Costa, although another 25,000 live there without being permanently registered (empadronados de forma permanente).
Orihuela Costa Growth
The Orihuela Costa is rapidly growing far more than Orihuela itself and contributes 60% of the money to all of Orihuela but only receives around 20% of this money towards improving the town and helping it grow. Without the Orihuela Costa, Orihuela would’ve declared bankruptcy years ago.
The unequal distribution of money is seen clearly due to the poor condition of Orihuela Costa, President of the PIOC, Ramon Gil, mentioned in a brief interview. He mentioned that although the Costa brings in a lot of money, they don’t receive enough help in terms of creating sustainable life, such as funding a new library for the children of the town, creating a cultural centre, or even creating basic infrastructure for people with disabilities.
Members of PIOC also have highlighted the fact that there is inadequate waste management in the town, disproportionate increase in the waste tax, and a lack of institutional response from the municipality of Orihuela.
Making Orihuela Costa Independent
The PIOC has a goal to make the Orihuela Costa independent, creating a situation where the town can thrive on its own. Independence from Orihuela can secure the town an additional 15 million euro annually for new investments to continue growing the Costa in great ways.
In terms of the protest itself, there were lots of community members there to show support for the PIOC and fight for their passion to make the Orihuela Costa great again.
The protest was followed by a Town Hall meeting to further discuss the matter and for the members of the Orihuela Costa to pitch their ideas and opinions to members of the Town Hall.
Although the future is undetermined for the Orihuela Costa, the community’s voice remains large and powerful in a time of need.