From this week's Costa Blanca News ( and yes I was one of them - the demonstrators that is.)
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Angry residents take to
the streets
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Homeowners vent fury over unscrupulous builders
By Nuria Pérez
MORE than 100 residents held a demonstration outside Orihuela town hall on Tuesday before the full council meeting.
The protestors – almost all expats – were carrying signs complaining of town hall neglect on the coast.
“We demand our rights,” was the most common claim.
Police told the residents they were not allowed to carry signs or to demonstrate because they had not applied for a licence.
However the protestors kept on lifting their signs and Costa resident Dorinda James made a speech in Spanish. She said they were demonstrating regardless of their political beliefs and they were making the speech in Spanish because they were citizens of Orihuela too.
She said the Partido Popular (PP) had dishonoured Orihuela by allowing illegal developments to go ahead and unscrupulous builders to get away with murder.
She added that PP-run town hall had done nothing to solve the problems on the coast since elections in May.
“Thousands of residents were denied their right to vote in the last elections and the PP won once again,” she said. “Thousands of residents are living in unfinished urbanisations without habitation certificates.
“The public bus on the coast is useless, streets and pavements need to be repaired urgently. We have no land lines, no postal service and rubbish is everywhere.”
Residents asked for more police officers, more health facilities and better education for their children.
“We are 30 per cent of the population,” she said. “Why are we only awarded with five per cent of the municipal budget?”
Many of the demonstrators live in urbanisations built by construction company Tecnología Urbanística. Many of them have no title deeds to their properties and their electricity and water is supplied by the builder.
Residents from Bosque de las Lomas, Monterrey 2, El Galán, Entre Naranjos, Colina de la Pinada, Macarena 2, Colinas de la Zenia and many more asked the town hall to take responsibility for the unfinished urbanisations and for the lack of services.
“We would like the town hall obliged the builder to finish the work,” one resident said.
“If the builder doesn’t do it, the town hall has plenty of money to do it.”
Protestor Pat moved to Colinas de la Zenia two years ago. His neighbours have suffered 11 break-ins in the last two weeks. The street where he lives has no street lights.
Linda and Lisa live in El Galán. They have had their electricity cut by the builder every month since July.
“The cables are lying on the streets,” Linda said.
“The builder should have buried them because they are dangerous, but he hasn’t.
“We have no electricity every time it rains.”
Socialist party (PSOE) councillor Rosa Martínez asked the ruling PP councillors about the measures they intend to carry out to solve the residents’ problems.
The questions will be answered at the next full council meeting in December.
nperez@cbnews.es
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