15 Oct, 2020 @ 15:45
1 min read

Long saga over illegal Benidorm bus station complex sees breakthrough on Spain’s Costa Blanca

Long Saga Over Illegal Benidorm Bus Station Complex Sees Breakthrough On Spain  S Costa Blanca

A 17-YEAR saga over the illegal use of Benidorm’s bus station complex has reached an important breakthrough.

Benidorm council has finally struck a deal with Alicante developer, Enrique Ortiz, over the scrapping of his 50-year concession for the facility.

Ortiz has been at the centre of a string of corruption allegations across the Costa Blanca, and is a self-admitted financial backer of the Partido Popular(PP).

He is currently involved in an ongoing case where he is accused of getting inside information over the Alicante City urban plan from the then-PP mayor, Sonia Castedo, as well as offering ‘gifts’ to key local officials.

The search for a new operator of the Benidorm bus station building will be advertised in a tender and the winning bidder will have to pay Ortiz €24.5 million for the termination of his contract.

The market value figure was worked out in a joint commission involving council officials and representatives from Ortiz’s company.

The switch, demanded in a national Supreme Court ruling in 2012, also means that the entire commercial and hotel complex will be finally legalised.

On his part, Ortiz’s company has to pledge to leave the facility in perfect condition and spend €287,000 on rehabilitation work.

The history over the Benidorm bus station building is regarded as one of the biggest-ever planning irregularities in the city.

Benidorm council awarded the station construction project to Ortiz in 2003, which included plans for a small array of shops occupying 500 square metres.

The controversial Alicante developer ended up illegally developing 10,000 square metres in addition to adding two extra storeys to the adjoining hotel.

In 2007 and 2012, two court judgments annulled the concession to Ortiz because the development was completely different from what had been agreed in 2003.

It’s been estimated that Ortiz’s illegal work cost around €50 million with the original bus station project coming in at under €6 million.

A string of proposals over the last eight years to enact the Supreme Court ruling had come to nothing, with Benidorm council pledging to ensure that no public money is spent to resolve the issue once and for all.

Alex Trelinski

Alex worked for 30 years for the BBC as a presenter, producer and manager. He covered a variety of areas specialising in sport, news and politics. After moving to the Costa Blanca over a decade ago, he edited a newspaper for 5 years and worked on local radio.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Anda Figures Thursday
Previous Story

Spain’s Andalucia registers 1,971 COVID-19 cases Thursday as hospital pressure increases

COVID-19 infections and hospital cases record new falls in Costa Blanca and Valencia areas of Spain
Next Story

Brit who allegedly flew to and from Spain despite showing COVID-19 symptoms lands in intensive care

Latest from Benidorm

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press