A NEW 300-space underground car park in the heart of Estepona is set to open later this summer, offering drivers parking for just €1 a day.
The facility, located next to the Iglesia del Carmen, has been one of the town hall’s flagship infrastructure projects, with embattled mayor Jose Maria Garcia Urbano promoting it as part of efforts to ease congestion in the town centre.
But the project has become the centre of a political row after the opposition PSOE accused the PP-run council of quietly adding a further €3.5 million to its cost.
They say the increase was approved by the Local Government Board without being debated publicly or voted on in a full council meeting.
The additional funding has also been accompanied by a six-month extension to the construction timetable.
PSOE spokesperson Emma Molina accused the mayor of governing through ‘million-euro cost overruns, opacity and decisions taken behind the backs of residents’.
She described the latest increase as ‘another budgetary windfall’ and claimed it followed a pattern seen in several major municipal projects.
Among the developments highlighted by the opposition were the Orchidarium, the Felipe VI Auditorium and the Mirador del Carmen tower, all of which they say ultimately cost millions more than expected.
The PSOE further claimed it was ‘at the very least suspicious’ that a number of the projects had involved companies allegedly linked to people in the mayor’s personal circle.
The party has requested the full documentation relating to the new car park project and says it will demand explanations from the mayor at the next municipal plenary session.
“We will go all the way,” said Molina. “If there are irregularities, we will go to the courts or wherever necessary. Residents have the right to know where every euro is being spent and who benefits from these cost overruns.”
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