Despite the repeated promises of the Orihuela Council, there would now seem to be very little likelihood of the Aguamarina Promenade reopening in time for the 2024 holiday season.

Once again, residents and thousands of holidaymakers will have to make that detestable detour around the Bellavista Urbanisation in the summer sun as they make their way along the Aguamarina to spend a relaxing day in La Caleta de Cabo Roig.

The Bellavista urbanisation, owner of the 50-metre-long narrow corridor on the coastline in front of their properties, is asking for 1.2 million euros for the land, a figure 17 times higher than that calculated by the Council’s surveyor at 69,113.03 euros.

This was revealed on Thursday by the PSOE. Socialist councillor Milagros Lacárcel, who has denounced the “excessive” amount requested by the residents of this section of land measuring just 227 square metres.

The council, for its part, states that it is preparing its appreciation sheet, as it voices its disagreement with the amount demanded by the urbanisation residents, for land that is on a right of way affected by the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain and, therefore, unable to be built on. The local executive now assumes that it will be judge who determines the fair price.

Meanwhile Milagros Lacárcel has reproach the council for their delay in responding to the owners of the land who, she indicates, made their offer to the City Council in January.

“The residents have been waiting for two months, while Urban Planning has still not assigned a municipal architect to carry out a new assessment sheet,” he declared. The PSOE councillor also points out that, if the file ends up with the Provincial Expropriation Jury, “it will take months to determine the fair price, so that section of the promenade will not be open before the summer, as the fair price is still to be determined”.

Added to this, the socialist councillor adds that the permission granted by Costas to the Council to carry out the works to adapt and reopen the promenade expires at the end of this month, however, the councillor for Urban Planning, Matías Ruiz, confirmed that, “in the next few days a request for an extension will be sent to the Provincial Coastal Service.” He said that, at all times, “we are complying with the established procedure and deadlines.”

The initiative to reopen this promenade was, in fact, one of the first projects undertaken last September by the current PP-Vox government team. Then they submitted a proposal that only contained giving approval to a works project to adapt the promenade to be fitted with new lights, railings and an appropriate pavement.

What was approved, however, was substantially different from the draft. In that document – later withdrawn – the urgent occupation of the land was included as a point to be approved. An authorisation that would have allowed the Council to tear down the separation walls and undertake the agreed work without prejudice to the courts, later ruling on the compensation that the Council would have to pay to the residents of Bellavista.

Matías Ruiz, however, rejected that option, because that meant jumping in “feet first” and that his intention was to reach an agreement peacefully and by mutual agreement with the owners. Furthermore, there were doubts about whether, simply justifying the general interest was enough to justify an urgent entry instead of resorting to ordinary and regulated channels to proceed with an expropriation.

In the meantime, the Bellavista Residents Association, has held several meetings in which the owners who enjoy those privileged views of the promenade and the sea have expressed their disagreement to the proposal. They want to keep the corridor free of pedestrians, since its reopening would mean that they would have pedestrians passing right in front of their garden, with the consequent loss of privacy that they would suffer in their homes.

Others would agree to get rid of the walkway and take the Council’s money, but, since it is a common area, the law requires agreement form the whole urbanisation to sell it.