The renovation of the Los Arcos de Orihuela stadium runs out of 510,000 euros of European funds | The truth

The Scorpions will have to wait once again to see their football field completely renovated. The Higher Sports Council (CSD) has published the provisional results of the call for subsidies to which the municipal stadium was eligible, however, the Consistory's proposal has not passed the cut-off mark. The City Council was confident of being able to attract this aid worth 510,000 euros, after losing an aid from the Provincial Council of 90,000 euros at the beginning of the current legislature.

According to the CSD resolution, the project for the accessibility, adaptation and improvement of the facilities of the Los Arcos municipal stadium obtained 32 points, well below the cut-off mark to qualify for aid, which was established at 50 points. Another Oriolano project has also been left out, that of the digitalization of the Palacio del Agua indoor pool, which obtained 48 points. Only two below the minimum required.

To save both projects and ensure that they were not excluded from the call, the City Council first had to correct some defects. Specifically, the CSD demanded that he provide more documentation, because the project lacked valid accreditation of the signatory's power. This figure is none other than the person who appears as the applicant or representative in the file. That arrangement, however, has not served to sufficiently improve the offer.

Los Arcos has suffered great deterioration, especially since the DANA of 2019. The damage caused by the floods forced the government of former mayor Emilio Bascuñana to demolish the main stand and replace it with another one with a metal structure. The previous PSOE-Cs government put out to tender and contracted the maintenance service for the natural grass of this field and that of San Bartolomé. Before his departure, he announced in the pre-campaign that he wanted to increase the capacity of Los Arcos by 1,000 more seats.

High attendance

The truth is that the field, after the last promotion of Orihuela CF, is beginning to become small, with attendances reaching 3,000 spectators and that could increase if the scorpion team is promoted again this year, in this case, to First Division. RFEF.

For its part, the current government team has made some repairs, especially for damages in offices, warehouses and changing rooms, where there was dampness and a coat of paint was needed. However, they have not yet begun to touch the south stands, which is the one in the worst condition. All despite the recurring complaints on social networks from the members of the Eskorpión Front. The stadium, paradoxically, has turned 75 years old this season and the south end is one of the few remaining parts of the original construction.

On the other hand, in the investment annex of the Municipal Budgets recently approved this week, there is no disbursement for Los Arcos. Yes for various sports courts in Las Espeñetas, Torremendo, San Francisco and on the coast. Also the repair of the outdoor swimming pools of the Palacio del Agua, the second phase of the Molins sports area or the expansion of the climbing wall and the skate parks on the coast and the urban area.

The 110,000 euros subsidy for the renovation of the Palacio del Agua's lawn hangs by a thread. According to municipal sources, the project, awarded last month, is pending correction after Cs denounced that the provincial deputy for Sports, Bernabé Cano, has informed the City Council, according to the orange spokesperson, José Aix, the loss of that aid due to not having presented justification for the expenses.

A loss that, as Cs denounced in a note, was added to another aid of 14,909.37 euros for the repair of the left vessel of the La Matanza tank, which was eligible for another provincial subsidy within the call for first establishment, renovation or large repair of hydraulic supply infrastructure.