Yesterday the demolition work began on the squatted house in a state of ruin that prevented the progress of the road works in the upper neighborhoods of Lorca. The house, located on Rincón Bautista street in the San Pedro neighborhood, had already been expropriated in 2016 and the owners had received the corresponding compensation. However, they continued to inhabit it illegally.
In this regard, Rosa Medina, mayor of Local Development, affirmed: «When we came to the government, the first thing we did was start the appropriate steps to unblock the work on the road in the upper neighborhoods. The different sections were practically finished, but there was a serious problem: a house blocked the continuity of the road. After intense work in which different departments, Local Development, Urban Planning, Citizen Security and Social Services have been involved, we have managed to carry out the demolition of the property. From the Lorca City Council they assure that, once this obstacle is resolved, the works could end when the summer ends.
PP and PSOE accuse each other of being responsible for not evicting the house after its expropriation in 2016
A few weeks ago, the PP and PSOE, parties that have alternated local government in recent years, exchanged a series of accusations about the situation. Specifically, Fulgencio Gil, the current mayor of Lorca, criticized the fact that the previous PSOE government team did not demolish the house immediately to prevent its occupation, while Isabel Casalduero, a PSOE councilor, indicated that it was the PP government that in 2016 expropriated the house to abandon the project completely shortly after.
However, this has not been the only problem that the Lorca City Council has faced during the execution of the road. According to Gil, one of the most complex jobs has been to build the retaining wall, parallel to the Plaza de la Coronela, in the San Pedro neighborhood, 100 meters long and 11 meters high at its highest point. In fact, this construction was at the expense of the diversion of an underground medium voltage line by Iberdrola, which forced the work to be halted.
A new backbone
Once it opens to the public, the road through the upper neighborhoods will connect the neighborhoods of San Juan, Santa María, San Pedro and San Lázaro with the rest of the city, avoiding the passage through the streets of the old town, narrower and with slopes, in some cases, very pronounced. This project has been financed by the Autonomous Community, which has invested 3.4 million euros.
Specifically, the road consists of a first section, of new construction, which goes from the neighborhood of San Lázaro to the roundabout of the neighborhood of Santa María, and which in turn connects with the Castillo road. The next segment runs from the aforementioned roundabout to the La Parroquia road (RM701), while the third and last corresponds to the works that are being carried out at the crossroads that join the La Parroquia road with the climb to the old church of San Juan, including new merging lanes for the entrance and exit of this intersection.
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