The council awards the project and construction of ‘Benidorm Open Arena’ to the joint venture Gestaser-Urdecon-Plaza de Toros for 13,870,000 euros
The project includes the refurbishment of the bullring and its conversion into a cultural, youth and social integration space
The City Council agrees to grant access to the file to the joint venture that was left out of the process, but denies its request to suspend the bidding process "for not meeting the requirements set by law"
The Benidorm City Council, in an extraordinary session, today approved by majority vote, with the PP and Vox parties voting in favor and the PSOE abstaining, the awarding of the project and construction of the ‘Benidorm Open Arena’ to the joint venture (UTE) formed by Gestaser-Urdecon-Plaza de Toros, based on their bid of €13,870,000. The ‘Benidorm Open Arena’ is one of the projects approved in the EDIL Plan, framed within the ERDF funds for the 2021-2027 period.
The spokesperson for the local government, Lourdes Caselles, explained the reasons for tendering the project and construction together, as recommended by the technical reports. She noted that these reports indicated “significant technical uncertainty” stemming from “the nature of structural rehabilitation, since there are pathologies that can only be precisely defined as work is carried out on the structure.” Another reason is the “indissoluble coordination,” meaning that “the structural reinforcement solution is intrinsically linked to the auxiliary equipment and specific machinery possessed by the winning company.”
Caselles also alluded to other reasons identified by the technicians, such as “pathologies not fully defined beforehand” or the integration of the construction method and the project. “Joint contracting allows the work method and the construction system to be part of the project design, something that would be impossible if the bidding process were separate.” Furthermore, this joint bidding process also enables “single responsibility, greater efficiency, and optimised deadlines.” The conclusion, the councilwoman added, is that a separate bidding process “would have hindered the execution of the work and increased the economic risks. This way, the structural safety and stability of the building are guaranteed.”
The contract is 60% co-financed by the European Union and is part of the ‘Benidorm Open Arena’ PAI (Integrated Action Plan), which includes three projects. On one hand, there's 'Arena Live,' which aims to rehabilitate the bullring and transform it into a multifunctional cultural space, ensuring its year-round use and contributing to reducing the seasonality of tourism. On the other hand, there's 'Arena Joven,' designed to create a versatile youth centre that combines training, creativity, and healthy leisure activities to promote local talent and youth participation. And finally, there's 'Arena Encuentro,' whose objective is to eliminate the urban barriers that have isolated Els Tolls neighbourhood, improving social integration and connectivity with the centre of Benidorm through accessible and sustainable infrastructure. "This isn't a political project; it's a necessity for Benidorm," stated Caselles.
In her remarks, the spokesperson congratulated “all three projects submitted, even though one was not selected.” Lourdes Caselles noted that “once the envelopes were opened and the scores revealed, the bidders' financial offers were revealed, and both proposals offered the greatest improvement and, therefore, received identical scores.” However, regarding price, one proposal offered a 7.53% reduction and the other a 2% reduction from the tender budget, so the contract was awarded to the former, the joint venture Gestaser-Urdecon-Plaza de Toros.
This also entailed the approval of an expenditure of €2,707,110.56 for the work to be carried out this year. Thus, according to the Popular Party spokesperson, “according to our forecast, by the end of March we will have 30% of the work completed and be eligible for a larger subsidy. Benidorm deserves this project, and for that reason, we must congratulate the technicians and the work they have done in this process.”
On the other hand, it was also approved, with the votes in favour from the Popular Party and Vox and the abstention of the Socialist group, to allow access to the information in the contracting file to a company that participated in the bidding process but was excluded “because it did not meet the established criteria,” as Lourdes Caselles explained. The company requested access to the file and the suspension of the bidding process. However, following the technicians' criteria, the spokesperson indicated that “they will be given access to all the information; they will be able to review the file along with the municipal technicians, but they will not be provided with a copy due to data protection regulations. The suspension of the process is also denied because it does not meet the legal requirements. There is no absolute nullity.”
