PSOE calls for the project to be put out to tender immediately
Sergi Castillo says that, after weeks of making election promises in the middle of summer, Toni Pérez should remember local athletes and put an end to years of broken promises
The Socialist Municipal Group at Benidorm City Council has called on the Popular Party-led government to immediately put out to tender the contract for drafting the project for the new athletics track in Poniente. Deputy spokesperson Sergi Castillo said that, given the “overwhelming list of projects” being announced by Mayor Toni Pérez and the Popular Party-led Valencian Government in the middle of summer, “this would be an excellent time to remember Benidorm’s athletes and finally put out to tender the long-awaited, announced and promised athletics track”.
Castillo recalled that the 2026 municipal budget, approved last June, includes a specific allocation of €180,000 precisely for the preparation of the project for this sports facility. “The money is already included in the municipal budget. What appears to be missing is the political will to get the work started, even though this government has entered a phase of generosity and investment fantasies,” he said.
The Socialist councillor stressed the long history of “false promises and unjustified delays” surrounding the project. In February 2022, Mayor Toni Pérez held a formal event alongside local sports clubs, where he promised that the new eight-lane athletics track would be completed by autumn 2023 and would temporarily coexist with the existing facilities. However, the government subsequently removed the Foietes athletics track, leaving local athletes and runners without a place to train and forcing them to travel to neighbouring municipalities.
“The PP’s record on this issue is even bleaker than the state of the site itself: they demolished the facility we had, promised a replacement within a record timeframe and, almost four years later, local athletes are still without proper facilities while watching the Poniente site become a storage area for construction materials,” Castillo criticised.
Finally, Castillo called on the Mayor to finalise the tender documents so that the contract for drafting the project for the city’s new athletics track can be put out to tender as soon as possible.
“We cannot afford to continue without these basic sports facilities because of the neglect of a mayor who is more concerned with photo opportunities and social media than with working to solve the problems and shortcomings facing Benidorm,” he concluded.