Compromís asks to guarantee minimum places for residents in Xàbia coves

Monday 4th July 2022 – Mike Smith
Source: Xàbia AL DÍA

It was confirmed at the last plenary session that the local council has not yet found a contractor willing to take on the management of the parking zones on the streets that give access to the coves of La Granadella and Portitxol-La Barraca.

The over-saturation of these popular bathing area has forced the local council to take steps to control access in recent years, including the closure of access roads when the available parking area are complete. This year it was proposed to charge a fee of 9 euros per day for all vehicles to park in these areas and a tender process was started to find a company to take on the contract. At the time of writing, there have been no submissions.

During the plenary session, the spokesman for Compromís, Juan Cardona, sought answers from mayor José Chulvi whilst also requesting that there be a number of parking spaces reserved for residents of Xàbia who cannot access these precious beaches during the summer due to the massive influx of visitors. Last Saturday, the barriers for both coves were closed at 10.15am.

In response, the mayor explained that the tender process for implementing a charge for parking in these popular coves had been abandoned, due to the companies not being able to find the staff to provide the service, to which Cardona replied that if they were struggling to find workers, then they should have thought about paying more or improving the work conditions. He added that “there are ways to have parking control through mobile applications and, in the 21st century, it is difficult to understand that Xàbia is no longer appreciated and that it is another summer without a parking charge in these already crowded environments”.

He explained that “for us, the charge for parking in the coves is not a tax but a way to reduce to the number of people who go to these environments and avoid overcrowding. At the same time, it should serve to guarantee space for the people of Xàbia who feel that they have been deprived of the chance to visit these coves [during the summer] … the tourist must understand that they come here and should contribute as we all do to conserve the environment, to pay for the cleaning, for the first aid cover and for other services. That is why [Compromís] is totally is favour of implementing a tourist tax, we must go for less and better”.