The Generalitat has awarded a €5,768,611 contract to refurbish Orihuela’s former care home, intended to house the future Residencia Oriol and regional social services, following a tender processed under an urgent procedure.
The successful contractor is Proyme Ingeniería y Construcción, and the planned construction period is fourteen months.
The project concerns the future of thirty residents who remain displaced to Torrevieja after the severe storm on 12 September 2019 destroyed their facilities and forced their evacuation by boat.
Seven bids and an award based on more than price
The competition, whose bidding period closed in February, had a base budget of €5,949,814 and attracted seven proposals; the awarded contract is €181,203 below that figure.
The winning offer was not the cheapest: Doalco submitted a proposal worth €5,372,242.
The assessment also considered longer construction guarantees, quality analyses, measurement studies and recycled materials carrying environmental declarations, areas in which the successful bidder achieved a better score.
Families are still waiting for a return to Orihuela
The award comes almost nine months after the tender and against the background of a lengthy campaign by relatives to restore normality for residents and secure their care within the municipality.
The residential users’ return is a separate process from that of people attending the Oriol Occupational Centre, who returned to the Palmeral building in January following council refurbishment work.
The parents’ association, AMPA Oriol, expects the move to the former care home to take place no earlier than mid-to-late 2028; this is the families’ estimate rather than an official opening date.
Over these years, relatives have organised protests, signature campaigns and demonstrations in Orihuela and Valencia, as well as submitting complaints to the regional ombudsman.
AMPA president Antonio Trujillo has said the association will keep watch to ensure work starts before 31 December, a deadline he links to the contract conditions.
The new contract therefore sets out the next step in the refurbishment, while the residents’ return remains pending.
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