New emergency services centre to open in Orihuela Costa this summer after a 10-year wait

Improved coordination centre for the coastal area of Orihuela scheduled for completion in June

The long-awaited Emergency Services Centre in Orihuela Costa is finally set to open a decade after construction was started following the resumption of building work last summer.

The Centre should be finished by the start of this summer, according to Emilio Bascuñana, the Mayor of Orihuela, and the building of around 4,700 square metres will host many different emergency services including the Guardia Civil and the Fire Department.

The Centre is currently around 60% completed and will be home to the Policía Nacional, the Guardia Civil, the Policía Local, the Fire Department, the Civil Protection department, the Forestry Brigade and a vehicle pound for illegally parked cars which have been removed, and even more emergency services could be added to the list. In addition, the facility will act as a coordination centre for the south of the province of Alicante.

Other facilities will include a SAMU base (Urgent Medical Assistance Service, or ambulance service) in the summer, a gym, a car park, cells and a control plant, located in the basement. The ground floor will have a customer service area, offices, changing rooms and bedrooms as well as a dining room, and outside there will also be a heliport.

Construction first began in 2010 but came to a halt two years later when the original construction company entered bankruptcy, and the new contract was eventually awarded for just over two million euros after the plans were adapted to the changing needs of the municipality.