Plans for more bus routes and extended timetable in Torrevieja (Alicante)

TORREVIEJA town hall is prepared to spend €16 million on a new fleet of buses.

But when the contract was put out to tender the town hall received only one bid from Solaris Bus Iberica, which habitually supplies Avanza, the multinational that provides Torrevieja’s bus service.

The town hall intends to acquire 28 hybrid and four totally electric vehicles with, it hopes, a €3.4 million EU subsidy. 

Not only will the concessionary company not have to cover this cost but it will receive an annual €8 million for running the service.  The contract is likely to go to Avanza, according to sources quoted in the provincial Spanish media.

In return, the company will be expected to provide a more frequent service with more routes from the existing hub in Torrevieja’s Plaza de Castelar and another in the Habaneras shopping centre.

Passengers will notice one big change, as they will now have to buy a ticket. At present, roughly 70 per cent in the winter and 50 per cent in summer have travelled free if they are registered on the municipal Padron.

As the opposition parties on Torrevieja council have pointed out, this currently costs the town hall more than €3 million a year but under the new system it will rise to €8 million, in addition to the outlay on the new buses.

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