Torrevieja Council not amused by proposed private market

We believe that ‘Trocadero del Mar’ it is not legal.

ANOTONIO SERNA, President of APYMECO, the Association of small and medium businesses of Torrevieja, held a press conference last week alongside Agustina Esteve, Torrevieja’s Councillor for Commerce and Trade in response to questions from the Spanish media about the proposed market in the International Marina.  Both expressed their rejection of the initiative ‘Trocadero del Mar’, an event that has been advertising in the local Torrevieja media as ‘a supportive weekly market and different every Tuesday morning, which intends to held in the parking lot next to the International Marina.

Serna said "the proposed area is on land that is a public concession to a company for parking, and we understand that you can not put a market where you want when you want. We believe it is not legal." Agustina Esteve said that "as far as local trade is concerned, and although the site of the Trocadero is private, this activity has no municipal permit and therefore can be classified as an illegal market, but can be considered a market in a private place." According APYMECO, "even the manager of the marina is angry about the situation because the port has nothing to do with the initiative!"

Apart from the legality of the market, other concerns have been brought up by local residents and boat owners about access roads, the lack of parking in the zone and the difficulty for vans to park and turn in this area. Local boat owner Jon Elliott said that “if the market was to be here every Tuesday that it would be impossible for boat owners to be able to enter and exit the marina area due to double and inconsiderate parking, that is a feature every summer, which the local police turn a blind eye to!”

Keith Nicol