05/09/2026
Buen artículo. Good article.
ESPAÑOL.
El PIOC (Partido Independencia Orihuela Costa) es una formación política bilingüe (inglés y castellano) que busca segregar la franja costera para convertirla en un municipio independiente separado de Orihuela ciudad.
El partido argumenta un grave abandono institucional y un desequilibrio económico deficitario, denunciando que la costa aporta unos 60 millones de euros en impuestos pero recibe solo 30 millones en inversión. Esto se traduce en carencias estructurales graves como aulas prefabricadas (barracones), falta de centros culturales, parques descuidados y la ausencia de un cuartel propio de la Guardia Civil.
Hoja de ruta electoral.
Su plan a diez años aspira a lograr unos 4 concejales en las elecciones de 2027 y el doble en 2031 para controlar los presupuestos desde el pleno. proyectando que la población alcance los 60.000 vecinos en 2035. En 2027 o 2031 controlar el dinero para paralizar está sangría económica. Posteriormente conseguir la independencia cuando superemos los 45 000 empadronados en unos 5 años.
Nuevo nombre oficial: El partido propone bautizar al nuevo municipio independiente como Costa Campoamor (o "Coast CountryLove" en inglés), eliminando la marca "Orihuela" por considerarla obsoleta.
El espejo del sur: Tienen como modelo de referencia a Pilar de la Horadada, localidad vecina que se independizó con éxito de Orihuela en el año 1986.
Perfil multicultural: Aunque el presidente es español, la directiva cuenta con secretaría irlandesa, tesorería sueca y afiliados de más de 20 nacionalidades, donde los residentes británicos representan entre el 30% y el 40% de la base del movimiento.
______________
Here is the English translation of the article about the political party seeking independence for Orihuela Costa:
------------------------------
The political party that speaks English and wants independence for 30,000 residents of Alicante's largest municipality.
With around twenty nationalities and a Spanish president on its board, the PIOC faces the 2027 elections with a ten-year plan to separate 'Orihuela Costa' from 'Orihuela Ciudad'.
There is a corner of Orihuela where, residents report, people prune their own gardens, fill their own potholes, and send their children to a school made of temporary cabin classrooms. They call it "Orihuela Costa"; it has more than 30,000 permanent residents and is located thirty kilometers away from the city hall that governs it.
The PIOC (Party for the independence of Orihuela Costa), formed by members and leaders of nationalities from all over Europe, wants to turn the coastal strip into its own municipality and achieve independence from Orihuela.
A party that speaks English and Spanish
Its president, Román Jiménez, is Spanish, "the secretary is Irish, and the treasurer is Swedish. There are more than 20 nationalities," Jiménez lists. The British, who gave wings to the movement, make up "around 30 or 40 percent." All of their communication is bilingual.
This mixture is both their main appeal and their weak spot against critics who claim that "foreigners want their own town hall." Jiménez turns this argument around: "They haven't invaded us, we invited them," recalling that the coast was promoted abroad for decades at real estate fairs. "Now that they live here and pay taxes, they must have their right to vote," he defends.
The PIOC was born in 2022, narrowly missed getting a councilor in 2023, and today claims to exceed 300 members, who pay approximately 40 euros per year.
First cut off the tap, then gain independence
Independence will come, if it does, through the ballot box. Orihuela Costa adds about 3,500 people to the municipal register each year, and Jiménez projects reaching nearly 60,000 residents by 2035.
The plan is gradual: about four councilors in 2027, double that in 2031, and from there, coalitions to "control the money," which is their primary goal. If he were to govern, he promises an audit, because "nobody knows how much money there is in Orihuela," according to the president. Furthermore, he would allocate "maintenance budgets" without "crazy spending" to the municipality's coastal area.
As a formal step, he is already collecting signatures for a segregation file; the president claims to have gathered 3,000 in one month, even knowing it will be rejected. He sees it as a rehearsal: "to learn from that first rejection so we can present a second, more solid file from within the plenary session itself, without needing signatures."
"We are living in third-world conditions"
— Román Jiménez, President of the PIOC
The underlying grievance is financial; according to their figures, the coast contributes around 60 million euros and receives only 30. He accuses the municipality of spending "like a city of half a million inhabitants," with more than ten museums and two auditoriums.
Jiménez speaks of prefabricated classrooms, the complete absence of a single cultural center compared to the conservatories and theaters in the inland city center, parks where "only 30 percent are maintained," and an area without its own Civil Guard station. "We are experiencing a third-world situation," he summarizes.
To those who warn that Orihuela would lose its economic engine, he responds with the law: there are ten-year compensation mechanisms and Supreme Court jurisprudence that prevents retaining a territory solely for tax collection interests.
Costa CampoAmor or Coast CountryLove
Orihuela Costa barely exists on paper. "It is an undefined term; there isn't even a decree," Jiménez explains. The territory to be segregated is the strip wedged between Torrevieja, Pilar de la Horadada, and San Miguel de Salinas, accounting for nearly a third of Orihuela's municipal district.
Without an official name yet, the party is already thinking about the one that would follow: Costa CampoAmor. They want to shed the "Orihuela" brand, which they view as "something outdated from the past," and recover a name with roots, linked to the poet Ramón de Campoamor and its history. Jiménez even fantasizes about the slogan: "Costa-Campoamor. In English, 'Coast CountryLove'."
Pilar de la Horadada as a reference.
If the PIOC has a compass, it is its southern neighbor, which gained independence from Orihuela in 1986. "Pilar de la Horadada has 22,000 registered residents and we have 32,000, and they are doing well: trash collection, a cultural center, a medical clinic—I wish we could be like them," he compares.
He frames his cause within a tradition of territorial breakaways like Bigastro, Jacarilla, and Guardamar, and even recommends a book about the process, Volteo de campanas (The Ringing of the Bells).
"Orihuela's politicians do not understand the current flowing beneath the surface. There are 20,000 people with the right to vote here. Let's see what happens," concluded the PIOC's top leader.
This newspaper attempted to obtain a comment from the Orihuela City Hall regarding the independence movement but received no response despite repeated attempts.
------------------------------
El PIOC, directiva de una veintena de nacionalidades y presidente español prepara las municipales de 2027 con un plan a diez años para separar 'Orihuela Costa' de 'Orihue
