The City Council will rescue the private parking lot La Viña to integrate it into the 1 euro per day parking network.

This pioneering measure represents a break with the parking privatization model of previous government teams and will benefit citizens, who will be able to park for one euro during the day.

The Consistory has initiated the procedures to rescue the concession that was formalized by the PSOE in 2005 for a period of 75 years.

The Estepona City Council has proposed to expand the municipal network of public parking lots of 1 euro per day with the incorporation of private parking lots to this pioneering system that already has more than 2,000 spaces in the city. At the moment, an agreement is being worked on for the acquisition of the 174 spaces in the La Viña parking lot, located in the central Melilla street.

The measure will mean a significant reduction in the cost per hour of parking in this area, which is currently set at 2.40 euros per hour. Thus, once the agreement is formalized, it will be possible to park for only 1 euro during all daytime hours. If the vehicle remains parked for 24 hours, the fee will be 3 euros compared to the current 17 euros.

The Consistory has already initiated the technical and legal procedures for the recovery of this infrastructure, following the willingness of the concessionaire company to achieve this rescue.

The construction and management of the La Viña parking lot was awarded in 2005, by the then socialist municipal government, to a private company. The term of operation of the site was 75 years of operation of the site, so that today there were still 55 years of concession. This formula was also applied for the El Calvario parking lot, which was awarded to the same company.

The policy of the previous municipal authorities, based on the privatization of parking lots with high rates for residents, now gives way to the model of the current government team with its own network of public parking lots where it costs 1 euro to leave a vehicle during the day and 2 euros at night.

In its commitment to continue providing the municipality with new parking spaces for vehicles, given the need arising from the significant population growth experienced by Estepona, the City Council has chosen to explore the formula of recovery, for general use, of the parking spaces that are part of the concessions signed with various companies through the legal mechanism of the rescue.

The City Council raised a few months ago to the three concessionary companies that are currently responsible for the management of private parking lots located on Avenida España (Zapallito and Inmecam) and the one located in Melilla Street (La Viña), the possibility of its acquisition. It has been decided to consult the concessionaires and to continue the procedure only with those who are interested.

The municipal technicians are working on an objective valuation taking into account the market price and the remaining concession period. The Consistory will be able to afford the amount to be determined thanks to the surplus of the 2024 budget.

The municipal parking plan launched by the City Council of Estepona, which already includes four enclosures under the formula of parking for one euro during the day, has provided the city with more than 2,000 places where you can leave the vehicle, but has also opened a door to the employment of people with functional diversity who are responsible for the management of all these parking lots. So far, the agreement between the Consistory and the Aprona Association has enabled the formalization of up to 37 contracts. Of these, 33 correspond to men and women with some type of disability.

The four public parking lots available in the city are located in the Antonia Guerrero square, in the Athletics Stadium, in the Chess Square and in the new Town Hall building. The Estepona City Council is working on the expansion of this network with two new parking lots that are currently under construction. One of them, located in the surroundings of the Iglesia del Carmen, will have 322 parking spaces distributed in three subway floors. To these will be added the 300 spaces contemplated in the new parking lot on the Parque Central boulevard. These new parking spaces will be added to the 2,000 spaces already in existence.

The Consistory also plans to build another parking area in the La Lobilla zone, for which the drafting of the project has already been contracted and is in its final phase.