Date Published: 13/03/2024

This is the winning design for the Alhama de Murcia Parque de la Cubana

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A democratic citizen’s referendum was used to select the look for the redesign of the park

This is the winning design for the Alhama de Murcia Parque de la Cubana

A winner has been chosen by the people of Alhama de Murcia for how they want their Parque de la Cubana park to look after a thorough renovation. In an exercise of “open participation and transparency, supervised by specialised technicians who have guaranteed the legality and custody of the votes”, Alhama de Murcia Town Council has successfully counted the votes for the election of the new design of what was the old town fairground, and the results are in.

When it was put to a public vote, the winning design out of the three options available was ‘Option A’, “which encompasses the construction of a multipurpose park, with which the existing vegetation will be respected and in which the holding of events can be combined with parking spaces,” according to Alhama Town Hall.

It was billed as “the most multi-purpose” park, offering the most leisure options, services and facilities, with the greatest number of activities for all publics and the most parking spaces.

A total of 3,238 votes were cast, and in the end it was a very close-run thing between options A and C. There were 1,241 votes for option A; 767 for option B; and 1223 for option C, in addition to 3 blank votes and 4 null votes.

Option C, which narrowly lost out by just 18 votes, had a lot more trees and green spaces and a smaller car park.

Mayor of Alhama, María Cánovas, thanked the “participation of the neighbours who, with their voices, in a democratic and real way, are building the future of a space as emblematic as La Cubana, which is the essence of the centre of the municipality”.

“The Council has given a voice to its neighbours to decide the transformation of the center that will be the space for citizen coexistence of the present and the future,” she said. “With this participatory process, the municipality positions itself as a reference in citizen participation in urban decision-making. Shared responsibility is promoted, where each voice counts and is valued for the construction of a common future.”

There will be a second phase of decision-making to come for the park, which will be to determine the specific equipment to be placed in the park and which will also be put to a public vote.

“It has been shown that another way of governing is possible by involving locals in the decisions that will mark the future of the town,” concluded the Mayor.

For more local news, events and visiting information you can go to the home page of Alhama Today

Images: Ayuntamiento de Alhama de Murcia

Address

Tourist Office Alhama de Murcia, Plaza Constitucion. Frente Auditorio, nº 10, 30840, ALHAMA DE MURCIA

Tel: 968 633 512

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Oficina de Turismo de Alhama de Murcia

Alhama de Murcia Tourist Office

Alhama de Murcia Tourist information office is located on the edge of the Plaza de la Constitución, just a few metres away from the underground car park and the Town hall of Alhama de Murcia.

The tourist office offers free guided audiotours in English which take visitors around the historical sites of interest in Alhama. These be loaned at any time, although allow an hour and a half to complete the tour, and when loaning the audio equipment visitors are asked to leave passports or ID cards with the tourist office.

The office also carries a full range of leaflets for the archaeological museum of Los Baños, which is built around the historic spa which gives Alhama its name, and the mountains of Sierra Espuña, which is also an important area within the municipality of Alhama. Areas such as El Berro and Gebas have a number of interesting routes which can be followed and there are several picnic areas and good walking routes within the Sierra Espuña natural park.

The tourist office also carries leaflets for the many cultural events and fiestas which take place in Alhama throughout the year, including Los Mayos, Semana Santa, Christmas,the Romería of La Candelaria and the Auto de los Reyes Magos in El Berro.