Five months after the tender, Orihuela Town Hall has awarded a contract to install a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDS) in Playa Flamenca on Orihuela Costa. The Tourism Department, not Infrastructure, has handled the process and awarded the services under the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan (PSTD). Councillor Gonzalo Montoya emphasises the link between tourism appeal and safety, saying: ‘Tourism and risk prevention go hand in hand; a destination that protects residents and visitors is a destination that is modern, sustainable and prepared for the future.’

The contract has gone to Mistral three thousand Sociedad Limitada for one hundred and fifty thousand euros, with a four‑month execution period. The work aims to address runoff affecting Paraná Street when storms reach medium to high intensity, which currently floods the carriageway. The street borders the CEIP Playas de Orihuela, and the stormwater network there has a small diameter and shallow gradient, contributing to flooding on the traffic island between Paraná Street and California Avenue.

Project plans include a filtering trench along the island margins that will gradually drain water to the stormwater sewer. A rain garden will be installed on the island to collect rainwater and improve surface storage of runoff, with vegetation acting as a contaminant filter. SuDS are designed as alternatives and complements to conventional drainage, allowing urban runoff to be managed by mimicking natural processes that existed before development.

According to the project brief, Orihuela Costa’s sewer network is largely unitary and covers the town centre, north‑west urbanisations, and the Colinas golf course, though several stretches exist elsewhere, such as Lomas de Golf and near the Zenia shopping centre. Councillor Manuel Mestre of Vox has described the Paraná works as essential for improving safety against floods. Separate flood‑prevention works remain pending at the N‑332 underpass near the coast, an area still unusable in heavy rainfall.