Ángeles Muñoz has announced that the Trapiche del Prado elderly residence will not be operational until early 2027, despite promising its completion for June 2026 in January. The project, awarded in 2022 with a 15-month deadline, has incurred a 50% cost overrun.
The mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, has once again delayed the opening of the public elderly residence at Trapiche del Prado, a promise she made when she took office in 2007. This Tuesday, July 7, when the works were supposed to be completed according to the last deadline announced in January, Muñoz visited the site without media and communicated that the residence will not open until early 2027.
A promise from 2007 that remains unfulfilled
The elderly residence is one of Muñoz's longest-standing promises. In 2009, the first stone was laid, with a project that was then awarded to the company Sanyres and was supposed to be ready by 2011. That plan failed, and the project was forgotten for a decade.
In 2022, the City Council resumed the initiative and awarded the works to the company Grulop 21 for 6.14 million euros, with an execution period of 15 months. However, more than four years have passed, and the work is still not finished.
According to the new schedule, the civil works will be completed before the end of 2026, and the residence could be operational in early 2027. Muñoz has justified the delay by claiming that parallel procedures are being expedited to save time.
Million-euro cost overrun with European funds
The initial project of 6.14 million has suffered a cost overrun of 3,064,660.24 euros, a 49.92% increase, raising the total cost to 9,203,803.34 euros. Of this amount, the Spanish Government has contributed 2.8 million euros through the Next Generation European funds.
The mayor has assured that they are working to minimize the opening deadlines, but the residents of Marbella view these promises with skepticism, given the history of delays. The plot was donated to the municipality in 1992 by the family of Mateo Álvarez, and since then, the residence has been a constant demand.
For the people of Marbella, the lack of a public elderly residence represents a growing problem, especially for families needing affordable places. Meanwhile, the city continues to wait for an infrastructure that has been in limbo for two decades.
The next milestone will be the completion of the civil works by the end of the year, although at this point, few dare to say that it will be fulfilled.
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