El Campello Town Hall has signed a contract to renovate the courts and changing rooms of the Polideportivo Centro sports hall and the trinquet, the court used for Valencian pelota. The contractor is Nerco Construcciones y Proyectos. Mayor Juanjo Berenguer signed on behalf of the town hall. The work is priced at €2,526,480 including VAT (IVA).
Nerco was the only company to bid. Its offer was chosen by the procurement board (mesa de contratación). The company specialises in rehabilitating buildings and restoring homes, and its office is in Mutxamel.
The contract allows 12 months for the work, counted from the signing of the start-of-works document (acta de replanteo). If everything goes to plan, work could begin before the end of 2026. The project covers the hall's courts and changing rooms and brings the building into line with current universal accessibility requirements.
The hall is more than 30 years old. The problems listed include damp in the roof, local cracks in the ceramic brickwork and outdated toilets that are not accessible. The cafeteria has no smoke extraction and is not separate from the sports building. According to preliminary technical reports, the wooden false ceiling under the roof and the underside of the outer canopy are badly worn in places, with a risk of parts falling onto the square and the street. With no hot water, the changing rooms cannot function properly.
The trinquet is part of the Polideportivo Centro complex but was added after the main building. The project includes building a roof over it. El Campello's Club de Pelota Valenciana has for years demanded decent conditions from the town hall. According to Información, the condition of the court and stands continues to deteriorate. The trinquet is open to the sky, so play is impossible in the rain. Children also train there in the pelota school (escoleta). It is run by local player José Antonio Martínez Asensi (Martines), a five-time world champion and three-time European champion, who has repeatedly called publicly for the renovation. The toilets are at the other end of the hall, so the coach has to interrupt sessions to take the children.
While the work is under way, the clubs that normally train and compete in the hall will be given other venues. Councillor for sport Marcos Martínez is arranging them: sports halls in neighbouring municipalities, University of Alicante facilities and El Campello schools. Under-18s will not be moved to other municipalities and will continue to train within El Campello. Those affected will be notified before the work starts and the facilities close. The town hall has not given the exact date of the closure or of the start of work, nor a list of the clubs and venues.
The project is part of the town hall's investment plan of more than €22m, covering more than 50 projects. The plan was approved at a full council meeting (pleno) with the votes of the PP and Vox.