The Argana Alta Pavilion should today be the symbol of the regained dignity of a forgotten neighborhood. A public sports facility, built with public money, intended for thousands of residents who have been demanding basic services for years. But no: what has been inaugurated is something else. A project that started crooked, grew amidst cost overruns, was tainted by corruption, and now culminates with private gym fees... and without a single discount for pensioners or people with disabilities. A disgrace.
To understand the current absurdity, we must remember where this building comes from. Its initial cost was around 8 million euros, but it ended up soaring to almost 13 million, after new awards and technical add-ons. To that, Arrecife had to pay an extra half a million to FCC for payment delays. And let's not forget
that to get it properly up and running, another contract modification for over 1.2 million was approved. Every euro, of course, came out of everyone's pocket.
And as if that were not enough, the pavilion's history was marked by the Jable case, a corruption scheme that implicated former municipal officials and FCC executives. There were bribes, paid trips, indecent favors, and firm convictions. In other words: the pavilion, from its origin, was a hotbed of irregularities. A public project tainted by private interestsAnd what was the City Council's response? Instead of guaranteeing that the neighborhood would recover what corruption took from it, it decided to hand over management to Clece for twenty years. A private company, with private logic, that will not offer social rates of its own volition. If it is not contractually obligated, it does not do it. Period. And now, as if that were not enough, an economic adjustment of up to 2 million is being considered to compensate for additional expenses. More public money for an exclusionary management model
And here is the final result:
A public pavilion with no public fees.
No discounts for pensioners.
Nothing for people with disabilities.
Nothing for low-income families.
Nothing for the neighborhood that needs it most
Argana Alta is receiving a sports facility they cannot afford. It's like building a hospital and charging admission. An insult.
This pavilion is the perfect example of how a right is turned into a business:
– first we all pay for it,
– then corruption tarnishes it,
– then it's privatized,
– and in the end, only those who can afford it can enjoy it.
The minimum is to demand social tariffs now. And a complete review of the contract with Clece. The neighborhood should not accept handouts, but justice.
Because Argana doesn't need more photos, headlines, or propaganda.
What it needs is for the public to be truly public.
And for them to stop treating its residents like customers. They are citizens. And they have paid for this pavilion twice: with money and with patience.