Antonio Soria Park will host the Torrevieja May Fair this year

In an emergency and urgent Local Government Board meeting yesterday, Tuesday 11th March, the City Council of the salt-producing city accepted the contracting file for the May Fair celebration in 2025 and 2026. The base tender budget per year, including VAT, is 184,274 euros.

According to Rosario Martínez Chazarra, the Councillor for Festivals, the contract is expected to be in effect from May 14th to May 18th in 2025, and it will be in effect from any day in May 2026 with the same initial period. In this regard, Martínez has clarified that while the celebration is originally scheduled for May 13th–17th, 2026, the Councillor for Festivals will decide on this date based on other events.

The contract covers the several services that will be offered and aims to deliver the full and comprehensive organisation of the May Fair in 2025 and 2026. It involves setting up the 15 recreational booths, each measuring 10 meters by 10 meters, and assembling the Fair stage, complete with lights and sound. In this sense, the contract covers the Fair grounds’ assembly and electrical installation, as well as the supply of restrooms, changing areas, and any other facilities or services required for the event’s proper operation. In compliance with regulatory standards, the public will also have access to chemical portable restrooms that are situated in accordance with the activity project and have a toilet and sink.

The Councillor for Festivals surprised everyone by announcing that, unlike the previous two years, the May Fair in 2025 will take place at Antonio Soria Park rather than Parc de la Estacion.

This event was previously hosted in the port’s fairgrounds, but the City Council decided to move it to this new site as the construction of the new recreational complex got underway.

The festival was renamed ‘Tribute to the May Fair’ by the City Council, which made it considerably smaller. They emphasised that this was a temporary solution, but it is definitely far from the size of the Fair when it was in the harbour, where over 20 stalls were set up.

The opposition actually criticised the governing team for selecting the Parc de la Estacion. The local management defended the selection of this site by pointing out that the dance groups refused to pay a portion of their own expenses for transportation to Antonio Soria Park, the other viable option.

According to the Council, the May Fair in Antonio Soria necessitated a number of costly lighting installations for low-income organisations. The fairgrounds faced a similar issue, but unlike the Seville fairs, they were eventually able to set up there without any more issues. In a different order of events, they also share a space with the summer music festivals and even the several paella competitions held during the La Purísima celebrations.

It appears that the government team has considered all of these suggestions and criticisms this year and has chosen to move to Antonio Soria Park. According to municipal sources, this location will only be utilised for this year and will be permanently installed in the city’s new port area by 2026 once the leisure centre’s construction is finished.