Orihuela prepares new contract to manage its two Bono Consumo campaigns

Orihuela Town Council is preparing a new contract to manage its municipal and provincial Bono Consumo campaigns, after FACPYME said it could not provide the guarantee required to formalise the agreement. The contract will be divided into two lots and is intended to continue support aimed at boosting spending in the municipality’s shops.

On 28 July 2026, the Local Government Board selected FACPYME as the collaborating organisation for the municipal scheme. To sign the agreement, it had to provide a bank guarantee of €435,000. The federation told the Town Council it could not do so, preventing the process from being completed.

The new arrangement will be a services contract awarded through an abbreviated simplified open procedure. One lot will cover the campaign funded from Orihuela’s own budget, with €400,000 allocated; the other will cover the management of the grant awarded by Alicante Provincial Council, worth €836,833 for the municipality. In its announcement on 15 October, the Town Council presented this contract as the way to manage both campaigns.

The planned public funding totals €1,236,833. The Town Council estimates that, if the usual system of consumers making an equal contribution is applied, the scheme could generate close to €2.5 million in purchases. Under this model, the public authority covers part of the voucher’s value and the customer pays the rest when buying it.

The provincial campaign is part of the allocation approved by Alicante Provincial Council on 23 September 2026, which distributes nearly €25 million among 125 municipalities. The provincial authority funds the value of the vouchers, while town councils cover management costs. For campaigns receiving an advance payment, implementation must be completed by 31 December 2026 and the grant accounted for by 31 January 2027.

For residents, the vouchers would offer discounts on purchases at participating businesses in Orihuela, including its outlying districts and the coast. The municipal campaign is funded from the Town Council’s budget and the provincial campaign through the Provincial Council’s grant; both aim to channel support to local shops through consumer spending.

Orihuela used this system in 2024 and 2025. In the 2024 municipal campaign, the €400,000 provided by the Town Council was turned into €800,000 in vouchers. For its Christmas initiative in 2025, the Town Council again funded half the value, with consumers covering the other half.

The new contract will enable a collaborating organisation to be selected to manage both schemes. The Town Council has said it will announce the participation conditions and campaign dates as the process moves forward.

News produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.