Access Discrimination in Orihuela Ayuntamiento.

Today (10th December 2008) the Los Verdes and PSOE Opposition Parties issued a joint press release to highlight the inadequate facilities that the Governing PP provide to the Opposition Parties in the Orihuela Town Hall, in that there is no access to the parties official offices in the building for disabled persons.

This is discrimination against persons with disabilities in that it restricts their access to their elected Councillors.

On Tuesday the 9th December the two parties held a meeting with various groups from Orihuela to collect and discuss their proposals for the future Citizen Participation Regulation. At the last minute the location of the meeting had to be changed so as to accommodate the attendance of those members of the public who had mobility disabilities.

Ever since the move into the current offices the two parties (Los Verdes and PSOE) have warned PP Councillor David Costa, who is responsible for office allocation, that access to the current offices was inadequate. It is an example that shows the PP Governing Party's poor commitment and lack of interest for persons with disabilities and their problems of access. As always, the politics of the PP in Orihuela is limited to photographs and acts of propaganda, and not to make it easier for disabled citizens, particularly those with different needs, to participate in public life.