Residents of Fuengirola are set to benefit from a new 24-hour emergency healthcare centre after Andalucia’s regional government formally signed an agreement to build the long-awaited facility.
The new Servicio de Urgencias de Atencion Primaria (SUAP) will be constructed on a 1,100-square-metre plot on Avenida de Santa Amalia that has been ceded by Fuengirola Town Hall.
The project will be funded by the Andalucian Health Service (SAS) with an initial investment of €1.9million.
Regional health minister Antonio Sanz signed the agreement alongside Fuengirola mayor Ana Mula, describing the project as the fulfilment of a long-standing demand from local residents.
The new centre will provide immediate emergency medical care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year.
Sanz said the facility has been designed to meet the needs of Fuengirola’s population of almost 86,000 residents, while also taking into account the significant increase in people living in and visiting the town during the summer months.
‘This responds to a historic demand from residents to have an immediate emergency healthcare service in the municipality itself, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,’ he said.
‘It is a commitment we made to residents and one we are now delivering.’
Mayor Ana Mula welcomed the agreement and said it represented another important step towards improving healthcare infrastructure in the Costa del Sol town.
‘We continue to take firm steps forward and follow the roadmap agreed with the Junta de Andalucia so that Fuengirola residents can have the healthcare facilities they need as soon as possible,’ she said.
Fuengirola currently has three health centres but relies on a primary care emergency service in nearby Las Lagunas, which is shared with Mijas Costa.
That facility serves a population of more than 170,000 people.
Officials say the new emergency centre will significantly improve access to urgent medical care and reduce pressure on existing services.
The project forms part of a wider healthcare investment programme across Malaga province.
Sanz highlighted recent projects including the opening of the Los Pacos Health Centre in Fuengirola, renovations at the Los Boliches health centre and the expansion of La Carihuela health centre in Torremolinos.
He also pointed to the recently completed expansion of the Costa del Sol University Hospital, a €93million project that opened earlier this year after years of delays.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
