Why is the Chulilla Spa closed?
Closed due to debts. 2013 was the last year it was open. On the one hand, the mismanagement of Xavier Marí i Cerezo and, on the other, the drop in demand, perhaps due in part to the 2012 fire, accumulated a debt of 220,000 euros.
42 people worked in the spa that still today are still in court claiming their rights.
The spa had a turnover of 2.59 million euros in 2010.
Current situation
The spa belongs to Chulilla and gives concessions to third companies to manage it. As the spa did not open in 2014, the city council closed the concession and regained management, but in doing so it also became the employee of those 42 employees.
In March 2021, sentence number 153/2021 was issued saying basically that the dismissal of the personnel is considered null, and condemns the Chulilla City Council to reinstate them or to compensate them with the seniority that each employee has.
I don’t know the exact sum, but it must be high.
Suppose that the average is 10 years in the company and that they earned 1200 on average. If the severance pay is 2 months per year worked, we would have that the total figure is:
2 * 1200 * 10 * 42 = 1008000
Euro up euro down Chulilla city council must pay one million euros more or less to the former employees. To this should be added the wages not received, which, assuming they are about 4 months, would be about 200,000 euros more.
The response of the city council has been to declare an ERE so as not to have to face the payment. This fact is still in full judicial process. Still more time to settle this issue.
Will the chulilla spa open again in 2023?
Well, I would say no, but everything is accelerating anyway and we will finally be able to bathe in the healing thermal waters of the spa this coming summer.
Update 2023
The following has been reported in the press:
The Chulilla City Council seems to be getting its act together and fixing up the spa thanks to a 170,000 euro grant from the Generalitat. The idea is to turn it into an excellent place for elderly people in the town to spend the day, but more financial aid is needed to get this project off the ground. The mayor of Chulilla, Vicente Polo, says the project will proceed slowly. First, they will renovate the chapel, which is a Local Heritage site, and the surrounding area to turn it into a day center. Then, they want to add more services and even create a residence for the elderly. To achieve this, they are working hand in hand with the Conselleria and want to request the Plan Conviure. They already requested it last year, but didn’t score enough points. Now they will request it again, for about 500,000 euros, to fix up the spa and “fix the mistakes we had last year,” according to the mayor.
My opinion:
It’s good to give those facilities a use, but I’m not clear on what use they will give to the thermal spring. Currently, it’s only used for drinking water in Chulilla. If Chulilla’s tap water comes from that spring.
And what about the pools and the fabulous effect of its waters on the skin?
For now, there’s no news on this. It’s going to be a while.