Cádiz makes a move for the City of Justice after the setback in April

The Junta and the Cádiz City Council are working to re-tender the works for the engineers' houses, after the procedure was declared void in April. Mayor Bruno García and Vice President Manuel Gavira discussed on Friday the continuity of the City of Justice, a pending project that the City Council considers a priority for the city.

The City of Justice returns to the working table

What has happened with the Cádiz project?

The City of Justice of Cádiz remains pending because the tender for the works of the engineers' houses was declared void last April. That outcome left the project without the planned progress and forced the Junta de Andalucía to review the procedure before re-advertising it.

The situation was one of the main topics of the meeting held this Friday between Bruno García and Manuel Gavira. The meeting was requested by the mayor to directly learn the status of the project and understand the steps being taken to resolve the problem that prevented awarding the works.

The key fact at this moment is simple: the tender must be reconsidered without repeating the circumstances that caused it to be declared void. Gavira explained that the Ministry is analyzing the project and seeking a solution so that the next procedure can move forward.

What has the Junta said about the new tender?

Manuel Gavira has assured that work is underway to prevent the problem that occurred in April from happening again when the works are tendered again. His goal, he stated, is for the project to move forward and overcome the obstacle encountered in the first procedure.

The deputy vice president recalled that he assumed his position in the Ministry of Justice last July, after the tender was declared void. Since his incorporation, he noted, the project has been analyzed and a solution sought to re-advertise it.

For Cádiz, the difference between a failed tender and a new call is decisive. It is not just about announcing that the project continues on paper: the next step must ensure that the works receive an effective response in the contracting procedure. That is the real challenge.

Why the project matters for Cádiz

What place does the City of Justice occupy among municipal priorities?

Mayor Bruno García has placed the City of Justice among the pending projects that he considers necessary to push forward so it becomes a reality “very soon.” He mentioned it alongside Valcárcel, the Portillo pavilion, and the new hospital, which he described as other “wounds the city had.”

The comparison offers a political and local reading of the meeting: for the City Council, it is not just another case. It is an action that forms part of a list of pending matters affecting the evolution of Cádiz and which, as the mayor argued, require continuity and institutional collaboration.

García thanked Gavira for the visit and said he perceived “great willingness and determination” to collaborate on issues affecting the city. He also pointed out that these matters depend on the Junta de Andalucía, an administration which, in his words, “has always shown that it takes Cádiz very seriously.”

What does it mean now that the project moves forward?

It means that the Junta does not consider the project closed after the void tender. The Ministry is studying what happened, working on a solution, and aims to re-tender the works for the engineers' houses so that the City of Justice can continue its path.

Caution, however, is justified. The information conveyed after the meeting speaks of analysis, a solution, and future tendering, but does not set a new date for publishing the procedure nor offer a concrete construction schedule. The announced progress is administrative, not yet a work in progress.

This nuance helps to understand what the Cádiz reader may expect from now on. The meeting serves to reactivate coordination between both administrations and to place the project back on the political agenda, but the next indicator will be the effective call for a new tender.

The meeting also addresses the tourist tax

What connection did the tourist tax have with the meeting?

The possible implementation of the tourist tax was the other issue on the agenda of the working meeting requested by the mayor. It is not part of the City of Justice project, but it is one of the matters the City Council wanted to discuss with the vice president of the Junta.

Bruno García argued that visitors who come to Cádiz generate a “very positive return” for the city in employment, commerce, hospitality, and hotels. From his point of view, that return could be even greater if a tourist tax were applied.

The mayor suggested that such a tax could come either from the Junta or the Spanish Government, through the Local Finance Law, which allows city councils to have a tax with a specific end. The idea expressed by the City Council is that the revenue have a concrete destination.

What remains pending after the institutional visit?

It remains to specify the solution that will enable the re-tendering of the works for the engineers' houses and to verify that the new procedure does not again end up void. It also remains to see how the conversation about the tourist tax evolves and what path could be proposed for Cádiz.

Gavira’s visit included a greeting to members of the Municipal Corporation in the Plenary Hall and signing in the Honor Book. Afterwards, the meeting focused on the matters raised by the mayor, with the City of Justice as one of the main points of work.

From a local perspective, the outcome has two speeds. On one hand, there is a political signal of collaboration between the Junta and the City Council. On the other, the project still needs to overcome the step that failed in April: a tender capable of receiving bids and allowing the work to advance. The institutional photo is already taken; now the file must respond.

Cádiz once again puts the City of Justice at the center of the agenda after the void tender of the engineers' houses. The Junta is analyzing the project and seeking a solution to re-tender it, while the City Council demands that an action considered a priority cease to be a pending matter. The meeting also leaves open the discussion about the tourist tax, but the next key move will be administrative: to publish a new tender that does not again go without bids.