Who denies that health costs can be expensive, but high, parking fees outside a public hospital?

The car park belonging to the Parque Tecnológico de la Salud in Granada, has long been a source of irritation for its users, given that prices are constantly rising, some consider.

This has caused users to look further afield to find somewhere to park with the knock-on effect that nearby residents find it harder to find somewhere to park. Consequently, local neighbourhood associations have complained.

The Chairman of the Asociación de Zaidín-Campus, Juan de Dios Jiménez, explained: “Today, parking here for a couple of hours can cost you five euros, although the average user parks for between ten and twelve hours because you never know how long you will take in a hospital, [visiting sick relatives or for outpatient appointments].”

So how much does it cost to park in the hospital car park? The answer is 39 centimes a minute, whereas in the nearby, underground car park (Nuevo Los Cármenes)  it costs 22 centimes per minute. In fact, it seems that to park in the hospital car park costs the same as the most expensive  underground car park in the city, Puerta Real.

Many consider that as it is a public hospital; i.e., not a private one, you shouldn’t need to pay to park there, yet it appears that since the Covid-19 crisis (2020/21) the parking prices have gone up four times.

So who runs the car park? Since it started operating in 2016 a private company has the lease which was awarded by the Junta de Andalucía. But if you ask the Junta why it is so expensive, they pass the buck onto the City Hall. A game of ping-pong at its best, if you have the time and patience.

However, if you look back at press reports (which we did)  you can see that in 2021 the said car park cost 2.34 euros per hour (39 centimes a minute), so has it really gone up as some claim? The fact is, nevertheless, that if it has cost 2.34 euros an hour since 2016, it’s still very expensive for a car park for a public hospital.

(News/Noticias: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: Jesús Jiménez/Granada Hoy)