Benidorm claims to manage directly the Next Generation EU European Funds against Covid-19

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, has pointed out this morning that "no one better than the people of Benidorm to know the real needs of the city, its social fabric and its economic sectors" and has endorsed "the result of the actions carried out in this sense in 2020, with more than 7 million euros in direct aid and other fiscal initiatives for immediate action on the social and economic fabric. 100% municipal resources that have really reached family economies and the self-employed, SMEs and local companies ”.

With this, Pérez has made an appeal “to the central government to allocate directly part of the European funds to the municipal coffers so that we can continue developing the policies to support our society: to the families of Benidorm, to our self-employed, to our small and medium-sized entrepreneurs from all sectors, commerce, hospitality and, obviously, the local tourism industry in all its segments ”.

Pérez has made this request in addition to the claim made within the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, in which yesterday he asked that the European Funds for Reconstruction 'be assigned directly to Local Governments, by competitive concurrence and without going through the Autonomous Communities or in a territorialized way ', as the note of the FEMP itself indicates.

The proposal of the mayor of Benidorm coincides with that of the FEMP, "proposing to defend competitive competition when accessing the Next Generation EU Funds against Covid19, in an open and transparent way."

Pérez considers that not involving the municipalities "is one more political irresponsibility of the central government" because "the municipalities are the ones who have been fighting against the social and economic crisis that the pandemic has brought us and so far without receiving a single euro from the State to be able to face the situation ”. And the hardest is that, lamented the mayor of Benidorm, "the Government of Spain has been all 2020 refusing that we could use our surpluses and treasury surpluses to help our people directly and immediately."

We consider, said the mayor of Benidorm, that "there is still a narrow window of time and we still have a few days until the Regulation that regulates these Funds is approved" and that is when we will know "in a detailed and precise way the details to present projects" , and we have the commitment of the FEM to transmit the information that arises from the various sectoral conferences, "but we need the commitment of the Government of the nation."

For the mayor, given the current situation and the arrival of European funds, "a solid response is needed and not a disastrous management, lies and confusion as supported in the Valencian Community and in Spain."

The mayor has highlighted that "the exclusion in the 'parenthesis aid' of the Resist Plan to all companies of the Valencian Community that exceed 10 employees, and taking as an example the innumerable hotels and hospitality companies and tourist services in the city that Due to this imposition, they are expressly excluded from these aids, it is a clear example that another way of managing the resources that belong to everyone is not only possible, but necessary, not making it necessary to delve into the great depth that this crisis is having for Tourism and, logically, for Benidorm and the great destinations ”.

Pérez recalled "the so much alluded to as undervalued co-governance", noting that "this is an excellent occasion to give prominence to it and achieve greater efficiency with society through the closest administration: your town hall."