Benidorm will convene an extraordinary plenary session to definitively approve the budget and speed up the processing of grants

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, is going to convene an extraordinary and urgent plenary session to definitively approve the municipal budget for 2021 and, with it, make viable and expedite the processing of the “aid” provided for Covid-19. This is how the spokesperson for the government team, Lourdes Caselles, explained that "once the budget was submitted to public information, only one claim to the budget has been received, the one presented by Rubén Martínez, the spokesman for the municipal socialist group" ; an allegation that "reiterates the amendments that they already defended during the debate" of the accounts for 2021 and that is rejected "in view of the report" drawn up by the Intervention area.

Caselles has clarified that “if the PSOE spokesperson had not presented her claim almost 'in extremis', the municipal budget would already be definitively approved and a new submission for plenary approval would not be necessary for the 2021 accounts to come into force ”.

The local government spokesperson has indicated that “the Intervention report indicates that Mr. Martínez's claim does not meet any of the three assumptions established by the Local Finance Law for this purpose, which leads us to think that the socialist spokesperson has wanted to slow down the final approval of the budget, and with it its entry into force, of looking and thus damaging the processing of municipal aid against Covid-19, investments and attention to nominative aid ”. Among the nominative aid included in the budget "are those that are awarded annually to the Double Love Association, the Red Cross or the Society for the Protection of Animals and Plants, among others."

The local government spokesperson explained that “a large part of the investments included in the 2021 budget are affected by supra-municipal subsidies, mainly European, so a delay in the procedures or not complying and not executing the part that corresponds to the City Council could suppose the loss of these aid ”. Hence, "it is essential that the municipal budget is fully in force as soon as possible, to start these investments and meet the work deadlines." The same occurs with aid to families in the face of Covid-19, whose bases are practically finalized and in which the local government has collected some of the contributions pointed out by opposition groups ".

Caselles has advanced that "the members of the local government under the assistance regime are going to waive the collection of compensation for this extraordinary plenary session." "We do not know what the opposition is going to do, but it gives us the impression that the PSOE spokesman has also presented an allegation to the budget in order to collect the extraordinary plenary session."

Finally, the government spokesperson stressed that "the reports of the municipal technicians have confirmed that the municipal budget for 2021 is perfectly processed, and complies with fiscal rules and with all current legislation."