The Social Welfare Mediation service closed the 2023 financial year with 24 extrajudicial actions

The free mediation service of the Social Welfare Department of Benidorm City Council, Mediaprop, carried out a total of 24 extrajudicial actions in 2023, according to data provided by the department itself. This service was launched as such last year and received a subsidy from the Ministry of Justice and the Interior of 20,000 euros.

Despite still being a “little known” service, the truth is that the balance is “very satisfactory” for this first year, according to the Councilor for Social Welfare, Ángela Zaragozí, who has shown her confidence that with the campaign of information that is being carried out "in a short time, there will be a greater degree of knowledge among the population." In this sense, information brochures have been distributed in all public buildings and institutions in the city.

Mediation, Zaragozí recalls, “is a technique used to resolve conflicts between two or more people, who will voluntarily try to reach an agreement on their own with the intervention of a mediator.” Until now, this free service has been provided at the José Llorca Linares social centre while the work on the new Mediation Center, included in the Sustainable and Integrative Urban Development Strategy (EDUSI), is completed.

According to figures held by Social Welfare in 2023, 26 users were served (21 women and 5 men). The number of telephone calls was fifteen and the number of in-person actions reached 22. Of the total of 24 extrajudicial actions carried out, 18 were on civil matters, four on family matters and two on labour matters.

The councillor has reiterated that mediation “speeds up the resolution of conflicts, facilitates and improves communication and coexistence and prevents future conflicts.”

During the 2023 financial year, Mediaprop service has carried out several activities such as disseminating the service through municipal information channels and social networks, informative talks have also been given to both citizens and City Council staff, in 2024. Information leaflets and advertising posters about the service have been distributed in all public buildings in Benidorm.