Benidorm adheres to the agreement between the Generalitat and the FVMP to promote the construction of social housing

The plenary session of Benidorm City Council agreed this Monday to join the framework collaboration agreement to promote the promotion of public housing on local administration land through public-private collaboration, signed on April 2 between the Generalitat Valenciana and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP). Adherence to this agreement has been carried out unanimously, with the favourable vote of the 25 councillors that make up the municipal Corporation.

The councillor for Urban Planning and Housing, Lourdes Caselles, recalled that Benidorm City Council has been “one of the first in the Valencian Community to make land available to the Generalitat for the promotion of public housing, even before this was signed. framework agreement with the FVMP”, and stated: “We are aware of the need –for housing–. And faced with that need, we get going and act.”

Specifically, Caselles has referred to the plot located on Guatemala Avenue, whose transfer was already approved in the ordinary plenary session in March, and in which the Department of Social Services, Equality and Housing is going to invest 12 million euros to build 91 public housing units that will be awarded on an affordable rental basis for 75 years, after which they will revert to the Municipal Housing Assets.

This housing development is framed within the so-called 'Plan Viu' of the Generalitat, for the construction of 10,000 social housing (VPP) in this legislature throughout the Community, with Next Generation European Funds. "With this 'Plan Viu Comunitat Valenciana' not only will the public housing stock be increased, but direct and indirect jobs will also be created, the Gross Domestic Product will increase and income will increase in the town councils that are beneficiaries of these agreements through taxes, fees and everything that entails, without this implying increasing taxes on our citizens,” Caselles defended.

On the other hand, in terms of Human Resources, the plenary session has also unanimously approved a modification of the municipal List of Jobs (RPT). The councillor of the department, Ana Soliveres, has explained that the last RPT approved in the Consistory derives from December 30, 2020, and that, since then, “several rulings have been issued that force us to make some modifications” to adapt the situation of said workers to the reality of their jobs. The motion has had the favourable vote of all groups.

The transfer of a municipal official from Benidorm City Council in the structure of the Waste Consortium of Zonal Plan 6 A-1, as administrative support of the Presidency of the same, which falls on the councillor of Ciclo, has also been unanimously approved. Benidorm hydrologist, José Ramón González de Zárate.

In water matters, the plenary session has also unanimously approved a proposal by González de Zárate for the constitution of a Drought Monitoring Committee, contemplated in the Emergency Plan for Drought Situations of the Supply of the Benidorm City Council. The Water Cycle councillor explained that the creation of this committee is included in the Emergency Plan that the City Council already approved in 2022 and that, among its tasks, “it will monitor with a real perspective the process of the water shortage situation and the economic impact that drought can have, linked to water uses, which affects the productive sector of great importance for our municipalities, such as tourism, and its possible impact on the environment."

The councillor has pointed out that, despite the lack of rain, water in Benidorm is fully guaranteed: “We are going to have water, there will be no lack of supply, but we must create this committee to comply with the legislation and also to work and be in advance notice to make decisions as quickly as possible when necessary.”

Recognition of five Local Police officers

Also unanimously, the plenary session of the Corporation has moved forward three motions to initiate the procedure for granting distinctions and decorations by the Generalitat Valenciana to five agents of the Local Police for different actions that, in the opinion of the plenary session, are deserving of public congratulations.

The Councilor for Citizen Security, Jesús Carrobles, has detailed that two of the agents for whom public congratulations are requested, Francisco Javier Recio Reina and Daniel Luque Rísquez, maintained the vital signs of a man who had suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest last month in February, performing CPR resuscitation manoeuvres until the arrival of Samu.

Public congratulations have also been requested for agent Carlos Cedrón Vallés, for his intervention dated 02/24/2024, in which, thanks to the work of this agent from the canine unit, along with his dogs Hanko and Daddy, a person for an alleged crime against public health, by seizing a large amount of hashish (10,726 kilograms), which on the black market would have reached a value of 80,000 euros, as explained by the mayor.

Finally, Jesús Carrobles added that the last two agents for whom public recognition has been requested, local police officers Francisco Javier Sánchez Molina and Mireia Cruz Alabern, carried out a quick intervention on March 8, when, being off duty, helped a woman in cardiorespiratory arrest, performing CPR resuscitation manoeuvres until Samu arrived and she was transferred to a hospital.

In another vein, the plenary session has also unanimously approved the proposal of the Councilor for Youth, Ana Soliveres, for the accession of  Benidorm City Council to the European Youth Information Charter.

The plenary session has also unanimously agreed to apply the maintenance and operation contract for the sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities to the quotas corresponding to the financing granted by the EPSAR for the 2024-26 triennium in the municipality of Benidorm, which amounts to 5,420 119.92 euros.

The Councilor for the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate, explained in the session that, although this amount “does not coincide with what our technicians had proposed in their report”, which stands at 5,748,653.70 euros, “we are going to approve it to unblock and ensure the investments, which are very necessary for the Wastewater Treatment Plant.”

However, the councillor has advanced that “we are studying the possibility of appealing to reach the amount that the technicians consider to be the most appropriate for its application. In this sense, González de Zárate has highlighted “the current good harmony that exists with the Public Entity for Wastewater Sanitation (EPSAR), with which we are reaching important agreements.” In fact, this approval will entail “reactivating the execution of the pending improvements in the contract,” the councillor summarized.

On the other hand, in the economic chapter, an extrajudicial list of invoices for the amount of 1,081,045.15 euros has been approved by the majority. A relationship “that has the approval of the corresponding departments and that are invoices that correspond to ordinary expenses and basic services that are in the bidding period or invoices presented outside the current fiscal year” as explained by the Councilor for the Treasury, Ángela Zaragozí.

'Europe Special Honour' 

In the extraordinary offices, the proposal emanating from the Board of Spokespersons to grant the 'Europe Distinction' to Laura Navarro Villanueva, director of the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández airport, has been unanimously approved, an award that will be carried out in an institutional event at the Plenary Hall next May 9 at noon.

Laura Navarro graduated in Industrial Engineering from the UPV and has a postgraduate degree in Aviation Management (airport management) from Cranfield University, in the United Kingdom. She began her professional career at AENA in 2006, performing various senior roles since then. The Alicante airport is the fifth most important in the Spanish airport network, the fourth in low-cost lines and among the 50 with the highest traffic in Europe.

Some significant data from the airport indicate that in 2023 it registered 15.7 million passengers, 4% more than the record figure in 2019, which was 15,047,840 passengers. It channels almost 6% of all air visitors in the country and generates more than 300 direct jobs and more than 6,000 indirect jobs. In addition, it is the main gateway to the province and 38 airlines operate in its facilities that fly to 129 destinations in 26 countries, 24 of them European.

Likewise, a proposal from the mayor, after hearing the Board of Spokesmen, regarding the rights of people with disabilities and the modification of article 49 of the Constitution, which derives from a declaration by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). This declaration calls attention to local governments to formulate policies based on the seven pillars of inclusion; non-discrimination, active participation, universal accessibility, training and education, change in perceptions, gender equality and public function.