Benidorm and Frax Foundation call ‘Mayor Vicente Pérez Devesa’ Prize for research and cooperation

Benidorm City Council and Frax Foundation have called 'Mayor Vicente Pérez Devesa' Research and Cooperation Award of the Marina Alta and Baixa, with which the best works that value the relationship between the towns of both regions will be recognized and / or that promote or improve the intermunicipal relationship. The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez; the president of Frax Foundation, Matías Pérez Such; Marisol Agulló, widow of Vicente Pérez Devesa; and the journalist Juan Ramón GIl; last night presented this award and the rules that will govern it at the City Hall.

The ceremony was attended, among many others, by the Brigadier General of the Special Operations Command, Raimundo Rodríguez; the subdelegate of Defense, Juan Bosco Montero; the provincial deputy Juan Bautista Roselló; the mayors of Villajoyosa, l’Alfàs del Pi, Polop, Finestrat, Tárbena, El Verger and Els Poblets; the Provincial Commissioner of the National Police Corps, Alfonso Cid; and his Benidorm counterpart, Ceferino Serrano; as well as members of the municipal Corporation; the former mayors of Benidorm, Rafael Ferrer Meliá and Agustín Navarro; former mayor of other locations; Patrons of the Frax Foundation; and family and friends of Vicente Pérez Devesa.

The mayor applauded that this Prize bears the name of Vicente Pérez Devesa, since it brought together “two issues that were transversal, which have a lot to do with the region and with municipalism: how are the 'llengua' and the 'pilot' Valencian ”, common in the towns of Marina Baixa and Alta. "Sharing things that are tradition, the most deeply rooted culture, in short, what unites us to all the municipalities of the two regions is the aspect in which this prize pivots," he said.

Toni Pérez also stressed that "the great legacy that Vicente Pérez Devesa leaves us" and that links with the spirit of this award is "that we owe it to a people, ours; and that from that town we can be generous with the surrounding territories. ”

For his part, the president of the Foundation had an impact on the "municipalist and regionalist vocation" demonstrated by the mayor of Benidorm between 1994 and 2006; an aspect in which his widow also insisted, thanking Frax Foundation and the City Council for lighting this award and doing so recognizing the figure of Vicente Pérez Devesa.

In his speech, Matías Pérez Such explained that the ultimate purpose of this award is to illuminate works that “value that relationship between the municipalities of both regions”, that “promote or improve relations and intermunicipal cooperation” between them, and that the same "be useful for municipalities and citizens" of Marina Alta and Marina Baixa, united by common traditions.

The journalist Juan Ramón Gil glossed the figure of Vicente Pérez Devesa, of whom he said he was "a politician by birth", and recalled his main milestones during the years he was in charge of Benidorm City Hall.

Vicente Pérez Devesa Prize has a prize of 3,000 euros. In addition, Benidorm City Hall  will grant a special mention of 1,500 euros to the best job in which the city has a leading role.

You can opt for this award, studies, essays, proposals or publications that affect the links between the different towns of the Marina Alta and Baixa in aspects such as culture, geography, economy, history, language, gastronomy, traditions, parties, water , agriculture, tourism, etc. Also, the projects that promote or improve the relationship and inter-municipal cooperation in any of the aforementioned areas or in any other that contributes to the improvement of the quality of life in both regions.

The works, which must be unpublished, may be submitted in Spanish or Valencian before February 12, 2021 signed with a pseudonym. The complete bases can be consulted on Frax Foundation website: https://www.fundacionfrax.org/.