Benidorm approves the 'Heat Island Effect Study', which will guide sustainable urban planning and climate comfort initiatives

Benidorm City Council, in its plenary session, today initially approved the document "Study of the Heat Island Effect in Benidorm," prepared by the University of Valencia. This document was approved with the support of the PP and PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), while Vox opposed it. The study is part of the "Benidorm Visión 360" Sustainable Tourism Destination Plan, funded by the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan-Next Generation EU Funds. Once approved, the document will be subject to one month of public information and citizen participation. After this period, and after analysing any objections or contributions, it will be submitted for final approval.

The Councilor for Urban Scene, Francis Muñoz, pointed out at the plenary session that the objective of the aforementioned study is to "analyze the urban thermal conditions of the municipality, identify the areas most affected by rising temperatures, and define adaptation strategies that contribute to improving climate comfort and urban resilience in the face of climate change." The councilor also emphasized that the project is part of "the City Council's commitment to environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation," as outlined in Benidorm's Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PACC).

Muñoz specified that these studies "determine the problematic and sensitive areas of the municipality and the places where shade and renaturalization are needed." In his speech, the councillor noted that the study constitutes a technical instrument for planning and supporting municipal management that will allow "guiding future interventions in green infrastructure, sustainable urban planning, energy efficiency, and climate comfort in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the commitments made by the municipality to combat climate change."

Likewise, interpretation number 9 of the 1990 General Plan (PGMO) regarding tourist housing was unanimously approved, which aims to adapt planning to regional legislation. The Councillor for Urban Planning and government spokesperson, Lourdes Caselles, clarified that "the interpretation is based on the amendment to the Law on Tourism, Leisure, and Hospitality of the Valencian Community, which indicates that residential and tourist use must be compatible in the same building unit" and stated that it is an interpretation "to avoid any doubt." In fact, he insisted, given the hybrid nature of both uses, the housing must comply with the regulations for tourist and residential use.

Also, in urban planning matters and in relation to the processing of the file to lift the suspension of the 1990 General Plan in the areas of Sierra Cortina, Sierra Helada, and L'Illa, the Corporation has agreed to forward the late reports received by October 15 to the higher authorities so that they can be forwarded to the environmental authority for consideration. These areas were suspended when the General Plan was finally approved, pending the processing of the mandatory environmental assessment procedure.

In this regard, the Councilor for Urban Planning specified that the proposal "reiterates" the requirement for sectoral reports from public administrations that had not done so by October 15, in addition to requiring "the convening of the Coordination Committee with all interested public administrations within a period of two months so that they can issue all the necessary reports and conclude this matter, allowing the Regional Ministry to definitively approve the document."

The plenary session also unanimously approved Benidorm's accession to the Tutor Agent Program and its framework protocol, developed within the collaboration agreement between the Government Delegation for the National Drug Plan and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). The proposal, submitted by the Councillor for Public Service, Jesús Carrobles, and which accepts all the terms and conditions of the protocol, states that "children and youth are a priority for any public administration" and that "no government action could be conceived without addressing such a sensitive group." The councilor explained that joining this program will allow "improving and providing specific training to Local Police officers who regularly operate in school settings," equipping them with "the essential skills necessary to enable the provision of a specialized service at the level demanded by citizens, contribute to consolidating the unavoidable objective of respecting children's rights, and provide the resources to adequately support the professionals who make up the educational community."

Carrobles also explained that "work has been done jointly with the Departments of Social Welfare and Education" to develop this program, which will be addressed within the Local Police, but also in "close collaboration" with these two areas.

Regarding Human Resources, the plenary session also unanimously approved a modification to the Job Description (RPT) and workforce of Benidorm City Council, "to address the needs that arise daily" regarding municipal staff, as explained by the councillor for the area, Ana Soliveres. The councillor recalled that this proposal was negotiated and approved at the General Negotiation Table held on September 26th and that it eliminates four currently unfilled positions and creates four more, without representing a significant increase in expenditure for the municipal coffers and adapting to the current needs of the public service.

Budget modification

Regarding the Treasury, this session approved, with the votes of the 16 PP local councillors, a budget amendment to promote the sixth edition of the #BenidormTeDaMás consumer voucher program. The program aims to promote consumption in local small businesses during the upcoming Christmas season and help Benidorm families cope with the rising cost of their shopping basket, as explained by the Councillor for Finance, Aida Garcia Mayor. Specifically, to fund this campaign, the City Council will allocate the surplus funds from two budget items, which together total 1.8 million euros. García Mayor noted that, in total, the City Council will invest 2,108,760 euros and that this campaign will benefit a total of 70,929 citizens registered before October 1, 2025, and who turn 18 before December 31 of this year. They will receive three vouchers worth 10 euros each to obtain discounts on their purchases at local businesses.

The head of the Treasury pointed out that "we were the first municipality in the entire province to launch this campaign, which was later joined and replicated, although with considerable differences, by the vast majority of municipalities" in the province. Likewise, as is the case every time a proposal of this type is raised, the councilor explained that the file "is endorsed and has all the favorable technical reports" and defended that the governing team "has responsibly managed the resources we have to be able to finance and hold a sixth edition of this consumption voucher," for which, due to central government requirements, the savings from the previous year cannot be used this year.

Finally, by decision of Mayor Toni Pérez, the proposal to transfer the concession rights for the Jaime I underground parking lot, part of the Benidorm Futura 2000 Parking Plan, to the company Telpark Benidorm, was not included on the agenda. Toni Pérez thus responded to the request of PSOE and Vox, who claimed they had not had sufficient time to study the file, which was submitted to the groups last Friday. This point will be voted on in an upcoming plenary session.