The PSOE submits 10 proposals to the Commission for the 700th Anniversary of Benidorm for study and possible development
The Socialist Municipal Group has made available to the Commission in charge of programming the commemorative events for the 700th Anniversary of Benidorm, which held its first meeting last Tuesday, a series of initiatives for study and possible incorporation into the calendar of activities that will be developed to celebrate "El Hallazgo" of the city seven centuries ago. The deputy spokesman, Sergi Castillo, has expressed his “enormous satisfaction” at the fact that said commission, with “enormous technical solvency” begins to work, and has encouraged its members in this task. “We are delighted with the start of the work, although they should have started much earlier, as we proposed, but in any case, we want to convey to the experts who make up the Commission our total and absolute collaboration,” he indicated.
Castillo has sent a first list with 10 proposals from the Socialist Group. “We could not pass up the opportunity to collaborate with our grain of sand by making our contributions available to them so that they can study them and take them into account,” said the councillor. The councillor pointed out that the proposals presented cover multiple areas and, in part, come from civil society. Some of them were part of the motion presented by the PSOE in the plenary session of September 2023 to commemorate the 700th anniversary, a text that, with many similarities, was approved last January with the votes of the entire municipal corporation. “We fully trust in the technical criteria of the Commission, which will be the one to make the appropriate decisions,” he added.
Proposals from the Socialist Group:
1. Major exhibition on the figure of Admiral Bernat de Sarrià at Boca del Calvari Museum.
2. Initiate the celebration of research and essay awards on the history of Benidorm, sponsored by the Alicante Provincial Council through the Juan Gil Albert Institute and the commitment to the subsequent publication of the works.
3. Spectacular concert by Alicante Provincial Council's ADDA Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josep Vicent, with music from all times, in Julio Iglesias auditorium, with free admission.
4. Prepare a project, through the relevant technicians, for the change of the official coat of arms of the city of Benidorm, according to the proposal made by Pere Maria Orts i Bosch.
5. To name a public square “Plaza de la Carta de Poblament de Benidorm - 700 years of history” and to hold a competition to create a commemorative monument to be placed in that square.
6. Reissue of the Town Charter, with the 700th anniversary stamp.
7. Publish a book compiling the main scattered research on Bernat de Sarriá and Benidorm Town Charter.
8. Develop educational material for schools and institutes to work on the figure of Bernat de Sarriá and the Carta de Poblament de Benidorm.
9. Initiate the process to obtain the declaration of a festival of tourist interest in the Valencian Community
10. Urge the Commission of the ‘Distinció Cultural Ciutat de Benidorm’ to propose the Town Charter Group, l'Associació de Penyes ‘Verge del Sofratge’, as a candidate for this year's award.
Presupuesto
In addition, Sergi Castillo has reiterated the request of the Socialist Group to provide a budget for the celebrations and “that they do not remain a simple posturing and a photo gallery of the mayor, which is the only thing that Toni Pérez does this legislature”. In this sense, the deputy spokesman has regretted that the PP of the Alicante Provincial Council, with the vote of President Toni Pérez, rejected the proposal by PSOE to allocate funds to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Benidorm. “He is talking big here about the anniversary, and he is incapable of defending his town in Alicante”, he pointed out.
Finally, the councillor has denounced that, despite the request of the opposition groups both in the information commission and plenary session, the mayor has vetoed the presence of representatives of the municipal corporation who are not from his party, excluding a large part of Benidorm society from an event that should be for everyone. The PP has two members, while the rest of the parties have zero. "Even if the mayor excludes us and tries to nullify the opposition on this and other issues, we will not stop contributing initiatives and thinking about the common good of Benidorm," he concluded.