In the ordinary plenary session in July, the Santa Pola local government approved by majority (with the votes in favour of PP and PSOE, abstention of Vox and against Més Santa Pola) two credit modifications in the 2024 budget, which the councillor for finance justified to “take advantage of the surplus from 2023 that this city council has of about 15 million euro, on the one hand to pay obligations from the last quarter of last year since the change in our accounting application caused expenses to be passed on to this year, and to reinforce some items that are falling short such as libraries, energy costs, sanitation fees, schools, home help, subsidies to music schools, etc.”
José Pedro Martínez also explained that “this surplus will cover five million euro in investments planned in the budget which, as I told you when we approved it, will prevent us from asking for a loan and thus maintain a minimum level of debt.” Among others, he highlighted the last phase of Avenida de Salamanca, the land development plan for the quarry and Vatasa, various actions in schools, new toilets on the beaches, changing the grass on the El Monsa football field, an asphalt plan, as well as the start of the urban development of Calle Zamora.
The tender process for the construction of the Hispanidad school was declared void, as no company had submitted a bid. The mayor regretted this setback: “We have asked the architect who drafted the project to review it and analyse the reason why it has been voided. We will have to make a new tender, although we do not know if it will be modified or expanded.”
It was unanimously approved to forward the response of the municipal technicians to the appeal filed by a bidding company against the award of the contract for the comprehensive management of public lighting, traffic lights and smart city devices to the Central Administrative Court, for a final ruling.
A new delay to a municipal initiative that, as Loreto Serrano recalled, “we have been faced with this project since we started in 2022 without being able to award it, it is a real nightmare.”
It was unanimously approved to sign an agreement with the National Police to install a machine in Santa Pola so that citizens can update their ID code without having to travel to Alicante or Elche.
The Socialist Group presented a motion against the modification by the Ministry of Environment, Water, Infrastructure and Territory which, as explained by the councillor Lorenzo Andreu, “is a cut by Mazón, which cancels 16 infrastructure projects for the province, 21 million in investments, while Valencia increases by 11 projects, which for Santa Pola means a loss of 5.3 million to finish the Santa Pola-Elche road”.
The mayor replied that “the Generalitat has not concluded any action agreed with the Ministry, which was signed in 2022 and with actions that could not be carried out because the tender would have to be completed before December 2025, which is impossible in these cases. Since there are others that can be completed, they are carried out.”
Serrano added that “we are not giving up on investments in Alicante at all, because we are the last province in terms of state investment. We continue to ask for the widening of the N-332 and the accesses to Santa Pola, as well as the acceleration lane from Gran Alacant to Alicante.” The motion was rejected with 11 votes against from the PP.
On the other hand, Més Santa Pola again presented its motion for the regulation of tourist apartments, among other things requesting a moratorium on urban compatibility certificates.
“It is one of the biggest problems in Santa Pola, there are more than 1,700 apartments published on portals, which generate problems with the communities of neighbours, competition with hotels and do not leave any wealth in the town,” said Esteve Ruiz. “It is a mantra that Santa Pola lives off tourism, it is not like that, the majority of people do not live off the tourism sector, it is an excuse for a few to earn a lot of money. We are willing to agree on this motion, but we must act quickly.”
Socialist councillor Loli Tomás agreed to support the motion “because it has gotten out of hand, it does not generate wealth and it hinders access to housing, there should be a moratorium on permits until it is regulated.”
Mireia Moya, spokesperson for Vox, was against it: “the market must regulate itself, it is true that there is a problem of excess of tourist apartments but there are many other aspects that slow down the long-term rental market due to legal uncertainty.”
José Pedro Martínez recalled that “the government team has already started actions, registering tourist apartments, moving forward with the modification of the PGOU and we are stumbling over the ordinance because there are rulings from the Supreme Court and we must tread carefully. We have no problem in reaching a consensus, but when the study is finished. The ministry itself is preparing an autonomous ordinance and we should wait. I would ask that it be withdrawn and when we have a clearer working document we could reach a consensus.”
The motion was rejected with votes in favour from Més Santa Pola and PSOE, and against from PP and Vox.
Finally, a joint declaration on gender violence agreed upon by the PP, PSOE and Més Santa Pola was read, while Vox did not sign up “because it refers to the pact and the law against gender violence that do not work.”
