Manuel Desantes, Professor of Private International Law at the University of Alicante, explained at the conference ‘Possibilities for the socio-economic development of the Alicante-Elche Functional Region’ organized in collaboration with the Alicante State Labor Union (UEPAL). Alicante Provincial Council and University of Alicante, proposal for the metropolitan area of both cities and their inclusion in the European Union catalog means full autonomy and comprehensive development capacity of the province as a whole.
Desantes stated that the one hundred metropolitan areas registered by the European Union are those that meet the conditions met by Elche and Alicante and have a total population of one million. According to the rapporteur, Alicante and Elche now have a clear horizon of opportunities that will benefit the province of Alicante as a whole to the extent that it can adapt to the new non-circular era with a geographic center in Madrid or Valencia. , and knows how to introduce the Elche-Alicante metropolitan axis, which adds to the catalog of European metropolitan areas sufficient population and job potential to be included according to the criteria required by the European Union.
Juan José Sellés, president of UEPAL, stated that this IV of the conference linked to the development of the Elche-Alicante Functional Zone was preceded by a forum of more than 100 people gathered at the Alicante University Venue. In this edition, he took a more academic and intellectual approach with the participation of Professor Desantes. “As we have warned before on issues such as thinking about the future, looking for the reasons for the situation in the province, and budgets, we are convinced that we should all start working in a coordinated way if possible. – Developing this project, which has so far provided sufficient participation of political forces.” from your point of view, Strengthening the Elche-Alicante axis is necessary to have enough strength and brawn to defend yourself – in the sense of moving forward together – against Valencia and Madrid..
In this sense, the speech of Professor Desantes turned, who thought that the strength of both the population and business sectors of the two cities and the adjacent areas would be sufficient to establish earlier the importance of this geographical area. Valencia, Madrid and Brussels. “And it will allow us to talk face-to-face between equals with other structures that are not our enemies, just they don’t remember us” is about the lack of political interest and investment in the province. Desantes explained that it is civil society that must do the job of exploiting the province’s potential, making use of elements that the province has and that are not available in other parts of Spain.
The professor warned that Madrid “is not the enemy, you just have to work there so things will reflect here” and “It’s not productive to blame everything in Valencia. The city of Valencia, cap i casal, has the power to collect almost the entire state in its own city and, to some extent, thinks it can do the same with other states, Alicante and Castellón. It’s an outdated model, but one that we need to understand to figure out. And we will be able to stop this when the state, led by the Elche-Alicante axis, holds face-to-face talks with Valencia and Madrid between equals”.
Desantes warned the assembled public that “now – when the third, fourth and fifth industrial revolutions come – the radialism of Spain’s administrative and political plan has become unproductive. And all the provinces except one – Alicante – continue from their capitals, which is an inefficient pattern, with a shifting foot anchored in radial. Again, Our province has the merit of not being a radio broadcaster.is a network of strong cities and diversified districts to face the new era of virtual reality, digitalization and the evolution of new technologies and ways to connect regions. With the exception of the province of Alicante, our country as a whole continues to anchor in an extremely inefficient radio system,” added the professor.
From his point of view, “There is only one bilingual province in Spain that has eight major cities with different cultures, perfectly prepared, perfectly designed, with their own highly developed and diversified business models, perfectly prepared for the future. – and excellent communication with the rest of Spain and Europe”. But he spoke directly to civil society and political leaders, “we need to know what we want to do with the stateand work together, harnessing the strength of the unity of all”.
historical evolution
Desantes described the existence of Alicante as a “failed province” left behind from the rest of the capitals in the process of regional division created by Javier de Burgos in the 19th century. “In the radial context that was established with the arrival of the Bourbons and later on, the province of Alicante is a failed province because the design took into account the provincial capitals, not the provinces, and the Port was in this city, the only fast access port Madrid needed, neither Valencia nor any other port”.
Professor, the “dysfunction” of the province, Eight cities with more than 50,000 inhabitantsThere are neither districts with very different social and economic personalities and poor communication, nor any other province with so many municipalities. All this makes it unmanageable from a radial perspective both from Madrid and Valencia when they exercise their centrality.