In the Valencian Community, the ITV inspection process has reemerged as a critical topic for drivers who rely on public service scheduling platforms. After a busy summer characterized by long wait times and a surge in appointments, the public service booking system showed a mixed picture. Some inspection centers, including Utiel, Torrevieja, and Riba-Rocha, operated normally, with slots available even close to month-end. Others, however, faced persistent shortages and bottlenecks that left many motorists staring at waiting lists rather than open time slots.
This divergence came into sharp relief when the Alicante, Benidorm, Elche, Ondara, and Gandia stations displayed a “No shift” message. Elsewhere, towns like Alzira or Castelló warned customers they might have to wait until December to secure a slot. Officials from the Ministry of Industry, which oversees the service, explained that the difficulty stems from two separate appointment queues: one for users who call in and another for those who book online. The ministry noted that while the online system showed delays, a caller-based channel could still offer tomorrow appointments at stations such as Alicante and Elche.
The online service, particularly for users unaware of the two-channel setup, echoed the summer trend where limited staffing collided with a surge of exam takers who preferred the holiday period. To address the backlog, SITVAL opened two temporary hiring campaigns, resulting in more than 200 new employees joining the team. This measure relieved a sizable portion of the backlog. Yet, labor unions cautioned that the contracts were set to expire at the end of October, warning that a wave of departures could once again strain the system.
salary negotiation
The staffing situation overlaps with ongoing efforts to redefine general management for SITVAL’s ITV operations. Worker representatives, led by Javier López, reached an agreement to harmonize salaries across more than 1,000 employees within SITVAL’s jurisdiction. The discrepancies stemmed from seven separate private management entities. Until early this year, payroll audits were conducted in a fragmented way, leading to notable pay differences on payslips, in some cases reaching up to seven hundred euros.
As negotiations advance, UGT and CC OO expressed cautious optimism about a productive path forward. They noted that the upcoming meetings between unions and management would determine whether the current agreement will continue. In the meantime, some institutional plans delayed a broader resolution, with a potential indefinite strike postponed to a future Sunday.
Across both issues, observers in Canada and the United States can recognize a familiar pattern: public services balancing capacity with demand, staffing levels with service commitments, and the friction that arises when systems rely on parallel channels for public access. The overarching lesson remains clear—operational clarity and stable staffing underpin reliable service for drivers facing inspections and for the agencies tasked with delivering timely, fair processes. (Source: Ministry of Industry)