A wave of concern has grown over what many observers describe as a severe decline in the social services of Alicante City Council. The scene is crowded with thousands of unread files stacked in the offices of the Valencian Inclusion Income (RVI) or its unit, while appointments with social workers for routine procedures stretch into long delays. The renewal of more than a hundred social workers has faltered, and contracts have expired, compounding the difficulty of accessing emergency aid and leaving rough edges in homelessness support. Resources are stretched thin, dialogue with organizations serving vulnerable populations has weakened, and past regulations restricting women in begging or prostitution have attracted renewed scrutiny. The governance of social action, led by a controversial councillor from the People’s Party, has been judged by justice courts as signaling a broader decline in the city’s social policy framework.
These features, while striking, only hint at a broader pattern. Behind the headline items lie a series of less visible issues that suggest a moral and political fissure within a council crucial to Alicante’s well‑being. A professor and researcher at the University of Alicante observed firsthand how the Department of Social Action appears to be edging through a period of drift, a phenomenon that has called into question the department’s capacity to fulfill its duties.
In the near term, a comprehensive and detailed study is planned to examine how the pandemic impacted Alicante’s economy. Supported by the University of Alicante Institute for International Economics, the research is led by scholars Antonio Escudero and Jose Manuel Married. The project investigates key sectors within the province, bringing together professors, researchers, and domain experts to illuminate the pandemic’s long-term effects.
Last year, the investigation directors invited participation to analyze the pandemic’s impact on poverty across the province and region. The corresponding analysis faced initial challenges in obtaining the data necessary for a study of regional significance, prompting the design of a bespoke research methodology tailored to the study’s aims.
Within the planned data set, the focus centers on social responses in Alicante and Elche, the two principal cities in the area. The aim is to map the tools, resources, and interventions that emerged during the extraordinary historical period, highlighting the substantial yet often underappreciated efforts of municipal social services. Accordingly, a data request was submitted to the Social Services departments of both Alicante and Elche via the transparency, access to public information, and good governance framework. The request detailed the research purpose for the University and sought standardized data, specifically pertaining to interventions conducted during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
It is noted that the transparency law recognizes the right of public access to official data, a principle binding on public administrations. Yet the responses from the Elche and Alicante City Councils diverged markedly.
The Elche Town Hall Social Services accepted the request and began preparing a thorough response, coordinating across several officers over multiple days to deliver a sixteen-page document rich in data, figures, and insights. The report captures the intense effort of Elche’s social services during the pandemic, including a notable 30% increase in the number of people served, a 104% rise in new files opened, a 75% jump in aid disbursed, and the deployment of additional devices supported by a substantial funding envelope of 3.13 million euros.
In contrast, the Alicante City Council Social Services provided a response that was less forthcoming, directing the researcher to download reports from earlier years, unrelated to the pandemic period under study. A recent decision by the Síndic de Greuges, addressing a complaint of non-compliance with the Transparency Law due to data non-delivery, affirmed the right to access this information and urged the council to fulfill its obligation.
The contrast raises questions about the extraordinary effort and resources allocated to the city’s most vulnerable residents during the pandemic. While the Elche case demonstrates a high level of collaboration and transparency, the Alicante administration appears to diverge from that standard, complicating public investigations conducted in partnership with the university and its research network. The situation does not align with the principles of transparency and accountability that are expected of municipal governance in this region.