We had to wait until February Alicante Provincial Council That is, it will approve the 2024 budget, two months after the Castellón Provincial Council, which gave the green light to its accounts on December 5, approved it, and more than a month after the Valencian provincial institution approved it in 2024. December 22. As in Alicante, both institutions are led by the People’s Party, and in both cases the left-wing groups PSPV-PSOE and Compromís voted against it. The Alicante plenary meeting to approve the budget will be held this Wednesday and, as in the other two provinces of the Valencian Community, both socialists and Valencians are expected to vote against it, after an agreement was reached at the Finance Commission held last week. not reached.
Looking at the numbers, this year’s budget reaches 295.3 million euros; This represents an increase of 4.1% compared to last year. The government team wanted to focus on support and assistance to municipalities, so 133.7 million will be allocated for this, corresponding to an increase of 0.69%. on the subject Municipal Cooperation FundThe Provincial Council, an investment project supported by Botànic, will continue not to participate. Ana Serna and Marina Sáez, deputy heads of the government team that presented the accounts this Monday, justified their decision not to participate on the basis that the Constitutional Court declared two points regarding the Valencian law of this fund null and void. At the same time, they reminded that Consell is working on a new model, the main feature of which is that the institutions that decide to participate are voluntary.
precaution
“We will be cautious,” Sáez said about the possibility of involving the Cooperation Fund. In this way, the government team led by Toni Pérez aims to save time while the project that the current team is working on comes to fruition. CouncilIn addition to being voluntary, it is intended to be agreed upon by all three councils. PP currently runs all of these institutions. Another goal sought in this plan is to increase the number of destinations allocated to serve low-populated municipalities.
The fact that we have to wait until February Provincial Council budgets This is also a novelty in terms of what has happened in the Provincial Palace in recent years. Before going any further, during the last time Consell’s current president, Carlos Mazón, was president, budgets were never approved later than December. Although PP was run as a team rather than alone with Ciudadanos for most of his tenure, the accounts were always ready on time. Voting against two groups on the left, as it is likely to happen this Wednesday, has only occurred on one occasion last year, a few months before the election. The compromise remained abstaining in the first three years, when negotiations between Mazón and the speaker of the Valencians (currently MP in the Cortes Gerard Fullana) were quite high-profile.
Changes
As President Toni Pérez stated, Serna explained this Monday that the delay in approving the accounts was due to negotiations with the opposition. He even pointed out that they are still submitting their budget proposals. He also emphasized that: government team showed a “willingness to dialogue” with other groups. As proof of this, he announced that nearly twenty changes were included in the first draft, making it around two million. In this context, socialist spokesman Vicente Arques, after listening to the presentation of the budgets, said: “The State Assembly is paralyzed and the budgets are a reflection of this. “They do not meet the needs of municipalities, so we reject them.”
Regarding the rejected opposition amendments, Serna stated the following: “Dresses are made to order”. With this, he referred to suggestions that only a single municipality would benefit from. “We defended proposals that led us to a better budget,” he concluded.
From irrigation support to congress palaces
At a time when drought has gained great prominence in national political debates, the presentation of the Alicante Provincial Council budget this Monday allowed the government team to highlight its commitment in the field of the Water Cycle; More than 15.5 million euros, i.e. 2% more than last year. 12 million of this amount will be invested in hydraulic infrastructure for sanitation and supply purposes. There will also be a focus on improving irrigation efficiency, the allocation of which has increased from 630,000 euros to 2.6 million euros. The government team wants to show its support to irrigators and farmers with these resources.
Regarding specific projects, it was announced with the participation of vice-presidents Ana Serna and Marina Sáez that an allocation of 297,000 euros was envisaged for the Alicante Congress Palace, in addition to the 23,000 euros spent in 2023. 320,000 euros per month will be included in the remaining liquid part of the treasury for the Elche Conference Centre.