Alicante’s Provincial Council reported that one in three euros of its planned expenditure had been executed by the end of the third quarter. This headline from last year remains pertinent today. The report dated September 30 is accessible via the Transparency Portal. It shows that 204 million euros of the council’s total expenses of 611 million euros have been paid, leaving 407 million euros still awaiting execution. Low execution has been a persistent concern in recent years, repeatedly criticized by the opposition and contributing to several confrontations with the ruling team, which is led by the Popular Party (PP).
What counts as investments here? The implementation of the sixth and seventh budget sections, which cover real investments and capital transfers, is lagging. While total loans reached 116 million in the sixth section, payments amounted to 14 million. The seventh section accounts for 157 million in loans, with payments totaling 24 million. When two sections focused on works, primarily capital transactions, are added, the absolute expenditure would stand at 273 million, and total payments at 38 million. In short, with overall enforcement at 33.4%, the investment enforcement rate sits at 13.9%.
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As the year progresses, the execution rate shown by the Provincial Assembly continues to rise. This trend is visible in additional quarterly reports for March 31 and June 30. In the first quarter, total loans reached 449 million with 51 million paid, yielding an overall realization of 11.4%. Investments stood at 186 million with 2 million paid, about 1.1%. For the second quarter, total loans rose to 609 million and payments were 147 million, pushing the mid-year enforcement rate to 24.1%. Investments reached 271 million and payments 22 million, for an execution of 8.1%.
The council’s work is shifting toward 2024 budget planning. There have been no announced meetings involving the government team with the opposition. Three opposition groups, PSPV-PSOE, Compromís, and Vox, have signaled they will review the 2024 proposals. The institution’s initial budget for this year increased by 4.3%, to 283.7 million, and an additional extraordinary contribution of 161 million came from Carlos Mazón, the former president who currently heads the Consell, now nearing the end of his term. These extraordinary funds were largely directed toward measures intended to strengthen investments in the province, including programs to support SMEs and self-employed individuals, as well as campaigns to mitigate rising energy costs and related pressures, all of which required approval amid lingering fiscal challenges. The 2024 budget outlook has not yet involved formal meetings with the opposition, while Provincial Council President Toni Pérez has outlined a philosophy for preparing the accounts that favors realism over inflated figures. He emphasized the goal of presenting a budget that is practical and executable rather than artificially optimistic.
A pattern observed over several years shows the Alicante Provincial Council’s 2023 budget posting a 33.4% realization by the end of the third quarter, mirroring prior trends and drawing notes from audit reports. In recent discussions, the administration defended the budgetary choices and highlighted programs such as the Cerca or Plan while opponents from PSPV-PSOE and Compromís argued that investment levels had collapsed and urged accountability for political responsibilities tied to the PP’s governance. The ongoing tension reflects a broader debate over how much of the budget translates into real investments versus commitments that remain unsettled.