A week of high-stakes work is tightening the schedule at the Alicante Provincial Council. By Tuesday, six days will remain before the calendar closes on 2023. Not long ago, the head of the provincial agency, Tony Perez, said the government team intends to present the 2024 draft budget before the year ends, while keeping the door open to extending this year’s accounts. With a tight countdown to the president’s deadline, observers wonder if the roadmap can be delivered on time. The opposition, particularly PSPV-PSOE and Compromís, is growing more skeptical and awaits a formal invitation to a meeting where budget priorities can be laid out.
Alongside that message, Toni Pérez emphasized that every effort is being made to have the draft budget ready before year’s end. He noted that the upcoming Christmas period will be busy for everyone, with committee meetings of the government team, researchers, and opposition groups, culminating in a general assembly where the next year’s budgets must be established. Although the plan targeted completion in 2023, Pérez acknowledged the possibility of extending the budgets, something not seen during the tenure of Consell’s current president, Carlos Mazón. Mazón’s leadership previously coincided with budgets that were typically approved after negotiations with opposing groups, with one notable exception in recent times.
Pressure
The unsettled mood inside the Provincial Palace has translated into political pressure on the government team to finalize the budget. A case in point was the PSPV press conference held last week, featuring spokesperson Vicente Arques, who accused the PP of prioritizing the construction of bloc-style congress palaces in Alicante and Elche within the 2024 accounts. Arques also criticized plans to acquire real estate in central Elche and Benidorm to house the Provincial Assembly’s new headquarters, arguing that this would sideline the institution’s core duty of helping municipalities with smaller populations and fewer resources to meet their needs.
The PP responded by noting that some of these projects, like the Elche congress palace, had already been discussed with PSPV. Ana Serna, the first vice president of the Provincial Council, suggested that critics were judging projects that had previously been deemed priorities a few months earlier. In addition to questions about the government team’s budget management, Compromís has voiced sharp criticism of its execution, pointing out that the Plan Planifica implementation stood at only 33% by the end of the third quarter. In response, calls were made for a protest at the gates of the Provincial Palace ahead of the final ordinary general assembly.
As 2023 nears its end, the energy around the sector remains high for the days ahead. The committee faces a forecast of continued uncertainty as it awaits the government team’s ability to meet the president’s self-imposed deadline from two weeks prior. In the days ahead, any remaining questions about the schedule are expected to clear up as the timeline moves toward year’s end. This situation is being closely watched by local officials, business leaders, and residents who rely on predictable budgeting and timely municipal support (Source: Alicante Provincial Council records and public briefings).