According to publicly stated figures, it became clear last month that the Diputación de Alicante has invested far less in fire prevention than Valencia this year, with a gap that appears up to sixty times larger. The region’s budgetary capacity for escalating spending on safety projects is plainly insufficient to close this gap. A week later, the same Valencian administration group confirmed that per capita investment in jobs and services in Alicante is about half of what residents in Valencia receive. The Alicante Provincial Council showed greater expenditure than Valencia in some areas, yet with the same budgetary constraints and no evident ability to match Valencia’s level of investment. As reported by the coalition three years ago, the Diputación de Alicante could not allocate six million euros in DANA aid to its regular budget due to limited budgetary capacity, and the disbursement took two years to complete, affecting affected communities.
“The Compromís group has warned repeatedly that Carlos Mazón’s instant, visibility-driven measures have precipitated a budget collapse, forcing municipalities to wait months for funding. It is understood that in the upcoming Diputación plenary session the issue is likely to be reduced to zero. IAE remains under the Provincial Assembly’s jurisdiction. Today, Wednesday, the commissions approved the opinion,” a Compromís statement noted.
Valencians add in their letter that this marks the third change in two years and a further revenue cut is anticipated to affect the regular budget by six million euros, with 800,000 more under the latest change. In practical terms, the impact is mostly symbolic, affecting companies that bill less than one million euros a year, while the savings for larger firms stay under fifty euros annually. The Gerard Fullana bloc argues that this debate is being used by the government to influence media coverage “desperately.”
“In contrast, all the expected revenues will enable financing for half of the total income. The Cooperation Fund that Diputación declined to join for six years, or failed to implement under the fire prevention plan for Valencia’s municipalities, would have provided enough resources to carry out effective anti-fire actions. It would also help close the per-capita gap in the provincial investments and services, or allow for the budgeting of full DANA aid, potentially generating one year and ten months of execution time in income terms.”
According to the Compromís spokesperson, “Alicante County Council finds itself the victim of Carlos Mazón’s drive for personal promotion. Budget capacity is used to shave six million euros from the budget to cover the Valencia Diputación’s investments and, in turn, to reward large companies with a symbolic gesture the next day.”
Compromís representatives explained that any serious examination of the situation should trigger alarm bells. As Valencians outline, income cuts and historical savings mark the Diputación’s records. “We will see how Zaplanism has damaged the Diputación’s public accounts again; it will take at least two years to rebound from Mazón’s moves within the institution,” Fullana stated stubbornly.
Comproís announced that, starting this Wednesday, it will launch a legal challenge to prevent the Diputación’s budget from being used as an electoral weapon by those no longer in the institution, including the PP and other registered citizens.