Ximo Puig led the latest round in the decentralization debate this week. The Valencian government chief floated a plan to shift up to ten central offices away from Madrid and spread them across different autonomous communities, though the national executive has not embraced the idea for now. Employers, unions and university experts back the PSPV leader’s proposal, arguing the moment is right to rethink how power is distributed. Yet many voices urge Puig to align his state model with what is actually practiced within the Valencian Community.
The sentiment in Alicante is that Puig seeks what has not yet been delivered at home, and that moving institutions like Puertos del Estado to Valencia would intensify regional authority there. The Botànic administration rejects this view, defending Alicante as a fundamental pillar for the future of the Generalitat Valenciana. They say decentralization across the community is now irreversible and that Valencia should not be singled out as the sole beneficiary.
Within this plan, the most visible change has been the relocation of the Ministry of Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society to Alicante, seen as the clearest manifestation of the shift. The ministry changed hands last May, and its new president, Josefina Bueno, was sworn in with a mission to promote an Alicante-led division and boost its profile.
The establishment of the Valencia Agency for Innovation in Alicante sparked controversy and concern, with complaints about biased aid distribution in the province. Bueno has framed the move as turning Alicante into a hub of innovation. The most consequential step now is to formalize the AVI headquarters handover, with vice-president Andrés García Reche directing work from the province. The corporate offices will remain in Alicante while operations expand in Valencia.
productive model
The Digital District, linked to changes in production and the digital economy, sits in Ciudad de la Luz and is meant to attract leading firms to Alicante, establishing the city as a hub for the new digital economy. Plans for next year include expanding Distrito Digital to all regions of the Community and financing a new building at Pier 5 of the Port of Alicante.
Around the innovation push, other Conell projects are progressing slowly amid deadlines and administrative hurdles. One notable development is the Valencia Democratic Memory, Human Rights and Public Freedoms Institute, set to be housed in the Alicante Port Outer Health building. The building handover occurred recently, with the aim of making the institute operational by the end of the current legislative term.
The Consell’s decentralization effort extends beyond Alicante to benefit the wider province. In Elche, the Valencian Regional Conservation Agency is taking its first steps to lay out the community’s homes on undeveloped plots and to staff its offices with architects and lawyers, with a goal of 22 staff members this year, rising to 35.
The Puig plan at the state level also hints at cultural shifts, including new branches of the Prado and Reina Sofía museums in Murcia, Cantabria and Andalusia. Cultural decentralization moves have appeared in both culture and rural life, including the relocation of the Valencian Institute of Modern Art sub-headquarters to Alcoy. The Cada building in Alcoy, a symbolic modernist landmark, has been closed for several years and is now a focal point for potential revival.
failed attempt
An unsuccessful bid involved bringing the Tourism Ministry to Benidorm. The Consell argues that the Tourism Headquarters is already based in the Costa Blanca’s tourist capital. Valencia also uses cultural and sporting events to showcase the region, with events like the Benidorm Fest and the Ocean Race planned for the coming year.
A robust institution in Alicante is the Sindicatura de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana. While processing its new law, no parliamentary group challenged its Valencia base, and it will continue to operate from the Alicante area. The norm was approved with broad consensus, with Vox as the primary dissenting voice.
Valencian leadership also backed an international research center in the province to address aging, with its headquarters planned near the Institución Ferial Alicantina. The board of trustees would include twenty Alicante and Elche businessmen, led by Joaquín Pérez Vázquez of Elche, signaling a persistent public interest in the initiative, though concrete timing remains unclear.
Another center planned for Alicante sits at Ciudad de la Luz: a safety and climate emergencies training center proposed by Minister Gabriela Bravo in August of last year. The venue would train about 6,000 professionals, including local police, firefighters and Civil Protection volunteers, and the Generalitat envisions this center leading climate-change work from Alicante, aiming for full operation before year’s end.
Effects of DANA
The Consell notes the Vega Renhace Plan office in Orihuela Prop’s premises as a milestone of decentralization, tasked with managing DANA aid for Vega Baja. The Generalitat’s plan outlines 28 actions across five major areas.
Manuel Alcaraz, constitutional law professor at the University of Alicante and former minister, questions the idea of a direct mimetic transfer between Madrid-Barcelona and Valencia-Alicante. He points out a long tradition of Valencia as the regional capital, with rare exceptions. He also cautions that placing a ministry in Alicante could prompt a broader demand for more ministries elsewhere, potentially triggering a difficult dynamic. He suggests that better administration would be achieved if all ministries remained in one city to reduce travel and streamline processes.
Enrique Conejero, political science professor at the Miguel Hernández University in Elche, supports relocating institutions closer to Alicante, arguing that bringing decision-making nearer to citizens is beneficial.