Discussion around the Municipal Cooperation Fund has entered a new cycle. In parallel with debates in the Provincial Assembly of Alicante, largely between the People’s Party and the PSPV-PSOE blocs, the disagreements over the investment plan backed by Botànic would return to the Valencian Cortes. Socialists presented an apparently illegal proposal in the Regional Parliament that would set the Cooperation Fund issue for the plenary meeting on the 25th. All this followed the Constitutional Court’s annulment of two points. The fund acted in accordance with Valencian law and approved the rest of the Botànic project, leading both PP and PSPV to claim they were beneficiaries.
In the document filed by the socialists, the resolution, signed by trustee Rebeca Torró and Elche MP Ramón Abad, proposes, among other measures, to retroactively and immediately transfer amounts suspended from the Cooperation Fund from the Consel to 141 municipalities in Alicante province. It should be noted that the PSPV has been arguing for months that Alicante municipal councils have lost $100 million over seven years due to the Provincial Council’s reluctance to participate in this plan, both during Carlos Mazón’s leadership and today under Toni Pérez.
No progress in Alicante Provincial Council: Cooperation Fund dominates the opening act of the mandate
Ximo Puig, PSPV’s general secretary, had already urged on Monday to preserve the Cooperation Fund and to pursue joint action by municipal councils. “It is essential to maintain, through collaborative work, the axis of defending municipal interests to safeguard everything that has been advanced,” Puig stated during an event at the University of Alicante. In this context, Torró added on Tuesday: “For years Mazón has systematically boycotted the municipalities of Alicante province for pure sectarian reasons. Even the courts sided with Puig, rejecting the irrational and partisan strategy.”
As the Cortes prepares for a new round of debate next week, the PP calls for respect for the will and financial autonomy of the three councils in the Valencian Community. It is also noted that the Constitutional Court did not approve the Cooperation Fund as proposed; it annulled two of its main points, indicating that the fund did not follow the same criteria as the national fund and suggesting that the Consell might need it. The need to ensure that delegation heads follow coordination rules was emphasized.
“Mazón stated that certain powers belong to the Generalitat and that the State Assembly, like Doctor Esquerdo or the State House, should assume them. This did not occur with other MPs. It was agreed that the Generalitat would appoint Juan Francisco Pérez, secretary general of the PPCV and deputy speaker of the popular group in the Cortes, to assume these powers while the Provincial Council would cooperate through bilateral agreements, such as those made on tourism during the pandemic,” notes Llorca.
Finally, Compromís recalled that they have always stood with Europe. The coalition argues that any money not received from the fund in the last two periods should be reimbursed and that Alicante’s municipalities are disadvantaged compared to Valencia and Castellón, hindering a swift mechanism.
Provincial Council’s stance: They believe their position is supported by the Constitutional Court
Before the debate on the Cooperation Fund returned to the Valencian Parliament, the government team led by the popular Toni Pérez from the Alicante Provincial Council had already voiced its position after the Constitutional Court’s decision. The administration feels its approach is backed by the judiciary, having declared two rules invalid that the People’s Party highlighted. “The decision to annul Article 7 of the law due to unconstitutionality is a setback not only for the law but also for the Government, which is led by Ximo Puig and the Botànic Consell, since the fund was not created following the same distribution criteria as the state fund,” stated the Provincial Council president, Toni Pérez.
The provincial institution has filed two contentious-administrative challenges with the TSJ of the Valencian Community against the Consell agreements that approved the basic financing plans for this year and subsequent years.