HE Municipal Cooperation Fund. The Generalitat plans to contribute 50 million to the 2024 regional budget. The Consell decided to increase funding for the investment plan linked to the Presidential domain by 10 million, raising the endowment from 40 million to 50 million. The PP points out that this move aims to allocate more resources to counter population decline in the Valencian Community and to strengthen support for small municipalities, following a strategy similar to what the Provincial Council of Alicante pursued with Plan + Cerca during its administration with Carlos Mazón as president. PSPV-PSOE, however, criticized the Consell’s expansion of the Cooperation Fund, arguing that the distribution criteria for municipalities were not defined, which adds to uncertainty.
The Cooperation Fund has become one of the fiercest flashpoints between the PP and the PSPV in recent years and has represented a major institutional dispute involving the Mazón and Puig administrations. By the end of September, the Constitutional Court ruled two articles of the investment plan unconstitutional, including a provision about autonomy status not aligning with state-level distribution criteria. The Provincial Assembly challenged the program’s sectoral plans for 2023 and 2024 before the TSJ. The PSPV, meanwhile, filed a non-legislative proposal with the Cortes urging the Provincial Council to transfer 141 municipalities. The resources not allocated to those municipalities were discussed at a session on October 25 and ultimately rejected, with debate continuing around the Cooperation Fund and related NLP arrangements.
PP puts the finishing touch on the Cooperation Fund: unveils another plan together with councils
In addition to boosting the Cooperation Fund by 10 million, the Consell set aside a special item of 4.3 million from the 2024 budget to combat population decline. Finance Minister Ruth Merino described the Presidential budget as a defense of municipalism, stressing that the closest administrations deserve support to address solvency challenges. The PPCV general secretary, Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca, added that the previous plan did not respect municipal autonomy and suggested changes in its management.
The 25 percent increase in Generalitat resources for the Cooperation Fund did not go unnoticed by the PSPV. Socialists question whether the Consell will now raise allocations by an additional 10 million given Mazón’s opposition to the Botànic-supported project. A regional MP urged the PP to align its vote with the proposal in the budget, noting that the unresolved distribution criteria create uncertainty for municipalities. Critics also highlighted that the main problem for municipalities preparing their 2024 accounts is the spending limits set by the central government, a contention echoed by the Provincial Council president when discussing provincial budgets.
State Palace reports indicate that the PSPV maintains that the Province of Alicante should compensate its municipalities for the roughly 100 million not allocated in recent years due to the PP’s stance on participating in the project. Botanical interests were referenced in the broader discussion.