Last Wednesday the Alicante County Council unanimously approved the foundations of Plan + Cerca for the 2023 fiscal year, earmarking 43.5 million euros to be distributed among the province’s municipalities. A day later, Generalitat president Ximo Puig responded by announcing that the Municipal Cooperation Fund would grow by 10 million, bringing its total to 50 million. These moves mark a pivotal moment in a long-running mandate debate led by Puig and the ruling party, who were summoned on May 28 to discuss the regional presidency with Popular party leader Carlos Mazón.
From Diputación, the Schedule + Close plan doubles the investment that the Cooperation Fund allocates to provincial municipalities. The state agency designates 43.5 million for the 13.3 municipalities under Consell. This figure should be added to Puig’s additional 10 million announced just 48 hours earlier. According to the Provincial Palace, about 3.5 million of this new 10 million will go, placing Generalitat’s investment near 17 million overall.
The approval of Plan + Cerca’s foundations for 2023 enables an investment program totaling 103.5 million for the current period. These resources will subsidize the needs of Alicante municipalities for both investment and operating expenses. A government spokesperson for the Liberal MPs and Cs coalition expressed satisfaction with the unanimous support for what he called a historic investment that reaches all town halls and expands with nearly 50% more funding. Javier Gutierrez, who oversees Infrastructure in the Provincial Assembly, stressed at the plenary that the project is distinctly Alicante, in contrast to the Cooperation Fund, which the provincial agency’s government team viewed as diminishing Alicante’s autonomy.
Unanimous backing for Plan + Cerca at the Provincial Assembly, yet with strong political rhetoric and an election undertone
Gutiérrez described Plan + Cerca as fully operational for towns and councils, highlighting its flexibility and autonomy. The program’s resources can cover current expenditures or investments. He noted that Plan + Cerca is a lasting initiative, and municipalities will not see it vanish. The 103.5 million across three editions nearly doubles the 55 million the Cooperation Fund has allocated in four years. He added that criticizing the fund for lacking participation by the Province would be unfounded.
The accompanying table from Diputación lays out how Plan + Cerca and the Cooperation Fund distribute funds across all municipalities. Only two towns in the province, Alicante and Elche, benefit from Generalitat allocations. For the city of Alicante, 777,853 euros from Consell pair with 535,000 euros from the Provincial Assembly, plus 630,245 euros from the Cooperation Fund. In Elche, 540,000 euros come from the Provincial Assembly and 630,245 euros from the Cooperation Fund. The remaining municipalities receive allocations from the supra-municipal body, and the disparity grows as towns shrink in size.
Counties
At the Provincial Palace, calculations were carried out region by region, with Plan + Cerca again showing the stronger position. In Baix Vinalopó, Plan + Cerca leads by about 1.3 million euros to 1 million from the Cooperation Fund. In Comtat, the difference is 5.5 million to 0.5 million, elevenfold. In Medio Vinalopó, 1.4 million difference; in Marina Alta, 2.1 to 9.9 million; in Marina Baixa, 5.4 million to 1.6; in Vega Baja, 8.6 million to 3.1; in l’Alacantí, 1.9 to 3.5; in l’Alcoià, 2.9 to 1; and in Alto Vinalopó, 2.1 to 0.5.
The State Legislature is also reviewing Puig’s move to announce the increase in the Co-operative Fund a day after the provincial general assembly approved Plan + Cerca for the year. Gutiérrez argued that the reaction stems from tripling investment, and he welcomed the increased resources as more money for municipalities in Alicante, which he said suffer from underfunding compared with Valencia and Castellón. He criticized the idea that the national and regional governments cannot fix the disparity with a single fund, noting the political maneuvering around the timing of the announcement.
Puig, meanwhile, frames the Copoperative Fund as a tool to strengthen the solvency and capacity of local governments and regrets the City Council’s refusal to participate. He recalled that Generalitat initiated the fund in 2000, with a major expansion in 2017, underscoring that no government before had advanced it to this extent.
Alliance
Puig also emphasizes the value of collaboration among institutions to create opportunities and meet challenges from natural disasters to the Ukraine conflict and the pandemic. Despite underfunding, Generalitat has established three additional municipal finance funds in recent years, distributing 330 million euros. The funds mentioned include Anti-Population, Tourist Municipalities, and Forest Management funds, whose calls are expected soon.
This week’s developments show that the clash between the Provincial Assembly and Generalitat over the Cooperation Fund remains intense. The dispute even reached the Constitutional Court after the PP asked the court to review an appeal defending the province’s autonomy. In this judicial arena, Mazón’s leadership has become more assertive, as evidenced by the court’s rejection of an appeal by Consell in mid-January and the suspension of funding, a decision grounded in defending the Provincial Assembly’s autonomy and its role in assisting Alicante’s municipalities.
Overall, the 284 million euro budget and the largest extraordinary investment in the council’s history remain central to the year. The Alicante Provincial Council increased its 2023 budget by 4.3% to 283.7 million euros, with the government team of PPs and Cs underlining support for the province’s productive sectors amid the current crisis. Salaries for politicians and advisors have been frozen for the third consecutive year. Alongside this budget, the institution led by Mazón is wrapping up the final stage of a term marked by a 106.8 million euro extraordinary investment, focusing subsidies on self-employed individuals, small and medium enterprises, and the most vulnerable groups affected by energy costs.