Redaccion
Gallego: «These accounts put people at the center, promoting cross-cutting equality, allowing progress in urban transformation with investments in all neighborhoods and supporting the productive sectors of the city»
Alicante, February 28, 2025. The Finance Committee of the City Council of Alicante has favorably reported this Friday on the municipal Budget project for 2025, amounting to 347.2 million euros. The document has been approved and will be submitted to the plenary session on March 5 with the majority support of PP and Vox, and the rejection of PSOE, Compromís, and EU-Podemos.
Finance technicians have given viability to 101 of the 227 amendments presented by municipal political groups, with the remaining not passing the filter, including the two submitted by the Socialist group and EU-Podemos. The Socialists have passed more than half of their amendments, 69 out of 131 presented; Vox, 14 out of 19; Compromís, 15 out of 50; and EU Podem 3 out of 7, resulting in a total modification of the budget draft by over 800,000 euros.
The Councilor for Finance, Toni Gallego, emphasized that «Alicante will have budgets that the city needs.» The councilor thanked Vox for their support for this municipal budget, as well as the opposition groups for their work in presenting amendments to improve the accounts.
«We are heading towards budgets, accounts that will allow us to continue developing this model of urban transformation of the city that puts people at the center with investments in all neighborhoods, promoting cross-cutting equality in all areas, providing support to our productive sectors to improve the city’s economic development, job opportunities, and ensuring the improvement and universal access to essential public services,» Gallego stated.
In broad terms, regarding the focus on people, the municipal accounts for this year prioritize children, youth, families, and the elderly through a series of investments that include improvements in educational and sports infrastructures, cultural activities, popular festivals and traditions, social centers in neighborhoods, or activities in senior centers, among others, while promoting cross-cutting equality in all areas. The budget of the Department of Social Welfare has increased by 11%, and as a novelty, it includes two specific lines for childbirth assistance (100,000 euros) and rental housing for youth (80,000).
The operating budget for Infant, Primary, and Special Education centers has increased by 1.3 million to 14.4 million (+10%), while attention to the elderly has increased by 16.1% to reach 4.72 million euros this year. Similarly, support for vulnerable individuals has increased from 2.17 million to 2.38 million, and social integration funds have risen to 6.84 million with a 19.2% increase.
The Finance Councilor explained that all chapters have increased in 2025 within budgets that «remain expansive» and continue to develop multi-year investments that were already earmarked in the 2024 accounts. «The budgets are in line with the Multi-Year Investment Plan, which quantified investments of 50 million euros in 2024, 30 million in 2025, and 20 million in 2026,» Gallego explained.
The section on investments amounts to 24.8 million euros to be carried out directly by the City Council, in addition to another 2.9 million through capital transfers to municipal autonomous bodies. This section highlights projects such as the construction of the Tómbola sports pavilion (1.2 million), the renovation of Lo Morant Park (629,563 euros), and others that are being launched, such as the Integrated Municipal Center of Plaza de Argel, the rehabilitation of López Soria School for use by the elderly, or the expansion of the Tossalet employment and training center.
In this urban transformation drive, the actions to replenish city roads amount to 2.3 million, the renovation of El Palmeral Park (741,349 euros), the restoration of the Santa Ana bastion in Santa Barbara Castle, and all the educational works of the Edificant Plan: construction of a gymnasium and cafeteria at San Juan Bautista Primary School (785,119), integral rehabilitation of Santo Ángel de la Guarda Special Education Center (304,163), and expansion of La Florida Primary School (239,784).
Regarding specific actions in neighborhoods, the scheduled rehabilitation in Virgen del Remedio takes center stage, affecting 288 homes and with a budget of 1.8 million. The project also includes a long-term loan operation of 4.88 million to complement all the planned investments in the Budget.
Security, tourism promotion, and business development
Likewise, investments are prioritized in the city’s public security services (Local Police, Firefighters, and Civil Protection); funds allocated to street cleaning operations (22.5 million) and waste collection (18.2 million with a 3.7% increase), as well as allocations for tourism promotion (4.8 million, up 19%) and business development (1.9 million, with an 11% increase) «to reinforce our productive sectors and bolster the city’s growth.»
The municipal accounts for this year include an increase of over 30% in allocations for Culture and Festivals. In the case of the Hogueras, subsidies can be processed two months in advance and before the celebration of the festival cycle, without the need for financial modification credit mechanisms. In terms of culture, the allocation for public libraries has increased by 24% to 1.3 million, and museums and visual arts have grown by 21% to almost three million.
The budget project also provides for a 2.5% salary increase for municipal staff and two million euros for the development of the professional career of civil servants. «We fulfill the commitment to continue advancing in the improvement of municipal management and the conditions of the City Council’s workers by providing new positions in the RPT and developing the professional career,» Gallego points out.
The brake on the spending rule
At the same time, the Finance Councilor laments the impact of the spending rule imposed by the central government, «which represents a de facto intervention in municipal autonomy and limits the growth and development of cities by unilaterally setting the criteria for limiting spending in municipalities.»
