Costa Blanca

Elche gets six homes to use in case of social emergencies

The Local Government Board gave the go-ahead to buy six homes owned by SAREB so that they can be fixed up as part of a scheme to build more public housing that is paid for by the State Plan for Access to Housing 2022–2025, also known as the ADHA Plan.

Celia Lastra, Councillor for Social Action, said that in February 2024, the Local Government Board agreed to ask for a subsidy to buy these six homes owned by SAREB. This was because the council wanted to buy these properties to increase the number of public housing units and put them on a rental or transfer of use regime with a maximum rent or transfer price for use, especially for vulnerable groups.

With the help of the 342,500 euro grant, these 6 homes in various parts of the town were bought. “This purchase increases the number of public housing units in Elche and, most importantly, we will have more housing options under a social rental regime and/or transfer of use for emergency housing,” Lastra said. These homes are meant to help families who are housing insecure and can’t afford to rent at market rates because of their income.

The meeting also agreed to the free transfer of the “Hort de Malena” palm grove, which is in the middle of the city, next to the Tower on the road to the Mills, and surrounded by public gardens.

As stated by Inma Mora, the City Council’s goal is to restore and raise the value of the traditional homes and buildings in the “Hort de Malena” palm grove so that people can learn about and share the historical and cultural values that these buildings and homes represent, as well as the palm grove itself and its water systems. There will be no changes to the deal for 10 years.

It has also been cleared to build the Maestro José Toro social centre in Torrellano, which will be situated between the streets of Libertad, Alcudia, Astronautas, and Violeta. As part of this project, a new 1,900-square-meter space will be built to serve more than 7,000 people from the Torrellano, Santa Ana, Balsares, Saladas, and Jubalcoy areas.

The new cultural and social centre will have two floors. The first floor will have a big hall that can fit 466 people, 350 on the ground floor and 166 in the amphitheatre.

The Torrellano social centre project has been approved by the Local Government Board.

The reading room/library and the amphitheatre for the assembly hall will be on the first floor, along with the association offices and music school. The OMAC, cafeteria, and assembly hall will be on the ground floor.

The Civil Aviation report has now been given to the City Council. This is something that the municipal company Pimesa needs in order to be able to put out the bids for the building contract next week.

The Governing Board did agree to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility’s request for direct aid for passenger transport. This will lower the prices of transport passes and multi-trip tickets for urban public transport services for the first half of 2025, from January 1 to June 30. They also agreed to make a deal with the service concessionaire to carry out the aid. With these direct helps, the price is cut in half, and the City Council pays for an extra 20%.

As one of the things that wasn’t on the list, the contract for the adaptation works at the central interchange of Doctor Caro and Alfredo Llopis streets has been extended for two more months, until April 11.

InvoLUCRA SL, the winning bidder, said, “They have proposed this extension because, once the urban bus shelter had been moved and the second section of Calle Alfredo Llopis had been torn down, services were found to be in use that were not reflected in the plans that were available for the preparation of the project.” This meant that the foundations and slabs of the two pergolas in that section had to be moved around to fit the available space. This caused the project to be delayed, and the stormwater network had to be moved to a new well that had to be built in the middle of the street.

The project has an investment of about 900,000 euros and is partly paid for by European Next Generation funds.

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Costa Blanca

Santa Pola eliminates the presence of illegal camping

According to Ana Blasco, the Councillor for Citizen Security, the growing number of caravans in Cabo de Santa Pola was always a worry for the governing team because it caused problems without being possible to do anything about it.

Blasco said that they are already starting to see the results of the work that the Local Police and the Traffic Subsector of the Civil Guard of Alicante have been doing together since October, when they agreed to a new set of rules. This deal, which was approved by the whole City Council, spells out what each security group is responsible for in different parts of the municipality, like the port roads, the Camino del Cabo, and the Camino del Faro.

With the new protocol, the Local Police are now in charge of all key areas. This means that they can work more effectively in the most sensitive areas. One of the first steps that was taken was to put up signs at the two main entrances to the Cabo path, at the Cadena and at the Virgen del Rosario chapel, making it clear that cars wider than 2.20 meters are not allowed. This directly affects motorhomes. Blasco also said that the local police patrols are running a campaign to make caravan users more aware of the fact that they are not allowed to use the road and to remind them how important it is to follow the rules in a natural area that is protected.

Meanwhile, José Miguel Zaragoza, the Chief Commissioner of the Local Police, said that these steps have led to a “zero presence of caravans” in the Cape area, though cars still drive in sometimes because they don’t see the signs. When this happens, the patrols act right away to let people know that it’s not allowed. Zaragoza has also said that protecting the environment is very important because of the chance of fires and harm to the protected plants and animals in the area. To sum up, the Local Police of Santa Pola and the Local Police of Elche will work together to protect the whole coastline below the cape.

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Costa Blanca

PP and Vox in Elche are against women’s right to have abortions

The Popular Party and Vox voted against the Compromís move that would have given women the right to choose to end their pregnancy. It has been a party stand that all women have the right to choose an abortion. It has also spoken out against the problems women have getting an abortion in state hospitals in Elche and the lack of information they are given. Esther Díez has asked the Ministry of Health to protect women’s right to have abortions in public places and to promote sexual education in schools so that students can learn how to avoid getting pregnant through sexual relationships.

The socialist councillor Mariano Valera has asked that women who are considering abortion get professional help with their mental health and that health workers be trained in this area. Valera has supported the “essential” need to make the public health system more humane and up-to-date so that abortions can be done safely.

We support the need to make the public system more humane and up-to-date so that people can safely get pregnant.

In response, Aurora Rodil, a spokesperson for Vox, has stayed strong because she is a strong pro-lifer and defended that stance in the plenary session. Rodil said that the offer from the Compromís is “an apology for the cruel murder of innocent children.” She has also said that doctors who do abortions are “qualified murderers.” Along these lines, Rodil has said that ending pregnancies has become more common in families with children who have Down syndrome, which a Vox representative called “genocide.” Aurora Rodil brought up the fact that her group is working on safety plans for moms who are alone.

Pablo Ruz, the mayor of Elche, also spoke out in favour of doctors who don’t want to perform abortions during his turn to explain his vote. It has been said by Ruz that ending a pregnancy is a failure of society. This is why the mayor attacked Mariano Valera, a leftist councillor, for supporting abortion even though he has a “religious past.”