The Generalitat (the Catalan government) is in the process of finalising the initial phase of its emergency plan to address the housing crisis in the Valencian Community. On Tuesday, April 29th, the Generalitat received the final pending proposals for the construction of subsidised housing units which include 629 homes in Torrevieja.

This announcement is the result of the tendering process that was published in December and is the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Services, Equality, and Housing. At that time, President Carlos Mazón evaluated the transition from “zero public housing in eight years” to “the bidding process for 1,675 social housing units in the Valencian Community by the end of 2024.”

The Valencian Housing and Land Authority is responsible for the implementation of this system, as the First Vice-Presidency of the Consell has noted. The barter of land in exchange for construction facilitated a process for which this entity is accountable.

The initiative has been most widely adopted by municipalities in the province of Alicante. Elche, Sant Joan, Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Torrevieja, Vila Joiosa, and Xàbia have also joined, in addition to the capital. Castelló, Gandia, Sagunt, and Valencia are the four additional municipalities that have joined these.

The deadline for submitting proposals in all of these municipalities expired in March. The only bidder to receive a one-month extension was Torrevieja. The ministry’s statement emphasises that “the interest generated was so substantial that 31 companies submitted bids”, some of which were for multiple plots.

Six companies have submitted proposals for Torrevieja, where the construction of approximately 629 residences is scheduled to commence. The deadline for submission is now approaching.

The Consell established the Vive Plan of the Valencian Community, which includes these actions. The plan’s objective is to use available public land, both regional and municipal, to construct protected housing.

Currently, the Generalitat (Catalan Government) is forming numerous contracting committees to oversee the execution of these tenders. The First Vice-Presidency recently announced the proposed award to two companies for the construction of 72 houses in Elche and an additional 29 homes in the Garbinet area of Alicante. Sixteen of these 101 residences will be incorporated into the Generalitat’s public housing inventory.

This is all part of the Valencian Government’s objective to promote the construction of affordable, social housing to address the current housing crisis. The Generalitat (Catalan government) maintains that this initiative is being enthusiastically received and emphasises that it has “promoted substantial interest in the industry.” The objective is to construct 10,000 social housing units during this period.

“Be careful, smoke is coming out.” And it was coming out. That intensely black smoke turned into a terrifying fire that engulfed a municipal vehicle. The cause is unknown. Flames engulfed the electric car, which was charging in front of the town hall. The council is renting it.

Local police units were dispatched to the scene and, according to initial reports, moved other vehicles to the side to prevent the flames from spreading. They heard explosions. Firefighters from the Benissa unit arrived and brought the blaze under control. The area, in the heart of Calp, had to be cordoned off. There was tremendous excitement. Life in such a central location came to a halt. All this happened around 7:30 a.m. yesterday, Tuesday, April 29th.

The Provincial Fire Consortium has conducted 65 operations during the blackout, the majority of which involved the opening of lifts to rescue individuals who were confined. The Provincial Council reported on Tuesday, April 29th, that the operations also involved the transportation of individuals who required oxygen to hospitals and the provision of fuel to nursing homes and hospitals.

Yesterday, Toni Pérez, the President of the Alicante Provincial Council, commended the emergency services of the provincial institution and those of its dependent centres for their performance during the power outage. He also emphasised that the provincial services, particularly those of the Fire Brigade Consortium, were bolstered to address all emergency calls, as well as other responsibilities related to computer and social assistance.

“The Provincial Council has been coordinating the necessary actions to manage this unprecedented nationwide power outage and to ensure the emergency requests received, especially those related to the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable groups in our province,” explained the president. He also assured that, since the incident, various assistance and prevention services have been intensified and will continue to be so throughout the day to fully restore services.”

The president, who participated remotely in the CECOPI meeting that was urgently convened by the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response yesterday afternoon, stated that the meeting “emphasised the importance of logistical support for the region’s health centres to ensure their normal operations.”

In addition, provincial emergency services were fortified with seven forest firefighting units last night to mitigate potential fire hazards in rural areas in the event of any issues with power lines.

According to the Provincial Council, approximately 110 professional firefighters are on standby for any additional circumstances that may arise this Tuesday.

Concurrently, the Institutional Support and Local Entities Unit, which supervises the Provincial Council’s IT and Telecommunications Service, was engaged in the restoration of IT support services to the province’s 141 municipalities from the early hours, working throughout the day until midnight and commencing at 7 a.m. yesterday. At present, the majority of online municipal applications are operational, and those that pertain to accounting and census are entirely operational.

The Provincial Council has reported that the Antonio Fernández Valenzuela Provincial Home and the Doctor Esquerdo Centre have not experienced any incidents, as they have their own generators that enable them to operate as usual throughout the day.

In contrast, Suma has disclosed that its 47 locations are outfitted with UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems to guarantee service continuity during power fluctuations and to provide backup power for brief periods. The availability of power in certain regional offices, payment payment systems, and access to bill payment management platforms were the primary incidents that affected customer service, resulting in an 80% return to normal.

This incident has enabled Suma to effectively activate established security protocols, thereby demonstrating the efficacy of the contingency systems and response capacity to unforeseen situations, as per the Provincial Council.