Alícia Izquierdo and Balbina Sendra, co-spokespersons of Gandia’s local government, appeared on Tuesday, September 30th, with Lydia Morant, councillor for Mobility, to report on the important agreements adopted during the local Government Meeting.
First and foremost, Morant announced the ratification of a draft change to Gandia’s Municipal Traffic, Circulation, Mobility, and Safety Ordinance. Above all, consider the Traffic Ordinance’s provisions for personal mobility vehicles. The goal is to control the usage of electric scooters in the municipality, as well as to ensure that individuals who ride these vehicles do so in a safe manner, both for themselves and for other pedestrians and users of public roads. The addendum addresses two outstanding issues: On the one hand, all users must wear helmets, as well as get civil liability insurance. These two issues, “in addition, would be classified as a serious offence in the case of non-compliance, resulting in penalty ranging from 100 to 1,000 euros, depending on the degree of reiteration with regards to the user. In this scenario, we are also harmonising with existing and proposed state regulations. And, as a municipality, we want to keep up with the latest developments and work in tandem with other municipalities.”
The councilman stated that the policy will help to bridge the gender gap. According to reports, there may be a link between scooter safety issues and the fact that women are a minority of personal mobility vehicle users because they prefer safer locations (10% of women against 15% of men). “As a result, we believe that these adjustments will help women feel safe when driving this sort of car. Overall, this improvement aims to improve road safety, conform to state rules, and consider the gender viewpoint in order to promote sustainable mobility for all individuals.”
On the other hand, this operation will take advantage of a shift in mobility within the Historic Centre due to commercial loading and unloading hours. “The current ordinance establishes hours from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. We would extend it by one hour to 11 a.m., because it was already happening in a subtle way and there was some flexibility in sticking to this plan. But we also wanted to manage it and legally grant this extra hour while adhering strictly to the existing schedule.”
Other concerns
The Local Government Board proposed that the Public Wastewater Sanitation Entity (EPSAR) finance the sanitation and purification facilities for the three-year period 2026-2028, totalling €187,376.
The Cultural-School Check, a new round of school-based subsidies, was also implemented. “There are currently 784 beneficiaries, for a total of 1,433 pupils who have received and spent it. We are already talking about a global aid of 42,984 euros, which is around 20% of the overall budget for the Cultural-School Check’, explained Izquierdo.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice issued a decision providing Gandia City Council a 16,376 euro subsidy for the local mediation agency, MEDIAPROP. “This service, which is free of charge for mediation, was launched in October 2023, before complaints are filed, and is carried out in collaboration with the association of mediators and psychologists, etc.”
Sendra, for his part, announced the acceptance of the agreement between Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and Gandia City Council for promotion and marketing activities in 2025. “We will now focus on four areas of action: the diffusion and development of the city’s gastronomic culture; the cultural offer; and the revitalisation of the city in the heritage and cultural fields. The third step is to build and disseminate an active tourism program, which includes everything related to sports tourism. Finally, there is a fourth line of programming designed specifically for family tourism.
The aid was granted as part of the “We Raise Blinds” initiative, but specifically under the “We Renovate Commerce” line. A city firm will receive 1,216.70 euros in aid.
In addition, a direct subsidy of 30,000 euros has been granted to the Falla de Sant Josep Raval in exchange for their cooperation in the acquisition and renovation of the premises where they intend to hold their casal.
Finally, it was announced that the technical assistance contract for the visitgandia profile had been awarded, “that is, everything that needs to be seen on the networks or that links to the visitgandia website for communication of what we do.” A contract of 62,920 euros was won to Bellaterra Serveis.
Author: Derek Appleton
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