The Calp City Council has given the green light to the Integrated Action Plan (PAI) with the aim of competing for the call for FEDER funds from the EDIL Plans, with which it hopes to obtain around 7,4 million euros. The EDIL Plans (Local Integrated Development Strategies) are 60% financed by FEDER Funds and are allocated to projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, with subsidies that can vary between 5 and 15 million euros.
The Calp PAI has a total budget of 12.260.500 euros and has been developed in accordance with the Calp Urban Agenda, a strategic plan that includes the municipality's major projects until 2030. Specifically, it includes three main initiatives: the construction of the XNUMXst Century Tourist Office in the historic centre, the remodelling of the Fossa promenade and the renovation of the Plaza Mayor. These actions seek to promote a more sustainable and innovative city model, adapted to digitalisation trends and with quality spaces for citizens to enjoy.
Supporters and abstentions in the plenary session
The proposal was approved with the support of the governing team (Somos Calpe, PSOE and Compromís) and the municipal group of the PP, while Defendamos Calpe opted to abstain.
The spokesman for Defendamos Calpe, Paco Quiles, acknowledged the need for these projects, although he questioned their transformative impact on the municipality: "What you decide is to do necessary issues but simply for maintenance and we do not manage to really transform the municipality and have a real impact on the future of Calp." Quiles advocated prioritizing other initiatives, such as access to housing, the solution to the parking problem and the improvement of educational and health infrastructures.
For his part, the PP spokesman, Miguel Crespo, explained his support by stating that these are projects "initially proposed by PP governments that we considered important at the time and that continue to be necessary." He also expressed his support for the government team "to see if they are capable of obtaining funding for these actions."
Government Response Team
The councillor for subsidies, Marco Bittner, responded to the criticism by pointing out that “I don’t buy the idea that this is a simple bodywork and paint job.” He defined the projects as “a driving force for change to the extent that they are going to be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, due to the space we will gain, the use that will be given to these spaces, the citizen participation… one of the many changes that are to come thanks to the Urban Agenda.”
Likewise, Juan Manuel del Pino, spokesperson for Somos Calpe, defended the choice of the three projects, considering them to be "mature" and with greater possibilities of obtaining the grant: "They had a deadline that we could meet to present them and they met that transversal need to access this competition."
Housing and urban future
The Councillor for Housing, Mireia Ripoll, acknowledged that she would have liked to include housing access projects in the PAI, although she explained that "it is not a mature project, which is one of Europe's demands." She added that prior strategic planning is necessary and that it could be addressed in future calls.
For her part, the mayor of Calp, Ana Sala, stressed the commitment of the governing team to the structural needs of the municipality, stating: "The investments that the governing team has decided on are not new, they are not inventions, they are structural needs and we are going to address them, hopefully with European funds, and if they are not granted to us, we will have made a commitment and we will address them anyway." In addition, he stressed that "public housing is a priority that is being worked on, but everything cannot be addressed at the same time."
Renaturalization of the Quisi
At the same time, the plenary unanimously approved the request for another aid financed with FEDER funds. In this case, it is the call from the Biodiversity Foundation for the development and consolidation of the green infrastructure for the renaturalisation and resilience of Calp in order to carry out the renaturalisation of the Quisi ravine, a joint initiative with the Benissa City Council. The objective is to eliminate invasive species from the riverbed and introduce riverside trees and restore this ecosystem.
