José Ramiro Pastor, from the PSPV, managed to win the 2023 municipal elections (with 5 councilors for his party) and create a government together with Compromís in Ondara. In the current legislature, the mayor highlights the projection of the municipality thanks to extraordinary events such as Nebulossa's participation in Eurovision and the appearance of the town in the summer Grand Prix. However, Ramiro also speaks in this interview about the challenges that he faces on a daily basis as mayor: an "unfair" opposition, improving access to housing or attracting young talent and entrepreneurship to the town.
ASK. What did he feel when the residents elected him mayor?
ANSWER. When I was elected mayor again in these 2023 elections, we were very proud of the work done. I had been mayor for 6 years and within the situation that existed - with the rise of the right throughout the country and that had brought down what were the progressive governments of many autonomies and city councils - that in Ondara they continued to bet on the team of government we had for our vision was a guarantee of what we had done over the other eight years.
Q. What continues to motivate you to be mayor?
R. What continues to motivate me is being able to improve the lives of my neighbors. Whether from a local point of view or now also in the deputation in which I am as a provincial deputy.
Day to day, being on the street, having neighbors come and propose things or even problems that they have and being able to give them solutions, managing the government team...
All of this is a motivation that I have on a daily basis: to fight for the things that I believe they deserve and that improve the lives of our neighbors and that we put all public administrations at their service.
Q. Have you ever thought about quitting? Are there hard moments?
R. The mayor's office is really a complicated situation. You have your company, you have your clients, you have your products and you are improving to do. In the public administration, in the mayor's office, the clients, the users, the neighbors, - and also in a town like Ondara, which has 7.500 inhabitants and where we all know each other - the issue is that we have direct contact with the neighbors. and neighbors and you can't always do what you want or what your neighbors want.
Therefore, sometimes this contact is very exhausting or wanting to help and not always being able to help, because it seems that the mayor can do everything and many times I have had to tell the neighbors that it is not possible.
The most important thing is to give my best, to give my best, so that at night I can sleep and say "I have done everything possible to make the lives of my neighbors easier" and continue fighting.
Q. What has been or is being the biggest challenge you face as mayor?
R. Well, in this legislature we have faced challenges that have arisen, that were not present when we held elections. For example, the challenge of promoting tourism and culture in the town or immediately around Nebulossa, which is something that has never happened and will never happen again and in the region or in the province: two years in a row the province has had representatives in Eurovision and That has brought us a lot of projection and it was a challenge to take advantage as a city council of this projection that Nebulossa provided with its Eurovision representatives in Spain, this brand in Spain, this organizational image, these are challenges that we have faced.
Other challenges during the legislature or previous legislatures... we cannot forget the pandemic, which was a very complicated challenge of how to be able to carry out municipal actions so as not to leave anyone behind, for example.
Q. How do you get along with the opposition?
R. The relationship with the opposition in Ondara is not very healthy at the moment, more than anything because they have been disloyal or I think they have not done things correctly regarding a criminal complaint against a councilor of the Ondara City Council. They have criminally attacked a councilor, they have not engaged in politics, but rather they have gone to court directly to denounce a councilor with all that this entails for her personally and for her family. Therefore, relations with the opposition in Ondara are not as fluid and adequate as they should be because they have not played politics, they have played dirty games.
Q. Is watching Eurovision live the most extraordinary thing that you think will happen to you as mayor? How was the experience?
R. Well, extraordinary... the pandemic was also an extraordinary negative but positive event because of how people turned and how they behaved and all the effort that was made so that the productive sectors did not fall.
The Eurovision thing is also something very extraordinary in positioning and that will not happen again and there both Mark and María have commented on it: trying to make the most of the projection that has been achieved both for them and for the people.
The experience of accompanying Mark and Meri to Eurovision, in Malmö, was a very beautiful and spectacular experience in the sense that you see the entire setup around Eurovision and live their song there live with 15.000 people of many nationalities standing up and singing it, people who are not Spanish singing “zorra zorra”… It was very impressive and has nothing to do with what happened in the votes.
That's why it's worth it for the city council to institutionally be there. We were able to be with them before the performance (on Saturday morning) and after the performance and the voting on Sunday morning and, therefore, accompanying them there in Malmö I think was exciting for us as a people, for me as mayor and for them that we were there and I think it was very positive, very emotional and that it was worth it.
Just as it was impressive here in the bullring because the videos and the feedback It has been impressive in the organizational aspect, but also the experience of people from Ondara, people from the region, all singing the song and feeling a very good positive energy.
Q. Do you think that the experience of participating in the Grand Prix will give visibility to Ondara? How did this initiative come about?
R. The initiative to participate in the Grand Prix is unexpected because Grand Prix - or the production company - sends a communication to all populations between 5.000 and 10.000 inhabitants in Spain so that, if they want to participate, they contact the production company and such. In our case they sent us the email, it was pending but it didn't finish, they called us from the production company to insist and the condition they set for us was that we had to send a 3-minute pre-selection video explaining why we wanted to go. We sent a video, we did it at Easter and we were selected.
The truth is that we are very happy because it is also a projection of the municipality. The first recording is public and takes place on Friday, May 31, when 100 people from the town will go to see it, 35 to participate in the competition and the rest in public. We will go to Madrid at 5 in the morning and the entire recording will be done in one day.
Q. Are you worried about the drought? Do you consider any measures to prevent this from happening?
R. I am very concerned about the drought, because this is not a fact that will happen this year and will not happen in 50 years, but rather we are realizing that this climate change - which some seem to deny - is happening and the periods of drought are ending. repeating more and more.
What also happens is that the response to drought cannot be municipal. Ondara can carry out awareness campaigns for people or can take measures like one that we will take this year in playgrounds: there will be no water playgrounds, but we will look for alternatives so that there can be games at parties, for example.
This must be a joint response, joint even at the level of the region or province or autonomy. And start planning different methods to obtain drinking water, also for irrigation.
We may be demanding that the central government make transfers for us, but the drought affects all places and the transfers, the rivers or the wells fill with rain and it is the rain that is missing. Therefore, we must propose alternatives such as desalination plants. That is where I think we have a bit of a future to alleviate droughts.
Investments cannot be made locally; Ondara cannot go, Dénia or any municipality to do them, they are very high costs and must be national and regional policies.
Q. Is there fear of fires next summer? Is any measure going to be applied?
R. The fires are something else besides the drought. Fires occur due to lack of rain and also due to lack of forest maintenance policies, especially in the interior.
Farmers can be asked not to burn to avoid them, but with just a spark, the lack of cleanliness and lack of humidity in the forests are tinderboxes.
There is great concern throughout the region. I think that throughout the province there is a lot of concern that, if at any given moment a fire starts, it will be difficult to stop it.
But of course, these are not policies that are made in one month or two months, but rather they are policies of years, of making regional policies to be able to minimize fires. Not doing any is very complicated, but minimizing it is possible.
We, for example, in the forestry area, what we do do is, every one or two years in a row, what we do is go up the mountain, into the forest mass, clear brush, improve roads, but it is very complicated. These have to be provincial policies at a minimum.
Q. Are you concerned about the exodus of young people to big cities? Do you consider any measures to prevent this from happening?
R. The exodus is due to the lack of opportunities and also the lack of being able to make a life project in the town where you were born, including housing issues. Ondara has an exodus of professionals, but it is true that it is a town, I would even dare to say the Marina Alta, we are a region of opportunities.
Therefore, for those who want to make films, it is true that in Ondara it will be very difficult to make films, but the entire productive fabric and opportunities that can exist in the region are very broad. Therefore, I believe that there is perhaps an exodus at the youth level, but it has always happened... those who have studied Computer Engineering, which is my case, have more opportunities to develop professionally in Valencia or Madrid, where there are great technology companies, Maybe not in a region like this, where there are large technology companies, but they are in development.
I believe that the Marina Alta has great opportunities and because of this aspect of professional development, I believe that young people have a future here.
Then there is also the housing part, if young people have to pay a rent of 800 euros, 500 euros, 600 euros to be able to live and develop their life project here and in other towns there are more possibilities at the income level and more possibilities at the level of less expense then…
For example, a difficulty we have here in the Marina Alta is the issue of transportation, infrastructure. You live in Valencia and by metro you can access any place where you can work. Not in the Marina Alta; If you live in Ondara and want to work in Benissa you have to go by car. Of course, infrastructures are important, there the Marina Alta has the great challenge of fighting for infrastructures that give us competitiveness.
We manage everything that is opportunities, for example, at the level of the Department of Espai Català or the Department of Economic Promotion, Employment and Tourism, including Culture and Sports, what we do is an offer in which opportunities can be generated so that the young people stay. For example, in Economic Promotion and Employment: Ondara Activa is a training program for young entrepreneurs, above all, who want to establish their business in Ondara.
The truth is that many opportunities are generated so that, if any young man or woman wants to stay in Ondara to live and develop professionally, it is possible. Ondara is a town of services and the entire commercial fabric provides an outlet, together with the Department of Economic Promotion and Employment, so that young people can work there and have that first opportunity.
Q. What is the routine of a mayor like?
R. The routine is that I get up in the morning. I have the advantage of being able to come to the town hall after dropping the children off at school. Normally I come at 9, 9:15, 9:30, I make my coffee at the bar: the most important thing is to leave the office because things arrive; With the door closed, not all the information or needs that there may be reach. Ondara is a town where you socialize in bars and I talk to people there... You are on the street and it is important that the neighbor conveys his needs to you.
The agenda comes with internal meetings of the government team, meetings with neighbors at the level of external meetings and also with all the things that we have to do at the regional or institutional level.
I usually leave around 16:00 p.m. Then we move on to the second phase, since the theme of the mayor's office is 24 hours: you go home, you have community meetings, you have association meetings or even a neighbor who needs something, some police-level event that happens and you have to Being in coordination at any time that something may happen so that the mayor's office can make decisions is non-stop.
Q. What are the priorities for this legislature?
R. The priorities for this legislature are, at the urban planning level, to generate opportunities for housing creation. We had generating housing as a great pillar of the government program. This involves the urbanization of different sectors that may exist in the town.
The urban planning process is very long, the bureaucracy is very long. In fact, we have been carrying out an urban planning modification for 4 years, which is the unification of schools, which is one of the pillars that we have from the legislature to carry it forward.
So, generate housing opportunities, generate land to be able to build, whether public or private, so that companies can invest in the town to build housing.
Then, continue with the management that has been done in the city council. All the economic management that we carry out must be efficient management, that the accounts are clear, that any euro spent is justified and that will also help us to have returns in terms of management and the benefit of the neighbors.
Also continue to attend to all the needs they may have. We, for example, are working for Ondara (as a child-friendly city) to reinforce what is part of Espai Jove, all the opportunities that we previously talked about about youth.
At the level of economic promotion, consolidating Ondara as a strategic point or pole of attraction for talent, entrepreneurship, business and all this leads us to more people wanting to come to Ondara to live or generate opportunities.
At the tourist level we are not going to compete with Dénia, with Xàbia or with Calp, which are tourist powers and because they have other offers that we do not have. We are not inland either, in the mountain tourist offer. We also want to offer a tourist part in terms of services and cultural activities. That is why we focus a lot on the exploitation of the Ondara bullring to do cultural and tourist activities: concerts, book presentations, monologues, openings or those companies that we can rent for the summer to do events. And that also makes people come to the town, get to know it, have a coffee in the bar, visit the shops...
Economic well-being, which is what we want, or for unemployment to go down in Ondara, which is at its lowest level in 2006, in terms of employment for residents of the town.
And then people want to live and coexist in Ondara, that it is not a dormitory town, but that they have the pleasure of coming, and that can be seen on the street. I identify it many times, when I go down the street and I see that many people walk at 6 in the afternoon, for example, and that people can go to parks, create leisure facilities...
Q. What is the best and worst thing about being mayor?
R. Well, the worst thing about being mayor is learning to say no, because you can't always help people, or you can't always meet any demand that people may have.
It is true that with any decision that is made you know that it is not going to rain to everyone's liking. The worst thing about being mayor is assuming that there are people who are not going to agree with the policies.
The best thing about being mayor is the feedback or the feeling that the population gives you that they like what you are doing. That we can agree or not; There are many people who have not voted for me, but who agree with the actions we are taking, because they consider them to be good for the municipality.
When we talk about politics, maybe we can talk about people on the right not agreeing with socialists, that I am a socialist, but they cannot deny that the economy is going very well, and they cannot deny that there is employment and investment. .
Therefore, that satisfaction of meeting a person who has not voted for me, who I know has not voted for me, arguing with them and so on, but in the end recognizing that things are being done well, that is a personal satisfaction. And above all help people.
Q. Why do you think you are a good mayor?
R. I don't know if I'm a good mayor or not. I think time will tell, because in the end, many times, the good or the bad is not seen in the moment, but in the long term.
And furthermore, I don't want to value myself, because what I want is to do what I consider is best for my neighbors, for the town, for the general interest.
Someone will think that I am bad and someone will think that I am good, but time will tell if the decisions I have made or what I have promoted will be good for the people.
Catalan