One year will be completed this Monday since the current mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, took office, a short period of time that Catalá herself evaluates broadly. In these twelve months, 55% of the 400 challenges outlined in her electoral program would have been met or initiated, with two being the most outstanding achievements in her view: the reduction of taxes and the moratorium on tourist apartments, an issue that is closely linked to another that also holds a prominent place on her agenda, which is housing.
To begin the assessment, Catalá starts by analyzing the legacy of the previous government of Compromís and PSPV, a legacy she describes as «complicated.» There were – she claims – 22,500 stuck licenses and four years of waiting in some cases; expired sports concessions; municipal markets in «poor conditions,» or the Palau de la Música closed. However, Catalá says she has managed to reverse many of these problems and implement some of her most important policies. The first is a general tax reduction. With the premise of «leaving money in the pockets of Valencians,» Catalá has reduced overall municipal taxes, mainly the IBI, by 70 million euros, with a special focus on large families.
Cleanliness was another of her obsessions, and it still is because there is a lot of citizen pressure in this regard. In response, Catalá highlights the increase in investment to ninety million annually. This allows for doubling the cleaning and sweeping activities in the morning and afternoon. By the way, there is a second shock plan, in addition to cleaning, which is the municipal licenses plan. The mayor estimates the backlog at 22,500 unresolved files, and her plan is to end this situation «to not hinder investments and generate employment.»
In the longer term, but with measures already underway, the annual balance of the PP of Valencia also mentions citizen insecurity. Their tools to combat it have been the acceleration to incorporate 207 agents in the coming months and the creation of the Security, Support, and Prevention Unit (USAP), which, with its two hundred agents, provides 88 daily services and has a strong focus on tackling binge drinking.
Furthermore, progress has been made or issues have been resolved, such as the transfer of the Alinghi base to Marina de Empresas; the reopening of the Palau de la Música after five years of work; the opening of five district offices to manage the census, which has allowed reductions from 5 months to 1 week for certificates; the boost to the EMT with an investment of 172 million for its full electrification; or the construction of a permanent shelter for 50 homeless people.
Despite being one of the events of the year, the mayor pays little attention to the European Green Capital status. She refers to the request for the declaration of the biosphere reserve for l’Albufera and the request to the government to declare the green capital as an exceptional event of public interest.
Housing | Construction of flats and unlocking of the PAI
If there is a problem that affects all cities in Spain and is more difficult to solve, it is that of housing. Prices are through the roof due to the shortage of flats, and there is a new phenomenon in this perfect storm, which is that of tourist apartments, which further complicates the situation and threatens to «evict» people from their neighborhoods.
For both of these issues, Catalá has tried in her first year in office to find short and medium-term solutions. With regard to housing, Catalá states that the City Council of Valencia is managing the construction of 846 public housing units, of which half are already underway. In addition to this, 131 flats have been acquired in Safranar.
On the other hand, the council has unlocked the PAI of Benimaclet and El Grao, which will add another 2,550 homes, of which 850 will also be public. «The goal we have set is ambitious (1,000 VPP in 2027), but the absolute paralysis of the left-wing governments for eight years on social issues forces us to redouble our efforts,» the mayor assures.
The other side of this issue is that of tourist apartments, an issue in which the recent one-year moratorium on tourist housing stands out. The idea is to stop the frenzy of license applications and consider measures to limit the emergence of apartments in each of the city’s neighborhoods. Meanwhile, inspections of illegal apartments are being intensified by the City Council, which has allowed for the inspection of 300 apartments in the last year and the issuance of 200 cease activity orders.
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