In 2021, the Calp Town Council will not levy a business tax on all those entrepreneurs or tradesmen who decide to open a business or trade or change their economic activity. To this end, the ordinary plenary session of October yesterday adopted the amendment to the tax regulation regulating the fee for administrative activities resulting from the submission of pre-notification, declaration of responsibility and application for authorisation for environmental activities.
This is a further measure approved by Calp City Council to alleviate the economic losses suffered by the Calp economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is in addition to the aid provided for in the Resiste plan (local commerce, entrepreneurs and businesses under three years old, nightlife establishments, subsidies equivalent to 30% of the waste tax, etc.).
Mayor Ana Sala said that "the aim is to abolish the fee for activity licences in order to continue supporting businesses, especially hotels, commerce, entrepreneurs of Calpe in general who are trying to set up in the municipality, and that they can take advantage of the help of the Town Council", as they will not have to pay this fee, for which the Town Council will collect a total of 62,000 euros in 2019.
The initiative has received the unanimous support of all political groups.
Help for school transport
On the other hand, with the votes of the government faction (PP- Ciudadanos) and the abstention of the opposition, the plenary session definitively approved the regulatory bases for aid for the transport of students studying outside the municipality of Calp and the bases for the granting of individual aid to cover the cost of textbooks and teaching materials to students studying in the IES I subject of Calp.
The plenary discussed one of the two arguments put forward during the period of public presentation of the bases, so that the aid for school transport would also benefit students studying in public schools after compulsory education.
Defendamos Calpe put forward another objection, which was rejected Defendamos Calpe had requested the exclusion of students studying in subsidised centres outside Calp, the educational services for which already exist in the locality. Defendamos Calpe also claimed that the part of the aid allocated to those students should be distributed proportionally among the other students studying in subsidised centres outside Calp.
The Education Councillor, Rebeca Merchán, defended the inclusion in the aid programme of students studying in private and subsidised centres. In this context, she said: "We believe it is important that parents have freedom of choice in the education of their children" and added that the Ministry of Education's enrolment support scheme also covers public and private education.
In addition, the plenary session unanimously adopted a budgetary amendment to grant a grant of 1,000 euros to local education centres for educational and telematic material. On the other hand, with the votes of the PP, Ciudadanos, Compromís and Defendamos Calpe and the abstention of the PSOE, it was decided to allocate 205,700 euros from the 2019 budget surplus to the purchase of two hybrid 4x4 vehicles and four electric motorbikes for the local police and civil protection, taking advantage of the fact that the central government stipulates that municipalities can use 7% of the previous year's surplus to finance electric vehicles or those with zero eco-labels.
Defence of the Constitution
A motion for a resolution tabled by the PP calling on the Spanish Government to defend constitutional order was adopted in plenary by the only votes in favour of the government team (PP and Ciudadanos). Mayor Ana Sala pointed out that "we are in a very delicate situation because the PSOE is taking decisions from the central government to meet the demands of its government partner Podemos". She added that this constitutional order must be defended to "end the tensions we are experiencing and focus on the importance of the health crisis".
In another motion, Compromís called for the initiation of a citizen participation process to choose a new name for Avenida Juan Carlos I following the corruption scandals allegedly linked to the King's retirement, a proposal that was rejected as the government team voted against it.
The spokesman for Defendamos Calpe. Ximo-Perles, pointed out that "every time I pass by Avenida Juan Carlos I and see the name Avenida Juan Carlos I, it reminds me that this City Council has a certain affinity with an allegedly corrupt person, and that is why we are bringing forward the withdrawal of this name in the plenary session".
Councillor Toni Tur of Defendamos Calpe explained his group's support for this request and stressed the need to present an exemplary image. The PSOE spokesman, Santos Pastor, pointed out that there is no justification for the facts attributed to King Juan Carlos, which in no way "compensates for all the good he was able to contribute to Spanish democracy", adding that it would be a sign of modernity to initiate a process of civic participation to change the name of the avenue.
The spokesman for Ciudadanos, Juan Manuel del Pino, said that this request "is part of the campaign of harassment and demolition that exists with the aim of discrediting the monarchy" and wanted to recall that King Juan Carlos "took us out of a dictatorship and led us to live as we live today. He insisted that his party would never support "the discrediting of the monarchy".
Mayor Ana Sala described the proposal as "a real frivolity" and that it was "absolutely out of place". "The opening of a process of civic participation is completely unnecessary and it is not the right time for it, nor does anyone care, least of all now; the common motive is the destruction of the constitutional path, democracy, the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Republic," she said.