Calpe City Council has taken a decisive step in its commitment to gender equality with the creation of the Working Group for the Feminisation of Public Spaces, and the drafting of regulations that establish the principles and procedures for incorporating female references into the municipality's street map.
This working group was created as an advisory body for the Equality Unit of Calpe Town Council, and its purpose is to provide perceptive and non-binding information on all matters relating to the naming of women's names for the municipality's various public spaces, as well as to document and propose names of women or groups of women for incorporation into the names of streets, squares and other public spaces. The aim is to make the role of women in history and society more visible.
The regulations establish that the group will be made up of the Mayor's Office or the person delegated by the Mayor's Office on equality issues, who will chair the group; technical staff from the City Council's culture, geographic information systems, urban planning and equality departments. The group will also include one person representing each of the municipal political groups and another person for each of the associations in Calpe whose main objectives include gender equality, the elimination of discrimination between men and women, and the promotion of women's empowerment and participation.
The regulations provide for the creation of a Proposal Bank in which justified nominations of women or women's groups likely to receive public recognition may be included. The working group will be in charge of evaluating and ranking these proposals by score.
Among the general criteria, preference is given to women with links to Calpe, as well as to those who have contributed to the feminist struggle, the advancement of rights or who have excelled in fields such as science, education, art or culture.
Likewise, the so-called ‘zipper criterion’ will be applied to ensure a balanced geographical representation: one woman from the municipality, one from the Valencian Community, one from the state and one from an international context. Duplications will also be avoided and traditional local toponymy will be prioritised.
With this initiative, Calpe Town Council reinforces its commitment to effective equality between women and men, promoting the symbolic and social recognition of women through their visibility in public spaces.