The City Council of Calpe (PP and Ciudadanos) decided in today's plenary session to reduce the IBI (property tax) by 5% for 2020. The measure, which affects all IBI revenues, was not supported by the opposition groups (PSOV-PSOE, Compromís and Defendamos Calpe), which call for a cadastral audit and examine other factors to favour the lowest incomes.
Other economic initiatives decided today are the modification of the vehicle tax to exempt people with disabilities and the free issue of registration forms for city residents.
Town Planning
Similarly, the provisional suspension of the building permits for the Morelló, PP 1, Ifach (PP2), La Fossa (PP3), El Saladar (PP4) and Manzanera I and II subplans was decided unanimously. This temporary suspension is the answer to "the strong pressure and should stop and rethink the urban problems without restricting the rights," said Mayor Ana Sala. The measure concerns plots of more than 2,500 square meters in subplans 1, 2 and 3 and more than 3,500 square meters in PP4.
Juan Manuel del Pino, responsible for urban planning, declared: "With this measure we are preserving the environmental and landscape values; we hope to initiate a new phase that will allow us to reflect on what we can still do for a more sustainable community. Before Christmas, we are hoping for a design to be drawn up by the Town Planning Department. From then on, permits will be issued again, but they will have to be adapted to the new conditions.
In the case of Manzanera, this is a temporary stop, while the city is studying new dumps and alternatives to improve, as far as possible, the environmental and landscape quality in the area.
Another point decided was the qualification of the ground for the pedestrian bridge over the N332 in order to create an acceleration lane at this point.
Education
The plenary session unanimously approved the transfer of the powers of the Ministry of Education, Research, Culture and Sport for the construction, with extension of the land and demolition of the existing building of the new Gargasindi special school.
The current Gargasindi Special School facilities are not sufficient to meet the needs of this educational community. At the time, the Town Council offered, on the one hand, 3,600 m2 of land adjacent to the Silene d'Ifac primary school and, on the other hand, 2,610 m2 of built-up land (the former Virgen de las Nieves primary school) adjacent to the current Gargasindi Special School facilities, so that the total extension of the facilities would reach 5,055 m2.
After an analysis of the possibilities and at the request of the school management, it was decided that the school should remain in its current location and supplement the facilities of the old primary school, whose buildings were to be demolished. Now the Consellería approves the delegation of competences to begin the tender for a new project planning.
Other decisions
In addition, the plenary session also decided to declare the work to renovate a building in the listed Partida Terrasala of particular interest and to grant a bonus of 95% of the ICIO quota.
And taking advantage of the fact that Calpe celebrates its patron saint's feasts, the plenary has decided to appoint Nuestra Sra. la Virgen de las Nieves eternal mayor.
The decision led to controversy as the opposition parties voted against it. Toni Tur of Defendamos Calpe pointed out that "Spain is a non-denominational state in which no religion enjoys supremacy, making the proposal seem outdated". Ximo Perles, of Compromís, added that "in Calpe different religions and sensitivities coexist and even if it is symbolic, we do not find the proposal appropriate. Santos Pastor (PSOE) said that "we are surprised that this proposal is based on a 1949 plenary decision, when the social and political reality of this country was very different.
Ana Sala, the mayor, said: "This is a symbolic act. If the patron saint is appointed mayor, it seems right that the female patron saint is also appointed mayor. The reference to other times makes little sense".