The plenary has ratified, with the votes in favour of the government and the abstention of the opposition, the termination of the contract between the Town Hall and the Calpe-Ifac Musical Union, which terminates by mutual agreement a contract dating back to 2007.
The agreement between Calpe Town Hall and the Calpe-Ifach Musical Union allows for the exchange of 50.02m2 on the ground floor of the building called Casa de la Música owned by the Musical Union for 70.03 m² on the first floor owned by the Town Hall. This exchange corresponds to the need to adjust the access of the building in which the offices of the Department of Social Welfare are located to the requirements established by the regulations for public buildings.
In 2007, the Town Council and the Unió Musical signed a protocol of intentions by which the Calpe band ceded to the Town Council the plot of land it owned on Avenida del Puerto de Santa María. This protocol committed the Town Hall to the construction of a building, transferring to the Musical Union the ownership of the ground floor premises, of approximately 515 m², where the rehearsal room would be located, with direct access from the street, instrument storage, toilets and other rooms attached to the band, and an area on the first floor destined for classrooms and administrative areas. The rest of the four-storey building became municipal property.
Although it was originally planned to use these municipal facilities for housing, it was finally agreed to locate the offices of the Department of Social Welfare in them. Hence the current need to adapt the access to the requirements of a building for public use.
In the agreement between the City Council and the Unión Musical in 2007, a series of obligations were established on the part of the City Council in the event of delay in the obligation to hand over the building under the agreed conditions. In 2019, the Town Hall handed over the keys to the Calpe-Ifach Musical Union for the cultural centre of the Calpe band, which was to be renamed Casa de la Música. However, it did not hand over the construction in its entirety as the works had not been completed, so the contract could not yet be understood to have been completely fulfilled and a series of damages were still being generated, until now, to the cultural entity due to the delay in the delivery of the works.
As the delay in the delivery of the works has taken up to 16 years, the amount that the Town Hall must pay to the Unión Musical de Calpe amounts to 202,529€.
During this time, the Unión Musical has used the facilities of the Casa de Cultura to provide the services of its School of Music and the rehearsals of the entity, generating at the same time a debt from the Unión Musical to the Consistory.
The situation has reached the point that, despite the fact that the Consistory owed a higher amount to the Unión Musical than the amount that the band owed to the Consistory, the invoices that the Town Hall owed to the band for its performances and services were not being paid. The explanation is that while the fees for the use of public facilities was a liquid and enforceable debt, the compensation for damages could not be settled until the contract was effectively fulfilled.
In other words, the Unión Musical has spent years without receiving payment from the Consistory for its performances, without receiving the final payment for all the works and without receiving the corresponding compensation for damages that has now been recognised.
With the ratification of the agreement for the exchange of metres and the payment of amounts owed by the Town Hall, both parties consider that the conditions established in the 2007 signature have been fulfilled. The next step will be to formalise the agreement by means of a public deed.
During the speeches, Toni Tur, councillor for Defend Calpe, pointed out that "it is easy to make a speech to make nice with the band, but we want to open the prism, the band has not been treated well in recent years but the report of consideration raises doubts because it is going to be paid with Municipal Land Patrimony. Of the €200,000 owed to the band, they have included compensation, the space to be acquired and the debts owed by the Town Hall to the band, but we are suspicious of the previous audits that have been carried out in this matter".
The spokesman for the Partido Popular, César Sánchez, added that "from the PP we want to value the work of the band of Calpe and emphasize that we have always worked to solve the problem of the band, in my second term as mayor and being president of the council, the council funded 100% of the building of the band, today the building is a reality thanks to the investment to the PP, however this is such a complex issue that we would have to hold an extraordinary plenary to deal with it and we will abstain".
The spokesman for the Socialist Party, Guillermo Sendra, indicated that "the Popular Party spokesman says that the building was built thanks to the PP and now they abstain, it is a question of resolving problems with an emblematic entity, I don't understand why they abstain when it is a question of resolving a historical grievance. I would like to thank the band for their patience, their willingness, predisposition, and generosity".
The councillor for Somos Calpe, Juan Manuel del Pino, stressed that "it is a process that has lasted 20 years, I am proud that it has been resolved with the agreement of both parties, not voting in favour of this agreement is a disservice to both arts that is difficult to understand".
The point concluded with the intervention of the mayoress, Ana Sala, who wanted to thank "the collaboration of all the people who have made this agreement possible, especially the band for their patience and generosity".