On the occasion of the celebration of Europe Day, on 9th May, the socialist candidate of Torrevieja, Bárbara Soler, highlights the lack of involvement of the City Council of Torrevieja in fundraising and participation in European projects.
Soler points out that the Torrevieja City Council does not have enough staff specialised in fundraising and European aid, which prevents the town from benefiting from various projects and initiatives that, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), could contribute to the development of the city.
A shining example is the Programme to Promote the Rehabilitation of Public Buildings of Local Entities (local PIREP), in which the attempt to participate was made. However, some of the proposals put forward by the City Council manifestly failed to comply with the terms of the programme’s call for applications, and were therefore rejected.
Likewise, Soler says that Torrevieja does not participate in European projects such as the European Parliament’s Ambassador Schools Programme, in which other municipalities in the region, such as Dolores and Orihuela, do.
In particular, this programme, aimed at pupils in secondary schools and vocational training, would allow students and secondary school teachers in Torrevieja to come into contact with European institutions, work with materials from the European Parliament, take part in exchanges and, in short, participate in the process of building a European identity in the municipality.
“We want Torrevieja to connect with Europe”, she says. “And, for this, we propose the creation of a European Projects Office, which has specialised staff focused on attracting aid for the city, and which, in addition, offers information of interest and advice to citizens and SMEs on European projects and aid, such as the Digital Kit Programme for SMEs”.
“Otherwise,” continued Soler, “it would mean giving up the opportunity that European recovery funds represent for Torrevieja, putting the city at a chronic disadvantage in terms of competitiveness and innovation”.
Also, the PSOE of Torrevieja states that it is noteworthy that only one of the seven PRTR grants awarded so far to our city has been requested by the City Council, the rest being justified by Conselleria and Agamed, which can be found by a simple search on the website www.planderecuperacion.gob.es
