ELECTION 28M: Ciudadanos Por Jávea calls for facts over publicity

Sunday 21st May 2023
Mike Smith

CIUDADANOS POR JÁVEA (CPJ) held its second electoral rally on Wednesday night in the Placeta del Convent where Mavi Pérez, Juan Ortolá (#2 of the candidate list), David Cordero (#5) and Esther Tormos (#6) outlined their proposals to make Xàbia a better place to live.

The rally began with a speech by Esther Tormos, who criticized the deteriorated image of the town’s beaches: “We have to have the beaches clean all year round, not just two months”, she said, adding that “we should install bathrooms and changing rooms and extend the concession of beach bars and hammocks as well as providing more months of rescue and first aid service”.

Esther also wanted to talk about the Primer Montanyar: “It should be a benchmark for a well-kept coast and beach and instead it is a place where bushes, dirt and deteriorated information panels proliferate,” she claimed, adding that “they told us that 2.5 million euros would be allocated and now we know that they have been denied this aid. Don’t you think that of those very important deposits that the town hall has in the bank, a small amount could be allocated to finance this work so essential for Xàbia?“

Esther gave way to David Cordero, who wanted to vindicate the idea of “fer poble” (make a town). In this sense, Cordero explained that public buildings such as the EPA court, the Frontón and the Freginal indoor football court were once open in the afternoons so that children and adolescents could play sport and pledged that CPJ would re-open the educational centre facilities “so that our young people have places to play and spend their free time enjoying sport and not in front of screens“.

Cordero also complained about the lack of maintenance in the sports facilities. “Now it seems that everything is about a swimming pool, but meanwhile the sports pavilion gets water every time it rains, the athletics track is a danger due to the wear and tear, and the Frontón is surrounded by rubbish containers”.

Next, it was the turn of Juan Ortolá who wanted to explain to those who had gathered in the square to listen to the rally about the achievements that he and Susana Ern had achieved, by assuming the delegations of Transport, Citizen Security, Heritage and Market:

• “We have solved the problem of the local police after the discontent between the agents and Chulvi due to low salaries and lack of personnel. In addition, we propose setting up the Neighborhood Police and Rural Police service to prevent robberies from farmers and country houses.“

• “Transport: Despite the fact that the Ministry has always canceled our meeting to solve the problem, the CPJ proposes to municipalize the Urban Public Transport Service that includes the 3 nuclei, urbanizations, beaches and Municipal Cemetery.“
  
• “Heritage: CPJ managed to unclog a totally collapsed department. A property has been purchased on Calle San Bartolomé to improve access to the Central Cinema and to finally carry out the project. Our proposal is to use it as a centre for cultural, musical, and theatrical activities and a space open to schools and associations.“
  
• “Market: we have managed to reduce discomfort based on proper conversations with merchants. We have ordered the common space of the market and put out to tender new stalls“.

Ortolá wanted to remind voters about “the great projects that the PSPV pledged in its last campaigns, of which practically nothing has appeared“. He listed the Primer Montanyar Coastal Park, the Central Cinema, the sewage network, the municipalization of the rubbish and street cleaning service, Avenida Juan Carlos I, the auditorium, the Ramblars biomass plant, the great urban park in Rafal, the municipal swimming pool and the protection of 8 million square metres of land. He said that “of all the projects the swimming pool has only been half completed and, whilst before it was going to be free [to build], it has now cost us 2.7 million euros. In the end, everything is a problem of credibility, of promising the moon and doing nothing“.

Ortolá concluded his speech by talking about the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) which, he claimed, “forgets about small urban projects and does not prioritize those that can provide work for local companies. It doesn’t even solve the housing problem“. He appealed for a change from a policy of publicity to a publicity of facts.

The rally finished with a speech from the CPJ mayoral candidate Mavi Pérez, who claimed that her party’s manifesto was the best option to take Xàbia forward “because it is solid, credible and viable and it will be carried out by older people with great experience next to with young people with energy and desire“.

Among the measures that Pérez detailed were the need to rehabilitate public spaces such as Casa Candelaria or the Central Cinema, to have a good street cleaning policy, allocate resources to rehabilitate homes, help business people and new entrepreneurs to make the historic centre an economically dynamic place and provide resources for Comprehensive Home Care so that the town’s elderly can continue living in their homes.

Regarding education, Pérez criticized the fact that the much-demanded and necessary reforms of the CEIP Mediterrània and CEIP Graüll are yet to be done. In addition, she defended the need to promote an occupational vocational training opportunity that increases the options in professional training (agriculture and maritime-fishing) to recover and strengthen the primary sectors of Xàbia.

Finally, Pérez appealed to the need for the town hall, the administration closest to the residents, to be more accessible: “those of us who govern have the obligation to make life easier for our residents and in CPJ we assume the responsibility of being so and to make ‘La Millor Xàbia’”.

CPJ close their electoral campaign tonight (Friday) on the Paseo Joaquín Sorolla in the port at 8.30pm. Following the rally, there will be snacks, a performance by the dancers of En Danza (European Dance Dance Champions) and live music with OXIGEN.