PP pledges to remove regional port taxes for the fishing sector

Thursday 11th May 2023
Mike Smith

The PARTIDO POPULAR (PP) candidate for mayor of Xàbia, Rosa Cardona, supported by councilors and the candidates for Les Corts Valencianes (the regional government), José Ramón González de Zárate, Javier Gutiérrez and José Bisquert, held an extensive meeting with the Xàbia Fishermen’s Guild to learn about their main concerns and outline proposed measures to combat those problems the sector faces.

The PP team listened to the problems faced by the fishing sector in Xàbia and the regional government candidates pledged to exempt the fishing sector from port taxes charged by the Generalitat Valenciana to provide a quick financial boost to the fishermen.

They also pledged to create a General Directorate of Fisheries through which to be in permanent contact with the sector and provide solutions to a crucial economic sector in Xàbia and throughout the Comunidad Valenciana.

And, considering the difficulties that Xàbia’s fishing sector is experiencing at the moment, Rosa Cardona pledged to provide assistance for the payment of the water supply fee for the fishermen of Xàbia with the aim of reducing their water bill.

The mayoral candidate claimed that “AMJASA, as a company of all the xabieros, must be a collaborating agent of the primary sector in Xàbia, and for this reason we are committed to providing aid so that the Fisherman’s Guild can reduce expenses such as drinking water, which they need both for their activity and to provide services, whilst considering that we cannot help them with other expenses, such as electricity or fuel”.

In addition, it was acknowledged that the Casa del Pescador is an underused space which, with council support to bring it up to standard, either through financial assistance or even the transfer of use, it could be made available to the young people and residents of the port zone as a multipurpose space.

Cardona also pledged to commit to promoting the already distinctive ‘fresh fish and seafood from the bay’ through the GastroXàbia brand to continue promoting the seafood product through the hospitality sector “to make its quality visible when it reaches our tables, and thus continue to strengthen ties with our marine sector and the iconic product of our sea – our fish and shellfish“.

She also pledged to promoted fresh fish from the bay of Xàbia in school canteens “as one more strategy to raise awareness and disseminate the quality and freshness of our local product, while we continue to promote healthy nutritional habits in our little ones“.

In addition, PP’s mayoral candidate outlined her proposal for Xàbia to host training workshops linked to the primary sector as well as Fishing and Maritime Transport workshops “to give a boost to the generational renewal of the marine sector in Xàbia, attract young people and continue giving life to an economic activity that is essential and rooted in our municipality, through the dissemination and teaching of the marine sector”, a proposal which she will convey to the Territorial Council for Vocational Training of the Marina Alta if she becomes mayor of Xàbia.