Estepona City Council will submit this Thursday the initial approval of the municipal budget for the year 2023 to the Plenary of the Corporation, which stands at 109 million euros, of which 18.3 million will be allocated to productive investments, according to the mayor, José María García Urbano.
The councilor explained that it is about accounts that consolidate “the great transformation” that the city has experienced in the last decade, where it is committed to the “great investment effortwhich has marked the management of the City Council in this period, as the engine of the local economy, job creation and quality of life”. In this way, the games to continue with the projects committed to in the electoral program “and decisive for the configuration of the developed city model”, they assured in a press release.
The mayor pointed out that the Budget maintains the “criteria of prudence, credibility, responsibility and compliance with regulations that are applicable to it”, emphasizing that it is a document with a “marked social character” with economic amounts linked to aid and social programs for the most vulnerable groups that are “expandable”, so they will have an “unlimited nature and may be increased according to the needs that occur during the financial year”.
García Urbano indicated that the items for productive investments included in the budget rise to 18.3 million eurosemphasizing that these are amounts for complement the urban revitalization project with the culmination of the remodeling of the Avenida de España and the attached promenade in its two sections in progress, which will open the city to the sea and create a balcony to the Mediterranean.
Likewise, the mayor advanced that the municipal parking plan of 1 euro per day of cost for the user who, after the completion of the Chess environment parking, contemplates starting the works of the underground car park in the surroundings of the Iglesia del Carmen, with capacity for more than 300 seats.
In addition, they incorporate Items for the completion and maintenance of the coastal corridor project that is uniting the entire maritime front and whose execution exceeds 90%. Also, resources are allocated for the continuity of the process of remodeling and beautification of the urban centerwhich already has more than 130 renovated streets in all its infrastructures and which has meant a before and after in the revitalization of the city through the sustainable development project ‘Estepona, Jardín de la Costa del Sol’.
In the investment sectionthe budget includes the improvement of public facilities, the creation of green areas with the new Parque de Las Mesas and new playgrounds, the conservation and acquisition of materials for beaches and gardens and the maintenance of educational centers and nursery schools. In this sense, it is worth noting the municipal over-efforts to deal with the removal of the invasive algae and for the effects of the storm, two circumstances for which the Estepona City Council has requested the involvement of the central Government in a national aid plan to affected municipalities.
On the other hand, he stressed that they continue to incorporate resources to support cultural activity with relevant initiatives such as City of Estepona Novel and Poetry Awards, linked to the Pre-Textos publishing house, and funds are incorporated for the execution of projects co-financed through the European Edusi funds. Items are also contemplated for the expansion and improvement of the Artistic Murals Route, which already has 60 works in the city.
Refering to citizen securityhas pointed out that it is reinforced to continue improving the material resources of Local Police and Civil Protection; as well as with the endowment of items to cover the public call for nine agent positions.
Regarding social spending, the government team continues with a “special attention” to social needs, so they are dedicated resources for an amount of almost 10 million euros for programs, grants and initiatives aimed at supporting citizens who are in a situation of vulnerability; an initial amount, which, as explained, can be extended if social circumstances so require.