The Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol celebrated this Thursday fiftieth anniversary of its constitution extolling the collaboration between the municipalities, with an act in which a good number of the people who have been part of the institution throughout this time have participated.
The president of the Commonwealth, José Antonio Mena, has recalled that it was on March 14, 1972 when, in the presence of the then “Prince of Spain”, Juan Carlos de Borbón, the constitution act of the Commonwealth, where the civil governor, the general director of Local Administration, and the president of the Provincial Council, Francisco de la Torre Prados, were also present.
In his speech, the president of the Commonwealth pointed out that the Commonwealth was created before the Transition, “but it was already born democratic, with representation from all the municipalities that made it up. That was the spirit with which this path was undertaken, that of collaboration between neighbors, between equalsand it is the same one that remains until today”, he praised.
Mena has recalled that the mancomunidades are voluntary associations of municipalities“and that is the essence, the crux of the matter because constitute freely and voluntarily, you are in a commonwealth because you want to and because it is convenient. It will be for this reason that ours has been useful and has survived fifty years”.
He has also reviewed the areas in which the institution works, recalling that “when the Commonwealth was established in its statutes were granted a series of powers, among which he highlighted the “integral cycle of water for urban use”, which includes high and low supply, sanitation and purification, fundamentally. According to him, these powers were delegated to Acosol, which since 1994 “has been providing an unbeatable service.
Another competency is urban solid waste managementincluding its treatment, which is dealt with by the Casares Environmental Complex, which “is exemplary in so many aspects”, Mena has indicated, who has highlighted that “we are one of the areas of Spain where higher recycling data are reached in all waste, both glass, paper and cardboard as well as light packaging”.
In addition, it has highlighted the Technical office with which the joint entity has, which has been the support throughout this time of many municipalities, the smallest and also the largest, always from the highest demands of professional rigor”, as well as the assumption of beaconing and cleaning in terms of beaches.
At tourism fieldMena has highlighted the role performed by the Commonwealth “promotion support of which is undoubtedly one of the main tourist brands in the world”, as well as alluding to “investment plans for what is significant in these times in which we live”.
The president concluded his speech by pointing out that “it was a great idea to establish this Commonwealth that 50 years ago it was necessary and half a century later it still is. The spirit that inspired her, that of collaboration between neighborsis still as alive as the first day and proof of this is that all political groups without exception are integrated into the current government, that we resolve everything by consensus, that everything is by mutual agreement and with the sole objective of providing the best service to the municipalities and, therefore, to the citizens, the final objective of everything we do”.
During the act, José Antonio Nestare García-Trevijano was honored, who was member of the first Management Committee, and Eduardo Romero, the senior Commonwealth official. In them, all the public representatives and the workers of the institution have been symbolized throughout this half century of existence.