Funds to assist expats
Orihuela set to miss out, according to opposition councillors
A TOTAL of €190,000 is being distributed to town halls around Alicante province for them to help foreign residents.
This provincial government funding is being divided between 67 town halls and five ‘mancomunidades’ (cooperatives of municipalities).
It can be used to subsidise projects and activities which ‘assist, advise and integrate the thousands of foreigners who have chosen to live in our province’, said deputy for international residents Juan de
Dios Navarro.
These could include Spanish lessons, campaigns for awareness and integration, advice services, municipal register (padrón) campaigns, volunteering programmes, and intercultural events or sporting activities.
“Demand for these projects has increased in recent years given the importance for their full integration in Alicante of, for example, knowing Spanish or legal or employment matters which affect them,” he said.
In the Vega Baja area, the beneficiaries are Albatera, Algorfa, Almoradí, Benferri, Benijófar, Bigastro, Catral, Cox, Daya Nueva, Daya Vieja, Dolores, Granja de Rocamora, Guardamar del Segura, Jacarilla, Los Montesinos, Pilar de la Horadada, Rafal, Redován, San Isidro, San Miguel de Salinas and Torrevieja.
Orihuela town hall missed out on the funding, despite having one of the largest populations of expats, according to provincial deputy and local opposition Socialist party (PSOE) spokeswoman, Gracia
She said the application was rejected because the Partido Popular (PP)-Ciudadanos (Cs) council was not up to date with its tax and social security obligations, and failed to send the requested documentation when asked to do so.
She said that she will ask the councillor responsible, Mariola Rocamora, what activities the aid had been requested for and whether they will still go ahead.
Carolina