BUDGET GLOOM
Key projects such as Alicante-Elche airport improvements and Benissa N-332 bypass hardly get funds in 2018 budget presented this week
ALICANTE province has been practically ignored in the 2018 budget presented this week - although its approval is far from guaranteed.
Key projects such as the approved road access improve- ments to Alicante-Elche airport or the much-needed N-332 bypass around Benissa have been allocated only a small share of the funds they really require.
The Alicante-Elche access upgrade has only been allocated €2 million of the €30 mil- lion required to carry out the works.
Minister Cristobal Montoro, who presented the budget on Monday (see page 23), has only dedicated the sum of €3.07 million towards the new Benissa bypass - the total figure esti- mated at €22 million.
The completion date for the works, which are well underway, is set for February 2020, but the pitiful figure allocated this year casts serious doubts on that target.
Now, with Benissa council’s 2018 budget for the road still pending approval, it appears yet again that the completion of the bypass will be a difficult affair unless the government dramatically increases the figure next year
ne project that will be carried out is the building of a pedestrian bridge over the N-332 in Calpe, thanks to the million euros allocated to the scheme in the budget.
Only €100,000 will be spent on further studies for the GandíaOliva-Dénia railway, the socalled Tren de la Costa, while the Alcoi-Xátiva line gets no investment whatsoever.
Although as a region Valencia has seen its investment budget increased - with improvements on access roads to Manises airport in Valencia and the Sueca bypass - it is nowhere near the share it should be receiving according to its population and share in the national GDP, say the regional authorities.
Alicante province has the fourth lowest share of the budget in Spain, with only Almería, Navarra and Málaga getting less funds.
Some provinces are getting up to 16 times more than Alicante.
The average state spending per resident in Alicante province is dropping to just €100 - €117 below the national average.
Regional president Ximo Puig held a press conference on Wednesday to present these figures and publically denounce that the state is neglecting Alicante and the Valencia region in general.