The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, has stated that "after rejecting the urgent reform and repair of the San Diego reservoir, which is the key to the water from Xúquer el Vinalopó being able to flow to the irrigators, the Government of Spain is again denying the province of Alicante the water it deserves and needs".
This is what he said after learning that the central government will not undertake the necessary works to reform the reservoir from San Diego to Villena, vital infrastructure for the proper development of the Xúquer-Vinalopó transfer. In this sense, he pointed out that "not content with politically and unjustifiably paralyzing the Tajo-Segura transfer 26 times, now they want to paralyze the Xúquer-Vinalopó transfer".
The head of the Council emphasized that "while from the Generalitat Valenciana we are already managing all the post-transfer works in record time and executing them with an investment of more than 30 million euros in sections 1 and 2, the Government of "Spain tells us that we cannot store water in San Diego because the reform is not a priority", so the water will not be able to flow through these works.
Mazón pointed out that "Pedro Sánchez's Government is underestimating us, they are denying us the transfers, the pipelines, the water that the province of Alicante needs". "From the Valencian Community - he added - "we do not accept one more excuse, because what has happened with the San Diego reservoir is unspeakable".
Study of 'Railway Vertebration of the Province of Alicante'
During his intervention in the presentation of the study of 'Railway backbone of the province of Alicante' the head of the Council has opted for the unity of action between entities and institutions to provide the province of Alicante with railway infrastructures necessary, from the point of view of rigor, because "it has been shown too many times that investing in Alicante is an act of return to the Spanish economy and the Community".
Carlos Mazón has emphasized that this is "a solvent and serious study" that shows the shortcomings and deficiencies in terms of infrastructures caused by the late programming of the Government of Spain. In this sense, he emphasized that "from the Generalitat we are unblocking infrastructures that were forgotten, such as the Dénia-Benidorm tramway or the Dénia-Gandia tramway". Likewise, he referred to the commissioning of the Elche tramway and the Alicante intermodal, "which were a debt and which we are fulfilling with a very serious commitment".
In the same way, he stated that "while we were the last of the deserving to receive the high-speed line, we are the first to bring profitability to the AVE". He also emphasized that, after receiving the last expansion of the Alicante-Elche-Miguel Hernández Airport, "we are the first to return profitability to the national GDP with the inflow of foreign currency, thanks to tourism". This is why "when we talk about infrastructure, we are not simply talking about tender numbers".
Content of the study
This study includes several key recommendations for the improvement of the rail network in the province of Alicante, among which the doubling of the Elche tunnel, which only has one track, to improve the frequency and operation of the service neighborhood between Alicante and Elche; speeding up the works on the Torrellano variant, reducing the execution period from ten to six or seven years, and the connection with Alicante-Elche-Miguel Hernández Airport with the cities of Elche and Alicante.
Likewise, it includes the suggestion to incorporate passenger traffic in the Mediterranean corridor, optimizing its use so as not to limit it solely to the transport of goods, and the inclusion of branches that connect with the coastal train project, improving connectivity in the province.
The president of the Generalitat has attended the presentation of the study 'Railway backbone of the province of Alicante' carried out by the Institute of Economic Studies of Alicante (INECA), the Valencian Business Confederation (CEV), the Chamber of Commerce of Alicante and Hosbec. An event which was also attended by the Minister of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory, Vicente Martínez Mus, and the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes.