Alicante Awards 2024: National Police, Red Cross, Water Museum, Hércules CF, PLD Space, and Baleària

National Police, Red Cross Alicante, Water Museum, Hércules C.F., PLD Space, and the shipping company Baleària. These are the chosen ones to receive the Alicante Awards presented by TodoAlicante on November 20 at 7:30 PM at the ADDA in Alicante.

The team from the digital newspaper of Vocento met in July and proposed various candidates to determine who would be the awardees in the second edition of these awards, and it was not easy to decide who should be honored. This year, we agreed to give six awards, one more than last year, to recognize the dedication and effort of institutions, NGOs, and companies for making Alicante and its province a leader in public safety, solidarity, culture, sports, business, innovation, and sustainability.

Thus, the award for its 200 years of history and its work for the safety of all Alicante residents has gone to the National Police of Alicante, led in this city by provincial commissioner Manuel Lafuente since December 2022, who will complete two years in the position in just two months.

The news of the award was conveyed to Lafuente in July, and he was very grateful because it is a recognition of this State security body that watches over Alicante residents and all those who choose this land to reside.

The Red Cross of Alicante has just turned 150 years old and during that time has been dedicated to humanitarian work, training, support, and assistance to the most vulnerable groups in the city.

Under the presidency of Francisco Galvañ, the book 'Red Cross in the province of Alicante: the reflection of a society', written by Martín Sanz, was presented on the occasion of this anniversary. And this NGO has had more than 100,000 volunteers throughout its history to meet the demands of society. In fact, its work and effort are essential, for example, in attending to the hundreds of migrants who arrive on the Alicante coast week after week.

Regarding the Water Museum-Pozos de Garrigós (Aguas de Alicante), which is also celebrating its anniversary as this year marks its fifteenth anniversary, it is another awardee for its contribution to the Culture of a city like Alicante. Since 2009, it has been working on promoting environmental education among citizens about the care of water and throughout this year has carried out many and diverse activities such as the live music cycle in Villavieja square; Imajoven, which addresses the audiovisual field opening up to comics and video games; the poetry cycle or the art and environment cycle will be led by María Perceval Graels, among many others. In addition to its support for the culture of the city's neighborhoods.

From the Museum, the Pozos de Garrigós, a 19th-century cistern system, stand out as an alternative and different place to host all kinds of cultural events.

Hércules CF is deserving of the Alicante Awards for its promotion to Primera RFEF, the third category of Spanish football. The team, under the orders of coach Rubén Torrecilla, was promoted in May as champion by defeating Lleida Esportiu 2-1 with goals from Josema and Coscia, in a match that registered an extraordinary atmosphere in the stands of Rico Pérez, which hung the sign of

no tickets with 27,500 spectators and the opening of the World Cup Stand included.

As our Sports colleague Lucas Verdú wrote, "the promotion to Primera RFEF is a breath of fresh air after some dark years, full of disappointments and with the fans up in arms. But it has become clear that the Herculean sentiment of Alicante is undeniable and if the team performs on the pitch, from the stands, they are always up to the task."

The president of the sports entity, Carlos Parodi, was also pleased with TodoAlicante's recognition of Hércules.

Undoubtedly, one of the leading companies in the province of Alicante, and even in Spain and Europe, is the Elche-based PLD Space, which just a few weeks ago announced the launch of the 'Lynx Project', a manned capsule that will allow people and cargo to be transported to the Moon. This capsule will make its first test in 2028 with several mannequins, putting them in orbit for three days. The goal is to launch it in 2030, making PLD Space the first developer of a manned capsule in Europe.

The company was founded in Elche, where it has its rocket factory, and already has 254 employees of 17 different nationalities, with a projection of 15 new workers each month.

For all this and its effort in innovation, research, and future, it will receive the Alicante Awards 2024.

The shipping company Baleària, based in Dénia, is a leading company in the Valencian Community and Spain in terms of sustainability, as everyone who works there is clear that without sustainability there is no future. In fact, it is 'A local shipping company with a green heart and innovative spirit' and therefore deserves the Alicante Awards 2024.

Under the presidency of Adolfo Utor, Baleària begins a new stage after turning 25 years old with its sights set on 2050, a year marked as zero emissions, in which, as Utor has repeatedly commented, "we will be neutral in greenhouse gas emissions" because it is clear that climate change forces decisions to be made about the environmental future.

Thus, its determined commitment to energy efficiency, the use of renewable fuels, and decarbonization, milestones that involve investment in innovation and technology that have already borne fruit. Like when in 2019, Baleària began operating on natural gas, or in 2021 with the world's first fast ferry equipped with dual gas engines and Europe's first emission-free voyage with biomethane. Or in 2023, with the first electric propulsion ferries and, this year, with another second ferry equipped with dual gas engines, to which new projects in favor of renewable energies will be added over the next five years.