Alicante Seeks Public Opinion on Consumer Services

The Alicante City Council is conducting a study to improve the functioning of the municipal Consumer department and to increase the visibility of its activities and training plan. A public participation process is open until July 31, featuring an online survey and face-to-face interviews with city entities and social agents, scheduled from July 3 to 9.

This process aims to analyze the current situation of the Municipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC) and the Consumer Resource Education Center (Cerca), as well as to identify new initiatives and actions to enhance their visibility and increase users, considering consumer demands, information, and available offerings.

The Councillor for Consumer Affairs and Commerce, Lidia López, emphasized that this participation process aims to "give citizens a voice to improve municipal consumer services, highlight them, and turn them into a reference for education on consumption, as well as to promote new initiatives that encourage healthy, sustainable, and responsible consumption."

To carry out the study, the company IMEDES has been contracted, which is conducting preliminary work, including interviews with various social agents such as consumer associations, merchants, and residents, and has already gathered opinions from 274 people.

With the online survey available until July 31, aimed at the public, the level of awareness of these two departments can be assessed, and suggestions for improvements can be collected. These surveys are also conducted in markets, street markets, and the SAIC. The survey can be completed at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/g2UWemcD3d?origin=lprLink

Councillor Lidia López noted that "thousands of people participate in our consumer activities, and therefore we want to continue improving and transforming these services to give them greater visibility by listening to citizens to understand their needs and take a step further by expanding their reach and adapting the offerings to the public."

Since the OMIC was launched over 40 years ago, an average of 10,000 people are served annually through various means: 5,000 in person, 4,000 by phone, and 1,000 via email. Similarly, at CERCA, since its inauguration 21 years ago, numerous training activities have been offered for schools and students, as well as for groups and anyone interested in consumer-related topics in the city of Alicante. Currently, this study aims to project and transform these services to offer new proposals that will drive a consumption promotion strategy.