The Provincial Council to Pay Outstanding Overtime to Firefighters in April

The governing team of the Alicante Provincial Council has stated that the institution has already paid 72% of the overtime owed to the Provincial Fire Consortium staff in 2024, and the remaining amount will be provided this April "if there are no issues." Additionally, it has been announced that technicians are studying how to pay the staff an additional €480,000 for the extraordinary contingency that arose following the support of professionals during the DANA last October in the province of Valencia.

This was expressed by the Deputy for Emergencies, Francisco Cano, during the ordinary April session held this Thursday in response to a question from socialist Ismael Vidal. Besides these amounts, it is planned to pay more overtime to firefighters for the first quarter of 2025 between May and June.

The socialist also questioned the Emergency Services official about the closures of fire substations like those in Ibi or Crevillent when their personnel are dispatched to attend a call. In this regard, Cano emphasized that "nothing is dismantled," but rather the Consortium professionals "go out to act, the station is closed, and when they finish, they return there." In the case of the fire service in Ibi, "which was covered by Cocentaina and San Vicente with response times under 15 minutes," and in Crevillent, "by the Elche stations, which is their area of operation, practically within seven minutes."

"In the end, we need to know what services and resources we have," stated Cano, who recalled that there are "120 firefighters per shift working throughout the province" and that "when necessary" to intervene in the city of Alicante for an emergency "action is also taken" even if it is not part of the Consortium.

During the ordinary April session, the provincial corporation rejected with the votes against from PP and Vox (16) a joint motion by PSPV and Compromís requesting to "recover" the Plan +Cerca "with a minimum allocation of 30 million euros" and to promote "fair financing" for Alicante municipalities. The text was defended by socialist deputy José Ramiro Pastor, in a plenary session that coalition spokesperson Ximo Perles could not attend.

Pastor insisted that the Provincial Council is "paralyzed" and that "investments from the Plan Planifica in the localities are postponed for other years." He also urged Toni Perez's executive "not to oppose the Cooperation Fund."

From the Provincial Council's executive, First Vice President Ana Serna described the PSPV and Compromís motion as "untimely." "At what point have we announced that we are going to abolish the Plan +Cerca? It has never been included in the budgets, it has always been done with surplus," she clarified.

Serna highlighted that this initiative is a "fundamental tool" for municipalities "launched in the last legislature by Carlos Mazón's government" and now continued by Pérez. In this vein, she valued other plans such as +Agua, +Deporte, the Consumption Vouchers, or the Energy Efficiency plan.

The First Vice President pointed out that "beyond the ordinary calls, from which all municipalities benefit, these plans have meant an extraordinary investment of 413 million" for the province's councils. Additionally, she urged the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, "to lift the restrictions established in the Organic Law of Budgetary Stability and Financial Sustainability" to "create a +Cerca with more funds."