The Mayor in Madrid

 

The Mayor, along with the Councillor for Environment and a representative from Alicante province at the tourist fair, FITUR, in Madrid.

They are there to promote the latest project named Alquibla. This nine kilometre route is designed to take tourists from the town centre to the traditional garden and the leisure zone of La Pedrera.

Along the way there are signposts and information boards that describe different aspects and points of interest of the town.

I know, from my discussions with the Mayor, that tourism is seen as an important development for the town. Those of you who have visited the town square recently will have noticed the new Tourist Information Office to the right of the door into the Town Hall.

During our meeting, the priorities that the Mayor outlined to me were:
a) the need to make the town more attractive to locals and visitors
b) to encourage people to spend their  money in the town's local shops
c) to encourage more businesses to invest in the town
d) to provide accommodation for visitors in the form of a hotel
e) to ensure that the value of properties and investments in the town grow

With a very limited budget caused by the huge debt from previous administrations, it has been and will continue to be an uphill struggle. A great deal of investment though has been made from the province to help Bigastro achieve its aims. The town now has to capitalise on those investments and make sure that they were not misplaced.

As the mayor said though, "there is only so much that the council can do, we need everyone on board to make further progress". "People should feel proud to live here and call Bigastro their home". I would only add that, the success of these projects is in all of our interests.