Torrevieja City Council receives €2.2 million from the 2023 State tax settlement and demands expedited payment of the 2024 settlement.

The Councilor for Economy and Finance reports that Torrevieja City Council has recently received the final settlement of its share of state taxes for the 2023 financial year, amounting to €2,196,983.26. This amount represents the difference between the initial budget and the amount actually collected. It comes after months of waiting and complaints from the FEMP (Federal Employment and Social Development Fund), amid constant demands from local authorities for the Spanish Government to fulfill its commitments.

As indicated by all the reports linked to the Economic and Financial Plan approved this year, the quarterly settlement of the municipal budget once again shows budgetary stability, in line with technical forecasts and without the need to resort to the use of treasury surpluses.

However, despite this scenario of financial responsibility on the part of Torrevieja City Council, we still have no news of the final settlement for 2024, which, according to current deadlines, would not arrive until 2026. In this regard, the government team joins the demands expressed by the FEMP (Federal Economic and Social Council), which in April demanded that the Ministry of Finance not only immediately pay the 2023 amounts, entered today, but also expedite payments for 2024 and eliminate the totally unjustified delays.

Furthermore, the FEMP (Federal Executive Branch of the Ministry of Economy and Finance) has already warned of the serious consequences of the mandatory use of municipal surpluses to reduce debt in 2025. In its resolution, it called for a law-enforcement regulation allowing the use of surpluses for financially sustainable investments during 2025 and 2026. It also requested that the approval of Economic-Financial Plans (PEF) not be mandatory when the budget imbalance results from the use of those surpluses.

"From Torrevieja, we fully share this position. We have been closing several quarters with a stable budget, and yet we are forced to approve a PEF that makes no sense, when the accounts are balanced and the surpluses have not been incorporated," stated the Councilor for Economy and Finance, Domingo Paredes.

Likewise, the government team has once again demanded that the Ministry finally update the advance payments for 2025. Although this measure was approved by Congress last July, the reality is that the Ministry of Finance has still not transferred these funds, causing daily hardship to the residents of Torrevieja.

“Torrevieja is solvent and does not need these updates to continue offering stability, investment, and quality public services. But we will not remain silent: every day that passes, money that belongs to our residents is lost, while other municipalities, with less financial capacity, see their operations jeopardized. This is unacceptable,” Paredes added.

In addition, there is no communication regarding the participation of local authorities in state taxes for the 2026 fiscal year, which is necessary for the preparation of the budgets we are currently working on.

Torrevieja City Council once again firmly and responsibly calls for fair, predictable, and flexible local funding that allows municipalities to continue leading the provision of services to their citizens in a context of state neglect.