A bicycle march toured the city of Elche (Alicante) this Saturday to protest the dismantling of bike lanes in the town that the local government, formed by PP and Vox, agreed upon.
The cycling march, which left at ten in the morning from Plaza de Barcelona and concluded in Plaça de Baix, served to criticize the dismantling of bike lanes on Juan Carlos I or José María Buck streets and to demand that the city’s cycling ring is finished.
“They have stolen our bike lane” or “It does not pollute or waste gasoline” are some of the slogans that have been chanted by the participants, who have criticized that lanes that they used daily have been eliminated “so that a vehicle that pollutes can pass” and They have thought that the cycle streets promoted by the local government are “a patch.”
The “bicifestación”, called by the platforms Margaló Ecologistes en Acció and Elx en Bici, has been held as a finale to the European Mobility Week, with the objective of claiming these mobility issues and defending policies in favor of the bicycle.
As reported by Fernando Sáez, a member of the organizing platforms, some 500 people have participated in this march to demand these cycling infrastructures intended for cities to “improve their air quality and defend against climate change.”
For her part, Esther Díez, spokesperson for Compromís per Elx, has criticized the cycle lanes that the municipal government has promoted as an alternative to the dismantling of bike lanes, since as she said they have been done “without any writing” to support them.
More than twenty organizations have joined the bicycle march, such as Volem Palmeral, Assemblea 8M Elx, Grupo Ilicitano de Montañismo, Facua CV, Podemos Elx, CC.OO, ADR Camp d’Elx, Institut d’Estudis Comarcals del Baix Vinalopó, Federación de Asociaciones Vecinales de Elche, AAVV del Raval and Barrio Obrero de Altabix, 30 Days by Bike or Alicante by Bike, PMS L’Alacantí or Intersindical Valenciana.
