The Bisbal d’Empordà Government team sees it as “very complicated” to be able to build a new nursing home in the city, although it is collapsed and the current one does not have the capacity to grow. It argues that the previous municipal executive, led by Republican Enric Marquès, missed a subsidy of 6.2 million euros from the Next Generation funds.
As denounced by the current mayor, Òscar Aparicio (PSC), the former government team resigned “unilaterally and without saying anything” to the rest of the parties, something that Aparicio describes as “very serious.”
The current mayor points out that the initial 15 million project required seeking 8.8 million resources from the rest of the administrations, but he claimed to have a new nursing home.
The new nursing home in Bisbal d’Empordà will still have to wait. As explained by the current municipal government team, it is a “collapsed” facility that needs improvement.
In fact, the deputy mayor, Xavier Dilmé, points out that there is a long waiting list and that the current building needs an improvement. For this reason, all municipal groups came to the conclusion that the best thing was to build a new building. Furthermore, the capital of Baix Empordà has 20,000 square meters of land transferred and, therefore, it is not necessary to purchase any plot to be able to build it.
All of this led the old government team, led by Enric Marquès, to ask for a subsidy to launch the new equipment. A request for 12 million euros was made, while the project amounted to 15 million euros, but the amount granted was lower, specifically 6.2 million euros, from Next Generation funds.
This meant that the City Council had to find around 8.8 million euros to be able to carry out the new nursing home. As the current mayor explained, at that time in the opposition, all the groups agreed to look at what options there were to face the rest. Options such as pooling expenses with nearby town councils, among which the Bisbal nursing home also provides services and, above all, talking to the Department of Social Rights.
“In no case did we say that we would give up the money, but rather that we would look for how to do it, assuming that it is a responsibility of the Generalitat, but a service for our fellow citizens,” remarked the current mayor Òscar Aparicio.
The reality, says Aparicio, is that the previous government team decided to give up the 6.2 million euros “without consulting anyone,” after they were not approved for a reduction in the project. A resignation that, the current mayor assures, occurred four days before the previous municipal elections. Furthermore, he assures that Marquès did not communicate this to him either in the transfer of powers.
“At that time there were more than six million that arrived and therefore less cost and now 100% of the 15 million of the work must be assumed by the administrations. This complicates it a lot,” laments Aparicio.
The mayor points out that this is a “very serious” fact because, he says, it was not communicated and because there will probably be no option to have another subsidy like this one. “We understand that it should have been negotiated with the department and other options should have been explored,” he remarks.
In fact, Aparicio explains that in a recent visit by the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, in La Bisbal “he immediately saw the state of the facilities” of the current equipment. Now, says the mayor, they will negotiate again with the different administrations to be able to present a new project.
