Valencia has lost the opportunity in the last two legislatures, governed by the left in the capital, in the Generalitat Valenciana and in most localities, to address metropolitan consolidation policies. An area that, in the case of the city of Valencia, is projected over 65 municipalities and more than 1.8 million inhabitants (although some studies extend this area to 90 localities and two million inhabitants).
This is pointed out by one of the several chapters dedicated to various Spanish geographies of the work Metropolis without government, the Spanish anomaly in Europe (Tirant Humanidades) written by Joan Romero, Carmen Zornoza and María Dolores Pitarch, entitled “Metropolitan governance in the Valencian Community: a missed opportunity.” The joint work addresses other geographies such as Barcelona or Madrid.
In the chapter dedicated to the Valencian case, the authors emphasize that “after almost two legislatures where left-wing coalition governments have been hegemonic, both in the regional government and in almost all the local governments of the metropolitan area, it can be affirmed that the democratic conversation about metropolitan areas in the political sphere has not really started.
In addition, they point out that “the progress, very discreet, has been limited to some sectoral initiatives of the regional government and some unique projects promoted by local governments of the metropolitan area.” And they emphasize that the causes that explain this absence of “institutional dialogue” are very diverse.
Among these causes they point to “institutional fragmentation, lack of leadership, resistance to creating new spaces that could complicate the already complex presence in the territory of political actors with powers and resistance from local governments to delegate or share powers.” But there is more, because the authors denounce the “distrust or lack of cooperation between coalition government partners, both in the regional government and in local governments, to promote measures in a coordinated manner.”
One of the most important conclusions of the study is that the metropolitan reality is not part of the political agenda “and this is a great weakness.” Despite the difficulties and the total absence of a “public agenda” aimed at promoting metropolitan conversation, the authors stress that mayors should “initiate the dialogue through a forum, conference or convention, and from the regional government through sectoral tables around specific policies, with mobility and housing as priority axes”.
They appreciate that losing this opportunity or delaying the dialogue, not being aware of the effects of the “non-metropolis” means “the loss of economic opportunities, synergies, income, efficiency, coherence, and ignorance of the potential of large urban areas as sub-state realities”. And they add that the costs of political inaction “far outweigh the possible benefits, as demonstrated in the large metropolitan areas of Europe.”
The new mayoress of Valencia, María José Català, has shown her intention to reverse this situation “as far as possible”. The PP has promised to carry out a Comprehensive Metropolitan Mobility Plan “to connect and make the connection of the city with its metropolitan area fluid”. The PP points out, like the authors of the study, that one of the biggest problems is the situation of the Cercanías services, essential to connect the towns of the metropolitan area smoothly.
