The mayor of Mijas, Josele González (PSOE), and the deputy mayor José Carlos Martín (Cs), took stock on Monday morning of the first two years of municipal government, following the programmatic agreement reached by PSOE and Ciudadanos, in which according to both parties, they have achieved the execution or implementation of 50 percent of the items included in the pact signed by the two parties in mid-2019.
“These have been two years of hard work in which we have already fulfilled 50 percent of the points agreed in the governance pact, in which the city project we want for Mijas and the people of Mijas was defined, and we have done so despite facing one of the worst crises in recent years, positioning ourselves as management benchmarks in the face of COVID-19. Two years in which the commitment of the team that accompanies me has been demonstrated, to move towards a better Mijas, with more and greater infrastructures, in which employment and economic reactivation have become fundamental pillars of a type of management focused on the people thanks to the creation of unprecedented social support”, explained the mayor.
“Ciudadanos and PSOE have fulfilled 50 percent of our agreement on reaching the equator of the mandate, despite the pandemic. This means that, even with the difficulties of the virus, which made us change course, we have kept our word. Obviously, the pact did not include the consequences of COVID and in these two years we have managed to execute and begin the execution of 32 points of the 61 of which the document consists, in addition to the entire series of measures that we have had to implement. against the pandemic”, said, for his part, Martín.

Management in the face of the pandemic
Both González and Martín explained that the fundamental axes on which the municipal government has pivoted are the reactivation of employment and the economy, the promotion of aid to people in social exclusion and investment in public works. Regarding this, the mayor stressed that Mijas has been the first local administration to pay direct aid to the self-employed and companies, directly supporting the economic recovery and the maintenance of employment. “From the first minute we have prioritized maintaining employment and economic recovery, already implementing in 2020 the OREA Plan of direct aid to the business fabric worth almost 12 million euros, from which more than 3,500 family businesses  and self-employed in the town have benefited, approving in turn the Cometha Plan, a second line of aid for this year provided with 10.3 million that will support the retail trade, hospitality, tourism companies and freelancers of the town, in historic plans that will involve the injection of more than 22 million euros in just two years thanks to the committed and responsible management of public funds", said the mayor.
In this same sense, Martín said, in addition to highlighting the 22.3 million euros allocated to the self-employed and SMEs in the sum of both projects, that Mijas is the municipality that has allocated the most aid per inhabitant in Spain. “We are going to give a boost, not only to the self-employed and SMEs, but also to hotels and golf courses. The tourism sector is key in the recovery of the Mijas economy and in the generation of jobs. Your local administration is not going to leave you in the lurch", said the deputy mayor, who promised to continue "governing effectively the management of public money". "We have been able to help our neighbours because for six years we have had a surplus in our municipal coffers and now we have more than 100 million euros to be able to alleviate the devastating consequences of COVID", he said.

Economy
Among the measures not initially included in the programmatic agreement and that were added to this mandate in favour of economic recovery is also the abolition of the main tax rates related to the business fabric, and which included the abolition of terrace, kiosks, loading and unloading, street markets and donkey taxi fees, a measure that has benefited more than 3,400 businesses, SMEs and the self-employed in the municipality. In the same way, the Local Government has made, in the opinion of the Executive, a "special effort" to promote training and job creation in the last two years. “In addition to the aid plans for our companies and the self-employed, we have made an unprecedented public investment for the Basic Income local employment programme, reaching 14.3 million, which has allowed the hiring of more than 1,500 unemployed citizens from the town, to which is added the creation of direct jobs generated thanks to the Mijas Plan”, pointed out González, who highlighted that “the action of the Local Government has made possible the singing of important public and private agreements that have allowed, from the reopening CIOMijas, to the promotion of training courses with certificates of professionalism that are providing a high level of insertion, as well as the insertion of people with some type of functional diversity”.

Public Works
In addition, the Executive understands that the Mijas 2020/2021 Plan, designed precisely to face the consequences of COVID, has also been fundamental for economic recovery. Within it there is a section with 117 million euros for public works. This investment is expected to generate 3,000 direct jobs, mobilize companies in the sector in the municipality and improve services in the city. “We gave our word and we have kept it. The El Juncal and La Candelaria car parks are now a reality and will soon come into operation to alleviate this historical problem. We have already drafted the projects for another three: Fernán Caballero park, Andalucía and Los Santos park”, pointed out Martín, who added that “there is also the fact that the 10,000 cubic metre capacity Mijas Pueblo water reservoir has been finished, as well as the development of infrastructures and important tenders such as the road that connects Camino de Coín with the AMPA Las Caracolas avenue, the La Cala Olympic swimming pool, the Coastal Path in its section from La Cala to Fuengirola or the Grand Park, which will soon be offered for public tender”.
Both municipal leaders have also highlighted the commitment of the Local Government to "preserve and enhance the historical heritage" of the town with the recovery and consolidation of La Puente, an architectural element included in the General Catalogue of the Historical Heritage of Andalusia, or the implementation and valuing of the archaeological remains located within Finca Acebedo, thanks to the approval of the General Archaeological Research Project, which will allow us to continue to dig in this area in which pieces dated from the 8th century BC to VI d.C. have already been found.

Social shield
In the same way, the municipal Government has focused "a large part of its efforts" on creating an "unprecedented" social shield with the increase in aid to people living in social exclusion. In this sense, the mayor pointed out that “from the first moment we said it and we have fulfilled it, we declared that the budget for social affairs would be unlimited, expanding it as much as necessary, a commitment fulfilled that has been reflected in the provision of more than 11 million euros for social spending, which has allowed more than 5,000 families to benefit from this aid in 2020 alone, while we have contributed to the operation of social entities with the investment of more than one million euros destined to the different programmes that they offer”, and added that “we also recovered the Municipal Food Bank, and started up the Mijas Cards, to give support to the families that were experiencing the worst situations, since our priority at all times is and always will be the well-being of the 'mijeños' and 'mijeñas'”.

Tourism
In addition to these two fundamental government premises as a result of the economic and social situation of the pandemic, both municipal leaders have broken down other outstanding actions in these two years. With regard to the Tourism area, it should be noted that the department has launched the Golf Marketing Plan, drawn up by the University of Malaga, where the public and private administrations come together to promote this sector. “This segment is a great ally to reactivate the tourism industry that is so important in the local economy. The tourist feels safe being as golf is a sport practiced in the open air where safety distances can be kept and, in addition, these are visitors who arrive outside the high season, so we can break the seasonality", pointed out Martín . On the other hand, he highlighted the beginning of the works on Hotel Byblos. “From the Council for Town Planning, we have granted the building license to one of the most significant emblems of the Costa del Sol. The luxury accommodation enjoyed by Julio Iglesias, Lady Diana, the Rolling Stones and great figures from politics and the world of entertainment that came to the Costa del Sol will open its doors next year, generating jobs and wealth for our city”, said the deputy mayor.

Other measures
Finally, González highlighted “the improvement of cleaning and security throughout the municipality; increased citizen participation; promoting equality plans and campaigns for diversity; the commitment to culture; progress in projects such as the residence for the elderly and the fire station; the creation of the new Las Lagunas high school and improvement of educational infrastructures; the improvement of our parks and green areas; the reactivation of local commerce or the improvement of road safety”, all this, he explains, thanks to a cohesive and stable Government Team that has made it possible to advance in the fulfillment of the governance pact. "We were facing a situation unknown to all, within which we have known how to position this Local Government as the one that has put the most far-reaching measures on the table in the shortest time to help those who were experiencing the worst moments and leave no one behind. We have been a management benchmark, and we have also done so by attending to each and every one of the needs of 'mijeños' and 'mijeñas', to move forward together towards a better society”.
In the same way, Martín recalled important initiatives such as “the guided tours of Mijas Secrets for foreign residents, the proposal for the creation of the Belgian Forest, based on the planting of one hundred trees together with tourist experiences in the municipality, the transfer of land for the construction and expansion of schools and highschools in Mijas, the comprehensive reform of the Mijas Pueblo kindergarten, the launch of CIOMijas, the Local Plan for Sports Facilities and Infrastructures, obtaining a portable funeral home and a burial tumulus for the Mijas Pueblo cemetery, not forgetting the extensive rescue and first aid device with drones on the Mijas beaches”.

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