The members unanimously approved all items on the agenda, and the presidency pledged to continue fighting for adequate funding for local governments.
The federation, which brings together the 45 municipalities that make up the Region of Murcia, held its annual meeting this morning. The organization's most important decision-making body, which includes the mayors of the Murcian municipalities, is a member of this meeting. At this General Assembly, led by the president of the Federation of Municipalities, Víctor Manuel López Abenza, and supported by the agreement, all items on the agenda were unanimously approved. More than half of the municipal councilors attended, representing large municipalities, such as Cartagena, with the presence of its mayor, Noelia Arroyo; Molina de Segura, with the participation of its mayor, José Ángel Alfonso; and mayors from smaller institutions, such as Ricote, Aledo, and Pliego.
Among the topics discussed were the 2024 and 2025 budgets, the latter amounting to around €1.100.000.
The FMRM representative stated that "the Federation's accounts are not only healthy, but have actually improved." Víctor López explained that "this growth is due to the Federation of Municipalities' participation in projects funded by the European Union and other governments, and it has led the FMRM to expand its staff to be able to provide the highest possible quality services to its members."
Furthermore, the vacancy on the Executive Committee has been filled. This vacancy was created a few months ago when the mayor who held it, María Cánovas, stepped down as the councilor of Alhama de Murcia. As of today, the new mayor of Alcantarilla, Paqui Terol, will fill it.
On the other hand, at this Assembly, the Green City Accord was presented, as the Federation's objective, within the framework of a European project, is to promote green practices in cities among the region's municipalities. In addition, the Baroque Cities Network, another project in which the Federation is involved, was announced, but this time with the City Council of Murcia. This initiative, which aims to identify cities with Baroque heritage to form a network for the cultural promotion of towns and cities, proposes disseminating the statutes and the project for creating this network among FMRM members with significant Baroque heritage, so that they can consider joining the network.
During the questions and answers, the mayors expressed their concern about "vital" issues for their municipalities, which are causing major problems for their management, such as the fifth container, and the continued rise in spending despite underfunding and the implementation of responsibilities that are not their own.
For his part, the president of the FMRM, Víctor Manuel López, explained that he has been working on both tasks for "several months" and stated that "by the end of June, construction of the new bio-waste plant will begin, with an investment of approximately 14 million euros, and its financing will be assumed by the government of the region of Murcia."
The General Assembly was closed by the Director General of Local Government, Francisco Abril, who declared during his speech "his faithful commitment to the municipalities and to the daily work to secure the necessary funding that must come from the Spanish Government, which is already a historic demand."
