Actualitat

The Regional Ombudsman of Valencia has called on Alicante Town Hall to consider amending the ordinance regulating the fees charged for using  municipal sports facilities, as far as prices for users with disabilities are concerned. Nowadays, only those disabled registered in Alicante as residents can benefit from a discount of 50 percent.

The Ombudsman’s decision follows a complaint filed by a disabled person criticising “discrimination” from the Patronato de Deportes (Municipal Sport Board). According to the complainant, it seems that it is necessary to be registered as resident in Alicante to take advantage of the bonus above mentioned.

In his first communication, José Cholbi advocated the Mayor to assess the appropriateness of amending that regulatory ordinance. In her turn, Sonia Castedo answered that the City plans its services according to the expected use or demand of residents. And she added that, nowadays, they cannot expand the service because of the substantial economic effort that this would imply.

Moreover, the Mayor argued in her response to the Ombudsman that both State and Regional Government are responsible for ensuring a homogenising policy of services, in order to prevent non residents from having poor access to public services.

Nevertheless, José Cholbi has concluded that Alicante City Council should revise the ordinance regulating the fees charged for sports facilities so that people with disabilities may benefit from a 50% discount, regardless of where they are registered in.