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Diari Valencià

Catalá calls for metropolitan governance without protagonism or tutelage

The Mayoress of Valencia asks to prioritize investments in key infrastructures such as the through tunnel and improve the commuter rail service.

Facade of a Mediterranean town hall with an iron balcony, afternoon light.
IA

Facade of a Mediterranean town hall with an iron balcony, afternoon light.

The Mayoress of Valencia, María José Catalá, has advocated for the need to address major urban challenges from a metropolitan perspective, calling for "fewer blockages and more progress" to tackle issues of mobility, housing, and territorial planning.

During her speech at the III Mediterranean Economic and Social Forum, organized by Prensa Ibérica, Catalá stressed that "the major problems cities face require responses at the metropolitan level," advocating for dialogue, cooperation, and a shared vision.
She criticized the "years of delay" in building effective cooperation structures between municipalities, particularly in areas such as mobility, housing, and territorial planning, which "can no longer be addressed from a strictly municipal logic." To this end, she announced that the Valencia City Council is working with the University of Valencia and Professor Joan Romero to define the future Master Plan for the metropolitan area, a project that must be built "without protagonism, without tutelage, and with absolute generosity".
"Valencia is the Cap i Casal (capital) and we are willing to lead it, but not to be the protagonist. We don't want medals," stated Catalá, who insisted that the project's success "will depend on the ability to reach consensus and alliances with local governments and also with social and economic agents".
Regarding mobility, the mayoress highlighted that six million journeys occur daily between the city and its metropolitan area and warned that current infrastructures "do not respond to that reality." She cited the improvement of the V-30 and V-31, the northern access to the port of Valencia, and the modernization of the commuter rail network as priority infrastructures. She denounced that commuter rail users have accumulated "nearly a thousand hours of delays" this year, causing a loss of confidence and 114,000 fewer users compared to the previous year.
In contrast, she highlighted the Valencia City Council's investments in the EMT (municipal transport company), with a master plan of 172 million euros and the acquisition of 222 buses.
Finally, she forcefully called for the execution of the through tunnel, warning that "if we don't have the through tunnel, we will have a serious problem with the competitiveness of our companies," and reiterated that "it is time to remove ideology from mobility policies".

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