Eva López de Arroyabe, spokesperson for EH Bildu in the Provincial Council of Álava, held a press conference today with the mayors of Laudio, Aiala, and Artziniega, along with councilors from Amurrio and Urduña. During the event, she evaluated the Aiaraldea Industrial Development Table promoted by the Provincial Council of Álava.
López de Arroyabe emphasized that the Biscayan municipalities in the region were not invited, which has led to coordination issues. "We have seen this deficiency in many topics addressed over these months. There is the example of the Aiaraldea Audiovisual HUB. It makes no sense for two projects to compete within 8 kilometers in this area between Álava and Biscay," she stated. "There is a widespread feeling about the need to work together and stop competing among the municipalities of the region," she added.
Beyond these criticisms, the EH Bildu councilor explained that the party has made 80 proposals, some of which are strategic. For instance, she highlighted the urgency of promoting industrial land: "Creating a supramunicipal industrial park managed by a public entity; improving the coordination of development agencies, turning them into a regional agency; or establishing a consultancy system for research and development that serves small and medium-sized enterprises."
López de Arroyabe also addressed the energy transition. In her view, renewable energy should be generated considering where it will be consumed. Therefore, she argued that it is essential to know the energy needs of each municipality and their capacity to meet them with renewable resources, "as Aiala and Artziniega, or Laudio, have begun to do with the Solar Map."
Aiaraldea Komunikabideak asked Eva López de Arroyabe about recent statements made by the General Deputy regarding the region, in which he was highly critical of trade unions. The political representative responded that at times the conditions were not met for all stakeholders to participate in the Aiaraldea Industrial Development Table, and that in some cases EH Bildu also refused to participate. In any case, she stressed the importance of everyone's contribution to create an attractive region.
Furthermore, the EH Bildu spokesperson stated that institutions are responding very slowly to the crisis facing Aiaraldea. "In 2018, I promoted in the Basque Parliament for Aiaraldea to be included on the political agenda, and the plans that arose from that debate have not been realized, particularly in the industrial sector," she said.
