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Diario Euskadi

Bilbao City Council Debates Issues Beyond Its Competence, Including AP-68 Tolls and Rekalde Bypass

The Bilbao City Council has addressed topics outside its jurisdiction in recent plenary sessions, such as the free use of AP-68 tolls and the necessity of the Rekalde Bypass.

Generic image of a microphone on a podium, symbolizing a city council session and political debate.
IA

Generic image of a microphone on a podium, symbolizing a city council session and political debate.

The Bilbao City Council has recently discussed various proposals in its plenary sessions, some of which fall outside its municipal jurisdiction, such as the request for free tolls on the AP-68 and the urgent need for the Rekalde Bypass.

Proposals beyond the municipal corporation's competence have also reached the Council's sessions. An example is the request debated last March, which proposed that the plenary session ask for free tolls on the AP-68, a road that will be free from November, except for the Basque section. However, the City Council does not manage this highway, and therefore cannot take any action regarding this petition.
A similar situation has occurred in several plenary sessions concerning the Rekalde Bypass, which is promoted by the Bizkaia Provincial Council. The “decades” that residents have been asking for the urban barrier between Rekalde and Basurto to disappear were a central topic in February's plenary session. Consequently, a modification amendment by the government team to one promoted by the PP received the approval of the majority of the corporation. The agreement emphasizes that the elimination of the obstacle separating the two neighborhoods is a “municipal priority interest.” Therefore, they believe that the “execution of the Rekalde Bypass and the demolition of its viaduct” is necessary. Additionally, the government team was asked to request information from the Provincial Council every four months regarding the project's status and its planned execution date.
Furthermore, just weeks after the Ministry of Culture decided to cancel the National Bullfighting Award, the municipal PP brought a proposal to the plenary session to ask the state Government for the “reinstatement of this award.” This initiative was joined by a modification amendment from Elkarrekin Bilbao, urging the plenary session to take a favorable stance on the Popular Legislative Initiative No es mi cultura, which calls for the abolition of bullfighting. The Councillor for Culture and Governance, Gonzalo Olabarria, emphatically rejected the request, arguing it was outside the City Council's purview. Both proposals did not pass.
Finally, the border between Bilbao and Barakaldo is barely perceptible to citizens. Therefore, coordination between both local administrations is essential. This situation arose in January 2024 when a government team amendment to a proposal by EH Bildu greenlit “working on an agreement between the administrations with jurisdiction over the bridge crossing the Kadagua river on the N-634, regarding the execution and financing of the work to cover the pedestrian area” in this space in Burtzeña, which connects the two localities.

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