The Blue Card: support for people in need

January 8 will mark the implementation of the Blue Card. The new service launched by the City Council of Sitges, aims to provide tax benefits for the payment of taxes, discounts on public transportation and access to special promotions in shops in town. The Blue Card is aimed at unemployed people with low income, seniors and disabled people.

The Blue Card is one of the central activities in the politics of Services for People scheduled by the Municipal Government. The creation of this initiative is a response to the crisis situation, and the difficulties faced by many families living in Sitges. For the Council of Sitges and for this government, it is one of the prioritary actions for the next year, and for this reason, we have dedicated all necessary human and technical resources needed, also including our maximum illusion.

Blue Card holders will receive with this initiative, compensation for the difficulties provoked by the crisis. The campaign is an aid that translates into concrete, precise and at the same time, fairer distribution in the payment of taxes or municipal services.

One of the services that will offer discounts to Blue Card holders will be our soup kitchen, which the City Council will open in the coming weeks. This initiative is being finished by Councilman Marc Martinez, and will be born as another response to the crisis affecting more and more families. The Municipal Government is well aware of the importance of the service we are providing, and we are endowing this initiative with the necessary resources. For this reason, the members of government and positions of trust have decided to donate the entire Christmas bonus to this service.

Meanwhile, the Blue Card is also designed to become a support to trade in Sitges. In the coming days, it will be possible to find out all shops offering discounts or special promotions to the users of this card. The list will be in the City Council website. This will allow that some people in Sitges that did their shopping out of town, to have the opportunity to shop in town at more competitive prices.

An active trade

Indeed, this weekend we have several examples of the dynamic spirit of our merchants. Several streets and areas of the city have initiated campaigns that promote local trade, and project our town as a destination of leisure in which to do Christmas shopping. Initiatives like these are an example of the line of action that we must follow.

Sitges 2012 Awards Night

On Friday, we held the fifteenth anniversary of the Awards Night. I will include my intervention in my blog post:

"Councilors, Mr. Parish Priest, President of Societat El Retiro, Presidents of organizations, award winners, residents in Sitges, friends, good evening to everyone. And first of all, congratulations to all the winners. As the ad about tonight proclaims, today is a day of excitement, a day of recognition, a day of identity, a day of tradition, a day of culture, concluding, a day "sitgetanisme". This is so because there are probably very few places where you can have the satisfaction of rewarding talent each year, and the values in different fields of culture.

The examples lies both in individuals and in groups that today receive their recognition in the field of music, sculpture, painting, literature, photography, cinema, theater, circus or history. All this is a breath of hope, and a clear example of how civil society has the necessary strength to keep moving, even in the dire economic conditions that prevail today.

Acting as Mayor, I must state that I am totally certain that there are things we cannot afford: 

- Whatever the degree of economic turmoil, we cannot afford to punish the development of culture in all its manifestations.

- We cannot afford to punish organizations that provide a breeding ground for the birth, growth and maturity of culture.

- We cannot afford to punish society, undermining the benefits of certain values. Values that due to the lack of mechanisms to quantify them economically are often left out of priorities.

- We cannot allow the language and culture of our country suffer no more attacks under the guise of crisis.

I want to reiterate my most sincere compromise both personally and as Mayor of Sitges, and also representing the government that I preside, that we work thinking and positioning CULTURE AS A BASIC PUBLIC SERVICE. But to do so, we also need your direct and close collaboration. And I say this because as you know, these days we are working on the preparation of the new municipal budgets. A budget that in no way gives us more room than the current one.

And now, in a context which calls for responsibility to the citizens under the form of taxes, when more sacrifices are asked to municipal employees, when we are reassessing and trying to optimize municipal services, as we did with the School of Music…. it is now in this milieu, when Culture sits on the edge of a cliff, a fact that could provoke its detour to a dead track by any public administration in trouble.

BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN SITGES. 

As you can you expect one of the easiest and more demagogic claims that arrive to politicians in times of budget cuts, are to begin to cut away from the budget allocated to organizations and festivities, to end in every traditional or cultural event. It is also evident that organizations and associations that promote culture and tradition should make an effort, but we cannot destroy them, WE DO NOT WANT TO WIPE YOU OUT FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

I cannot do it because the payback we receive from you under the form social and cultural benefits. The payback we receive from our host tonight, Societat El Retiro, far surpasses any contribution they receive from the City Hall.  We cannot afford to take to a point of no return organization and entities with more than a century on their back that, thanks to civil society, have given us far more than anything we can give them now. Does anyone have enough reasons to question this reality? Because some people are doing it.

On the other hand, and beyond the social and associative fabric that promotes culture, we should be able to boost their possibilities to generate economic development, which are not few.  I make such a statement because in our dire economic conditions, we cannot skip the ability to generate wealth from culture and creativity in every area. An asset that goes beyond Sitges, and forms part of the identity of Catalonia.

Our main source of income is tourism. We are a very appealing town; our economic activity is based largely in the services offered to our visitors. But it is very important not to forget that these visitors choose Sitges not only because our environment, but because Sitges has a solid and high quality cultural offer. From the smaller expressions, to our precious and coveted heritage represented by our museums.

Understand, then, that we cannot afford to relegate culture to a secondary role in all its manifestations. But I ask your help, and I do inviting you, asking you to transfer this message to all those who argue that institutions can be closed, eliminating activities, festivals and celebrations, or let our heritage die.

I know that what I'm saying now can receive a lot of criticism and adverse opinions. I am sure that many will not understand or share my message. But this is my commitment, the commitment of the Government of Sitges

It's time to review, time to reassess, a time of sweat, tears and cutbacks, but we cannot give away the wealth that we receive from the values ​​of culture. Because I am convinced that culture will help us out of this situation, our culture will thank us, culture will always be there. The culture we individually and collectively improve everyday!

Long live Culture, Long live Sitges!"