The underground parking in Plaza Sant Joan in Lleida has been municipal since Tuesday after 50 years of private management. The Municipal Urban Agenda Company (EMAU) has assumed the management of the parking and the
City Council, which, as promised, has lowered the prices of the concessionaire company. It has also informed municipal groups that they will have some free parking spaces. In recent terms, councilors have had them.
It was more than a month ago when the Councilor for Good Government, Carme Valls, sent an email to the municipal groups informing them that at the request of some of them, a free parking space would be made available to each group.
The Deputy Mayor for Security, Mobility and Citizenship, Cristina Morón (PSC) signed on Tuesday with representatives of the concessionaire company Interparking the acceptance certificate for the underground parking in Plaza Sant Joan, once the concession has ended.
As the City Council had advanced, the rates are lowered by reversing the increase that the company had applied for 2024. The price per minute is equivalent to 2.75 euros per hour, there is a rate for 24 hours of 16.95 euros. The price of the subscription is 93.1 euros per month, the daytime subscription is 82.75 and the night subscription is 26.45 euros per month.
The EMAU has taken over the three parking workers in its staff, as of April 1, and plans to progressively implement various improvements in the operation of the parking lot, such as implementing lights to detect free spaces, a reservation of spaces for bicycles or scooters.
Almost all opposition groups value positively the municipalization of the parking lot.
“We make a positive assessment because we municipalized a service that was under concession for 50 years,” says Violant Cervera.
From the PP, the head of the opposition, Xavi Palau, emphasizes that his group requested that the December 31 price be maintained and has achieved it. "The fact that it is municipalized is positive, he says, because we must take into account that parking spaces must be made available to people with difficulties, with disabilities, taking into account that a municipal service is to provide a service, not to get rich." He insists that “it is a shame that in Lleida there are only park and ride facilities with very high prices compared to other Catalan provincial capitals.”
From the Comú, Laura Berges affirms that for her formation, the municipalization of the Sant Joan parking lot is “a positive step.” She points out that the moment has already made it possible to reverse the price increase that the company approved in January and also foresees some small investments to also create parking for bicycles and therefore favor non-polluting mobility.
“This municipalization is in line with what we defend, which is the municipalization of the set of services linked to mobility. We have already started with the blue zone, which has allowed savings of around one million compared to private management and we understand that it should continue with the municipalization of the bus service as well.
What does not seem good to him is the announcement made by the City Council to make a free parking space available to municipal groups.
“We understand _he states_ that this is not understanding what municipalization will mean, that it is not that the service is now freely available to councilors, but that it is a public service that must be managed with criteria of effectiveness and efficiency, with public company criteria, and This in no way implies that councilors can enjoy free places.
Bergés has already requested information from the transparency commission on how many spaces have been reserved in the parking lot for the free use of elected and non-elected staff of the City Council.
ERC spokesperson, Jordina Freixanet, assures that her group is happy with the change in management. “It is the model we have always opted for. The challenge now is to offer a better service, modernize it and reduce rates if the change in management is more economical.
