Regional government rejects funding for Raval health centre move
The Valencian regional government has refused to fund the move of Sagunto's Raval outpatient health centre to a new site, reigniting a dispute between the city council and the opposition Partido Popular (PP) over who is to blame.
The current health centre on Plaza Blasco Ibáñez has had ongoing problems for years, according to residents and staff, and its move to premises already rented in the Antigua Morería area still has no date. The regional PIAC grant programme, which funds building works at outpatient health centres, only covers work on centres that are already operating — not relocations — and gives priority to towns with fewer than 1,500 residents, a rule that structurally disadvantages a city of nearly 70,000 people like Sagunto. The city council says it followed guidance from the regional health department (Conselleria de Sanidad) when it applied, and notes it has been paying rent on two units in the Antigua Morería since 2023 while waiting for the works, budgeted at €461,713. After the refusal, the mayor's office is asking parties in the regional parliament to include that amount in the 2026 regional budget. The PP opposition blames the city government for not requesting the same grant earlier for the current centre, which it says did meet the requirements, and criticises two years of rent paid on empty premises with no improvements for patients. According to El Periódico de Aquí.