Sagunto awards City Medal to Socoltie and Unión Musical Porteña
Sagunto's city council unanimously approved awarding the City Medal to the Socoltie cooperative, for its work with people with disabilities, and to the Unión Musical Porteña music society, for its cultural and educational track record.
Sagunto's ordinary August plenary session unanimously approved the City Medal (Medalla de la Ciudad), the town's highest honorary distinction, for two local organisations: the Valencian cooperative Socoltie and the Unión Musical Porteña (UMP) music society. Both awards will be recorded in the Municipal Registry of Honours and Distinctions and published in the province's official bulletin. The medals will be handed over at a formal ceremony, likely timed to coincide with the 9 October regional holiday, following council rules.
Socoltie receives the honour for more than four decades of social work in the municipality. The non-profit cooperative began operating in 1982 and was formally established a year later, in 1983. Since then it has supported people with intellectual disabilities or functional diversity, promoting personal autonomy and helping them find work, while also assisting their families. Its resources include an Occupational Centre, running since 1984 with capacity for 45 people, and a Special Employment Centre created in 1986. In 2025, the Valencian regional government (Generalitat Valenciana) declared Socoltie a public-benefit cooperative, a recognition the city council formally congratulated.
The Unión Musical Porteña is honoured for its cultural and educational contribution. Legally established in 2004 as a non-profit cultural association, the music society has actually been teaching, practising and spreading music for much longer: according to its own website, its musical tradition dates back to 1920, more than eight decades before its formal founding. Today it runs a music school feeding several ensembles — band, orchestra, choir and modern-music groups — open to all ages, with a constant presence in Sagunto's cultural calendar through concerts, festivals, exchanges and stage projects. Its youth band won both the first prize and the audience prize at the III Concurso de Bandas Juveniles Memorial Francisco Fort (Francisco Fort youth band competition).
The council's own agreement notes that the tradition of Valencian music societies is officially protected as intangible cultural heritage. Specifically, the Spanish government granted that status in May 2021 through Royal Decree 229/2021, recognising bands and music societies across the Valencian Community as a Representative Manifestation of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The City Medal for UMP therefore sits within a wider, nationally recognised tradition.
For Sagunto residents, the distinction is a visible nod to two organisations with long track records: one that supports dozens of families with a member living with disability, and another that trains children and adults in music every week. According to aytosagunto.es, with additional information from Unión Musical Porteña and Wikipedia.