Carlos Gil, mayor of Benavites, details the projects shaping the town's future
The mayor of Benavites, one of the smallest municipalities in the Camp de Morvedre district near Sagunto, discusses in an interview the works planned for the Benicalaf church, the Casino, a new school building and the town's future industrial zone.
Carlos Gil, mayor of Benavites for almost two decades, has outlined the projects shaping the future of this small town in the Camp de Morvedre district (the area around Sagunto), in an interview with El Periódico de Aquí. The town has 652 residents according to 2025 INE (National Statistics Institute) data, confirming it as one of the smallest municipalities in the district. Benavites has just held the 25th Romería de Benicalaf, a pilgrimage that each year brings together residents from the towns that historically formed the Vall de Segó (an old sub-region): Benavites, Benifairó de les Valls, Canet d'En Berenguer, Faura and Sagunto itself, along with Quart de les Valls and Quartell. The event began in 2002, marking the centenary of the merger of the Benicalaf and Benavites parishes.
The most immediate project is the restoration of the Benicalaf church, which enters its sixth phase this month with an investment of 150,000 euros. The works will focus on accessibility: decades of repaving on the Via Augusta road have left the street almost half a metre above the church entrance, so the level will be lowered, the original access restored, and accessible steps and ramps installed. After clearing procedures with the Diputación de Valencia (the provincial council), the town hall is now preparing the interior work, which includes an archaeological survey, and is applying for a regional grant to restore one of the church's naves.
Gil also detailed other ongoing projects: a full renovation of the Casino, a 1932 building recently handed over to the town hall by its members' society, which will include air conditioning, soundproofing, facade repairs and solar panels, backed by funding from the Generalitat (the Valencian regional government); a new school building, already awarded to contractors and awaiting the placement of prefabricated classrooms with the regional education department; and the long-running industrial zone project, launched in 2002 and delayed by flood-risk rules, for which the town hall has submitted a new flood study to the Confederación Hidrográfica del Xúquer (the Xúquer river basin authority).
The mayor, who combines his post with a regional government role in institutional policy and territorial cohesion and with leading the Valencian branch of the Partido Popular (PPCV), said the mayor's office remains his top priority because of the direct contact it gives him with residents. On the challenge facing small towns, he said Benavites relies on its network of local associations to keep community life active, and hopes that people who use the town only as a place to live will find reasons to take part in it.
According to El Periódico de Aquí, with additional background from Wikipedia on Benavites and the historic Vall de Segó district.