Free buses, school planters and a feminist walk: how Sagunto marks its sustainable-transport week
From 18 to 26 September, Sagunto links eight days of neighbourhood and school activities promoting sustainable transport, including fare-free bus travel on 22 September and a feminist-themed walking route.
A car-free Tuesday, a walk named after an urban thinker, and a handful of secondary schools turned for a day into community spaces: that is how Sagunto's poster for European Mobility Week sums up eight days of activities under the slogan Mobility for All People. One thing is worth clarifying straight away: although the town calls it a week, the programme designed by the Department of Public Space and Mobility actually runs from 18 to 26 September, while the European observance behind it -an awareness campaign that has spent more than two decades promoting public transport, cycling and walking as alternatives to the car- officially falls between 16 and 22 September. That is why Sagunto's calendar stretches a few days beyond the continent-wide dates.
Most of the events share one thing in common: involving schools and neighbourhood groups rather than sticking to a purely institutional event. It all kicks off this Friday, when children from two local schools, CEIP María Inmaculada and CEIP Mediterráneo, will plant flowers and soil in the planters already marking out a calmed stretch of Calle Virgen de los Dolores. Four days later, on Monday evening -at 6.30pm, at the Casa Municipal de Cultura- comes a documentary screening about the rivalry between bikes and cars on the streets of Paris, organised by the Nautilus Association; once the film ends, a discussion will follow featuring councillor Javier Raro, Nautilus member Paco Pinilla, and mobility specialist Francesc Arechavala. The last date aimed at students comes on the final Saturday morning, when the María Moliner, Jaume I, Clot del Moro and Altos Hornos secondary schools will turn their usual parking areas into gathering spaces for a few hours, as part of the international Parking Day initiative.
The measure with the broadest reach for residents lands on Tuesday 22, coinciding with World Car Free Day: anyone travelling by bus that day will not pay a cent. Three days later, on Friday at six in the evening, comes the traditional walking route setting off from the train station, this year with a feminist focus centred on how to restore a street with heritage value; its name honours urbanist Jane Jacobs, known for arguing that cities work better when planners respect the spontaneous order of their streets rather than only what the blueprints dictate. Participants can put forward their own ideas on mobility and public space, which the council has promised to gather for future action around Calle Aben Bahri.
European Mobility Week, marking its 25th edition this year, has grown over time into one of the continent's most widespread environmental awareness campaigns, with thousands of European cities joining similar activities every September to those organised in Sagunto. Across the Valencian Community, many towns also take part in the initiative, though with calendars and programme intensity that vary widely depending on each council's resources, making Sagunto's programme -eight days of activities spread across schools, secondary schools and neighbourhood groups- one of the most extensive in the Camp de Morvedre district.
For the City Council, the underlying goal goes beyond the themed week itself: it is about making progress in reducing private car use for everyday journeys within the town, in line with the sustainable mobility plans that many Spanish cities have been adopting in recent years under national and European air-quality regulations. Initiatives such as the fare-free bus on 22 September aim, in that sense, to familiarise people who do not normally use it with the municipal public transport network, in the hope that some of these one-day passengers will keep using it once the themed week is over.
The City Council has said that, after this edition, it will gather the citizen proposals put forward during the week into a conclusions document that will serve as a basis for future mobility action, beyond the improvements already planned for Calle Aben Bahri.
The full week's programme is available on the council website, which also lists the exact schedule for each activity.
For the councillor in charge, Javier Raro, this year's slogan sums up the council's aim: a town where anyone can get around easily, safely and sustainably. Raro also stressed that these events are not just about raising awareness, but also a way of listening to residents' concerns and later turning them into concrete action on the ground. According to Sagunto City Council, with additional background from Wikipedia on European Mobility Week and Jane Jacobs.