In the municipality of Orense, Nogueira de Ramuín, a new debate is surprising its 2,000 inhabitants. Her municipality is one of those analyzed in a study presented this week by the Xunta, which evaluates the economic benefits of a hypothetical merger with the neighboring municipality, O Pereiro de Aguiar. Opinions are very diverse, but the consensus is practically unanimous: if it represents an improvement in services, the majority would support it. This is the case of María Isabel, who explains that she currently travels five kilometers from Moura to the health center of Nogueira to receive treatment after a recent operation. “We don’t even have a bus to get there, we have to walk,” she says. María Fátima thinks the same thing and, in her case, blames the lack of a psychologist. On the other hand, there are also those who consider that “they would take a lot for O Pereiro”, like Pablo; and that there they already have “everything”, including “wind energy”, as Julio explains, who returned to live there after 20 years of emigration to Switzerland.I think that in Nogueira de Ramuín we are not very busy at the moment.“, says Santiago, who, although he does not consider it “far-fetched”, advocates that the differences between the two municipalities be taken into account.
Nor is opposition to a hypothetical union evident in O Pereiro de Aguiar.It doesn’t affect me, yes or no, whichever is better.“, says Orentino, a resident of the municipality, who agrees with Pilar that he would support “what the majority says”. David, younger, believes that “the approach of the councils is always positive”, although he does not make other assessments; while Rosa and Begoña, in conversation with ABC, consider that the parishes of the neighboring municipality, with a third of the population and much more rural, would benefit from the union. They are clear that at the identity level there is no problem: “We are all from Orense”.
Reactions that go hand in hand with the study ‘Reform of the municipal map of Galicia’, according to which 83% of respondents are in favour of a voluntary merger, a rate which would fall to 37% if it were compulsory. The document, prepared by the three universities in collaboration with the Juana de Vega Foundation, explains that, whatever the alternative used (mergers, voluntary groups, supra-municipal collaboration, etc.), any reform of the local factory must have an impact on the efficiency of the municipality at the political and economic level. A mechanism that is not new – Europe experienced a wave of mergers in the 20th century – but that is unusual in our country. In fact, Spain has followed a trend opposite to that of the rest of its European neighbors, he emphasizes. Since 1987, 85 new municipalities have been created; three of them, in Galicia: A Illa de Arousa (1997), Cariño (1988) and Burela (1995).
As a result, the Galician municipal system is today extremely fragmented – although it is surpassed by other communities such as Castilla y León or Castilla-La Mancha –, which makes it imperative to address the debate on the current situation of the municipalities to guarantee equal access to services, in a context of demographic challenge and ageing of the population. Something that the Council of Europe has already analysed and which, according to a 2011 study, The recommended size for municipalities to be able to provide local public services is 10,400 inhabitants; and 8,000 to make it financially viable. In other words, the more users, the lower the cost.
Applied to the Galician reality, this threshold would not be realistic: of the 313 municipalities, 82% have fewer than 10,000 inhabitants – that is, 257 municipalities. Therefore, opting for a lower range would be more acceptable, such as between 5,000 and 8,000 inhabitants that the report proposes. This would guarantee a more professionalized administration, thus reducing expenditure on municipal facilities and services, and increasing state funding and access to funds. Mergers that should be voluntary, as recalled by the Regional Executive, but which, in the case of the previously mentioned councils, none of the councilors considers feasible.
“Totally different”
Firstly, explains the mayor of Nogueira de Ramuín, Julio Temes, in conversation with ABC, because “they are two totally different municipalities” and, while O Pereiro is “practically urban, with a lot of influence from the city” due to its proximity to Orense, your municipality is essentially rural. In the first, the density is 104 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,350 inhabitants in 61 km2), and it is one of the few municipalities in Orense that is experiencing an increase in its population. In the second, the population density is 20 people per square kilometre (1,998 inhabitants in 97.9 km2), and the GDP per capita is higher. Their union would mean, among other things 17% more funding for all residents, But, as Temes explains, his council may not be the most willing. After this news, which surprised him, he says that the neighbors “told him in the street” things like “don’t even think about it.” And regarding services, such as garbage, he explains that they have them jointly with another series of municipalities, so he does not see this “necessity” either.
Along the same lines, the mayor of O Pereiro de Aguiar and also president of the Provincial Council, Luis Menor, explains that it is not a council that needs this merger, although he recognizes that it is a mechanism that generally involves “benefits for both parties”. In their case, being the largest municipality, they understand that “it would be up to them to lead this union”, without losing “their identity”, which would explain why in the case of Nogueira the reluctance is greater. “It is a municipality with a strong identity”, he assures, and a loss in this sense would not be “well perceived by the population”, which is “perfectly understandable”. For all these reasons, your case may not be “ideal”, although, in any case, he emphasizes, it depends on “volunteering” and social consensus.
Santiago-Teo
Another of the cases analyzed would concern the creation of what would be the third largest city in the Community: Santiago de Compostela and Teo. It would thus replace Orense, surpassing the 100,000 inhabitants mark (a limit that the Galician capital has difficulty surpassing, just like the 20,000 of Teo), guaranteeing, among other things, more public and European funds and an improvement in social benefits. An option that was already valued by the former councilors of both municipalities – Martiño Noriega and Rafael Sisto –, and which was not the first either: after the pioneering union of Oza-Cesuras, there was talk, briefly, of the possibility of repeating the mechanism with capital and Boqueixon. But, on this occasion, neither of the two mayors volunteered.
In a conversation with ABC, Teo’s councilor, Lucía Calvo, says that her municipality, with 79 square kilometers, 19,200 inhabitants and “a significant growth forecast,” would reach the 20,000 mark without the need to join another one, derived from itself in “more and better services.” “It would be more logical in municipalities that do not reach 5,000,” he says. Although the main thing is the “pride” in being a teenager, and assures: “we have our own identity and that is inalienable.” In his case, he advocates reaching “agreements”, as the neighbors they are, even if it seems a complex task. “I recently tried to increase the distance of the Santiago urban bus, paid for by Teo, to 2.5 km”, but “it did not work for a part” of the capital.
Santiago does not give in either. The City Council of Compostela considers that “there are other issues that must be addressed as a priority before the mergers”, and they point out as a possible alternative to the “regionalization, common public services or resolution of the underfunding of municipalities.” A debate, according to the mayor, Goretti Sanmartín, “that comes up from time to time with the idea of distracting the entire population a little” from issues such as the Sogama canon or municipal financing, and which “must be approached calmly.”
The report analyses five other hypothetical mergers, such as that of the municipality of A Coruña de Lousame, with 3,268 inhabitants – 37 per km2 –, with Noia, with 14,274 inhabitants – 383 people per km2 –; bringing the new town hall closer to 20,000 inhabitants. Sanxenxo and Meaño; Alfoz and O Valadouro; Lalín, Rodeiro and Sozón; and the region of O Deza were the other cases analysed, always in a “minimum” benefits framework and, as the document repeats several times, from the economic point of view. These are “hypothetical” cases that do not take into account fundamental conditions, such as sociodemographic, geographic characteristics or neighborhood support, as explained in the presentation by the director of the Juana de Vega Foundation, José Manuel Andrade, and reported by Ep.
