Valencia News: April 19 | Catalá Investigation, Migration Law Divides, Housing Crisis Deepens

Bon dia! This week in Valencia news: a corruption investigation into Mayor María José Catalá complicates her re-election bid. A national migration debate is dividing Valencia’s political class as new census data shows that 21% of Valencia’s metropolitan population is now foreign-born

Plus, construction costs have more than doubled in six years, pushing the housing crisis deeper. And six schools in the city are breathing air above safe pollution levels.

City & Politics

Mayor Catalá faces corruption investigation for alleged influence peddling at the port

Anti-corruption prosecutors have opened an investigation into Mayor María José Catalá for alleged malfeasance and influence peddling, according to Levante-EMV. The complaint was filed by opposition party Compromís, alleging that Catalá awarded positions at the Port of Valencia for political purposes in breach of regulations. Several other municipal and Port officials are also under investigation. The case is at an early stage. No charges have been filed.

The timing is significant. Catalá confirmed her re-election candidacy just weeks ago, setting up a direct contest with Mónica Oltra for Compromís — the same party that filed the complaint. The investigation will hang over the mayoral race as it develops.

Source: Anticorrupción investiga a Catalá por presunta prevaricación y tráfico de influencias — Levante-EMV

Spain’s migrant regularisation law divides Valencia — Generalitat president sides with Vox

The Spanish Council of Ministers approved legislation this week to regularise approximately half a million undocumented migrants, a measure that would affect an estimated 100,000 people in the Comunitat Valenciana. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended the policy in an open letter to citizens, arguing that migrants are essential to Spain’s economy and pension system.

Generalitat president Juanfran Pérez Llorca rejected the measure, telling El País it was motivated by electoral calculations and warning that regularisation would strain health and social services. Pérez Llorca also drew attention for siding with Vox to protect two Franco-era crosses from removal — a pairing that El País reported alongside his immigration stance.

Sources:
El Gobierno prevé aprobar este martes la regularización extraordinaria de migrantes — Valencia Plaza
Sánchez defiende la regularización de inmigrantes en una carta a la ciudadanía — El País Valencia
Pérez Llorca acusa al Gobierno de regularizar a los inmigrantes por un “tema electoral” y apoya a Vox para proteger dos cruces franquistas — El País Valencia

Private health insurance in Valencia has nearly doubled in a decade

Related to healthcare concerns, Valencia now has 1.2 million residents with private medical insurance — almost double the figure from ten years ago. New private hospitals are opening across the region to meet demand. The trend reflects a public health system under sustained pressure from population growth and underfunding. As waiting times lengthen, more residents are opting out of the public system entirely. This is a structural shift in how healthcare is delivered in Valencia, and one that will accelerate unless public capacity expands.

Source: Récord de seguros de salud ante el atasco de la sanidad pública — Las Provincias

Oltra proposes a tax on empty apartments — and Valencia’s tax system explained

Mayoral candidate Mónica Oltra proposed taxing unoccupied apartments in Valencia, citing New York City’s similar policy as a model. The measure would aim to push empty properties back into the rental market and generate municipal revenue. No legislative detail has been published yet.

Separately, a report from the Colegio de Economistas shed light on how Valencia’s tax system actually works: high earners above €300,000 pay the highest income tax rate in Spain at 54%, while those earning under €20,000 pay the lowest, thanks to a system of regional deductions. For international residents trying to understand their tax position, it is a useful piece of context on why Valencia’s fiscal reputation is more nuanced than headlines suggest.

Sources:
Oltra aboga por subir los impuestos a pisos cerrados: «Si se hace en Nueva York, ¿por qué no en Valencia?» — Las Provincias
La dualidad fiscal de la Comunitat: el IRPF más alto de España pero con menor presión para rentas bajas — Valencia Plaza

City & Housing

Construction costs have more than doubled in six years — and the rental market has a “Wild West” problem

Building costs in Valencia have risen from €600 to €1,400 per square metre over the past six years, according to the Federation of Construction Contractors. In the last year alone, costs jumped more than 20%, driven by price increases in concrete, bitumen, iron, and energy. The figures explain, in part, why new housing supply has been unable to keep pace with demand despite record applications for social housing projects.

At the other end of the market, Levante-EMV reported on the conditions some renters are accepting out of desperation: apartments of barely 20 square metres, some without hot water or functioning electricity, listed at €800 per month. The paper described the situation as “el salvaje oeste” — the Wild West — of Valencia’s rental market.

Sources:
La desorbitada escalada del coste de obra: de 600 a 1.400 euros el metro cuadrado en seis años — Valencia Plaza
El ‘salvaje oeste’ en el alquiler en València: pisos a 800 euros con la luz pinchada y sin agua caliente — Levante-EMV

City & Environment

Six Valencia schools have unsafe air pollution levels — Low Emission Zones proposed

A new study found that at least six schools in the Valencia area have daily nitrogen dioxide levels above safe thresholds, despite being located on streets with relatively low traffic. The proximity of major avenues — within 300 metres — is sufficient to keep pollution at harmful levels for children whose lungs are still developing. The findings have prompted proposals to restrict traffic near schools and introduce Low Emission Zones. Increased rates of asthma and respiratory illness are cited as the long-term risk.

Source: Seis colegios en Valencia respiran aire con niveles de contaminación diarios por encima de lo seguro — Valencia Plaza

City and Security

Court orders probe into Torrent school abuse claims – and a new search in missing woman case

An appeals court ordered an investigation into an Opus Dei school in Torrent after at least seven families alleged sexual abuse of children aged five to seven. A lower court had previously dismissed the case for lack of evidence; the Audiencia overturned that ruling, finding “clear indications” warranting further investigation.

Also, police have intensified the search for Nataliia Solomykina, the Ukrainian woman who disappeared two years ago. Investigators recently traced the last signal from her mobile phone along the route of a garbage truck, prompting new searches at a waste treatment plant and in areas along the Barranco del Poyo. Authorities continue to focus on her husband as a suspect, but no trace of Solomykina has been found so far.

Sources:
La Audiencia ordena investigar el presunto abuso sexual a menores en un colegio de Torrent al ver «indicios claros» — Las Provincias
El rastro del móvil de Nataliia Solomykina coincide con la ruta de un camión de la basura — Las Provincias

City & Society

One in five residents is now foreign-born — and Valencia’s Ukrainian community speaks about staying or going home

New census data published this week shows that foreign nationals now make up 21% of Valencia’s metropolitan population. The largest communities are Colombian, Romanian, Moroccan, and Venezuelan. Distinct neighbourhood clusters have emerged: a growing Italian community in Paterna, a Pakistani community in Mislata, and a Chinese community in Manises, for example.

Valencia Plaza interviewed Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain, Yulia Sokolovska, who estimated that of the more than 100,000 Ukrainians now living in the Comunitat Valenciana, roughly 60% want to return home eventually and 40% want to stay. She described Spain and Ukraine as “discovering each other” in business terms — a relationship still in its early stages.

Sources:
La población extranjera censada ya representa el 21% de Valencia y su área metropolitana — Valencia Plaza
Yulia Sokolovska: “Ucrania y España se están descubriendo mutuamente en materia empresarial” — Valencia Plaza

Source of the week

Los Buenos Días — the Las Provincias daily podcast

Listen: Los Buenos Días — Las Provincias

The daily podcast from Las Provincias covers light news and pop culture — making it useful for residents working on their language skills. This week’s episode featured a story about the discovery that the Rafael Abad bicycle shop in El Carmen — long thought to be the oldest in Valencia — has been beaten to that title by new evidence pointing to another shop in the Valencia region. A good entry point into the podcast if you haven’t listened before.