The municipal council of El Prat de Llobregat has approved the creation of a new body for intercultural coexistence and has strengthened civil protection with an executive direction. The Generalitat has also been urged to increase the staff of the Fire Brigade and to allocate the old courthouses to services for women.
On Thursday, the council of El Prat de Llobregat approved a package of measures during the ordinary session of July, covering areas from civil protection to the promotion of Catalan and the encouragement of intercultural coexistence. Among the most notable agreements is the establishment of the Local Table for Interculturality, a stable working space that will integrate entities, municipal services, and community agents to promote policies of cultural diversity and social cohesion.
The new Table, according to the council, aims to strengthen community participation and jointly address the challenges of cultural plurality in the city. It is a body that seeks to respond to the growing diversity of the Prat population, where people from over 80 nationalities coexist.
In the area of civil protection, the council has greenlit the creation of a new executive direction within the municipal staff. This position, which did not previously exist, will be tasked with improving planning, coordination, and response to risk situations and emergencies, such as the recent fire that affected the city or the strong winds that shook Catalonia a few months ago.
The municipal government informed during the session that the Generalitat is considering increasing the staff of the Prat Fire Brigade, which would rise from 28 to 44 personnel in the coming years. The shifts, which currently have seven agents, would increase to eleven, and the minimum per shift would rise from four to six, improving operational capacity. The council has emphasized that the fire station has not had to close recently.
Promotion of Catalan in extracurricular activities
In linguistic matters, the council has approved a motion to incorporate specific measures into the first Local Plan for the Promotion of Catalan, which is being developed by the Consortium for Linguistic Normalisation, to encourage the use of Catalan in extracurricular activities. The proposal includes analysing the situation of Catalan among young people under 16 years old and developing training actions aimed at monitors.
Another approved motion urges the Generalitat to consider the needs of associations in the old town and the city as a whole when deciding the future of the Hotel d’Entitats, located in the Lo Gaiter del Llobregat building. The Generalitat is reforming the Delta civic facility, and it has been reported that the Department of Social Rights is considering the possibility of relocating the current facility.
The municipal government has also reported that the Generalitat is studying the possibility of allocating the old courthouse premises on Avenida Coronel Sanfeliu, currently unused, to services for women from the Department of Equality and Feminisms. If realised, this measure would strengthen resources allocated to combating gender-based violence and promoting gender equality in the city.
The council session served to conclude the political term with a balance of measures that, according to the local executive, respond to the needs of the citizens and strengthen public services in key areas such as security, coexistence, and culture. Local associations have expressed their satisfaction with the creation of the Table for Interculturality, a body they consider necessary to channel diversity and prevent conflicts.
The session also allowed the municipal government to reiterate its commitment to linguistic normalisation and social cohesion, two pillars it considers fundamental for the future of El Prat. The approved measures will be implemented over the coming months, with the expectation that the new executive direction for civil protection will be operational before the end of the year.
Citizens interested in participating in the Local Table for Interculturality will be able to do so through community and cultural entities, which will be convened in the coming weeks to begin work. The council has announced that a citizen participation channel will be established to gather proposals.
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