CalpeNoticiasEDUSI EN

Calpe Town Council has put out to tender the construction project of the 21st Century Tourist Office, a modern centre equipped with state-of-the-art technology to publicise Calp's tourist attractions in its aim to become a smart tourist destination.

This office will be located in a 282 m² building acquired by the Town Hall in 2018, in Llibertat street, in the heart of the historic centre, which will replace the current premises in Mosquit square. It will represent a new concept in tourist services as it will be carried out through new technologies, not only through electronic brochures or digital screens, but will also offer immersive experiences to the visitor. In this sense, it is intended that tourists who visit the city can get to know through virtual reality devices restricted access areas such as the inside of the Red Wall or other resources that cannot be accessed by people with reduced mobility such as the ascent to the Penyal d'Ifac. This immersive experience is also intended to offer guided tours of the sites of Banys de la Reina and the medieval Pobla d'Ifac, the old town and a fish auction at the fish market.

"The aim is to modernize the tourist information process by introducing innovative technology so that tourists have better information and experience about what Calp has to offer", said the councillor of EDUSI, Marco Bittner, who added that this office will provide tourist information to tourists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This project is part of the EDUSI Strategy "Revitaliza Calp" co-financed at 50 % with ERDF funds from the European Union and it is also a project included in the Calpe Smart Tourism Destination Plan approved by the Town Council Plenary during 2017.

The initiative, which now goes out to tender with a base amount of 575,954.92 €, includes the partial demolition of the building as part of the facade will be preserved at the request of the neighbours. It is a façade with a certain artistic value due to its traditional mouldings and balustrades, according to the work project drawn up by the architects Rubén Bodewig Belmonte and Alejandro Soriano Herrera. The rest of the building will be demolished, on top of which a new building will be constructed, consisting of an open-plan ground floor for tourist services, a first floor and a terrace-viewpoint.

Companies can submit their bids until 5 October and a period of six months has been set for this project to become a reality.

The company that has been awarded the contract for the renovation of calle Alcalde Vicente Pastor in Calp, together with representatives of the municipality, held a meeting this morning with the inhabitants of this street to inform them of the renovation work that is to begin in the coming months.

This project is part of the EDUSI strategy "Revitaliza Calp", co-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which aims to improve the pedestrian mobility of this street and its urban landscape.

The Alcalde Vicente Pastor street provides access to the historic centre of Calp - it connects Avenida Ifach with Plaza del Beato Francisco Sendra - and is a pedestrian walkway with ramps and stairs with steps of different types, making it difficult for pedestrians to reach the old town, as well as for residents to get to their homes.

The representatives of the contractor, Categor Obras y Proyectos, have informed the neighbours that the most expensive work to be considered in the project is the manufacture of the escalators, which will be installed in a section of the road, and is estimated to take four months. For this reason, they have stated that the work will not start until the construction of this infrastructure is completed - probably in February - and have concluded that the renovation work on the road will be completed before Easter.

In addition to the mechanical staircases, in order to improve the accessibility of this road, it is planned to build small ramps in the first section - the one closest to Avenida de Ifach, which will have landings to facilitate access to the residents' homes. On the other hand, a staircase will be built next to the façades on each side of the street.

On the other hand, the works also include the renovation of the pavement, which will be made of non-slip granite, and the lighting. It will also be used for the renovation of the drinking water supply and sewage system.

The cost of the project amounts to 170,839 euros, 50 percent of which will be financed by FEDER funds under the EDUSI strategy; the remaining 50 percent will be covered by Calp Town Council.

In addition to this road, it is planned to rehabilitate Benissa, Murillo and De Fora streets in the near future, projects which are also included in the EDUSI strategy.

Calp has revamped its tourism website to become an smart travel destination. This is the first project to be implemented in Calp within the framework of the EDUSI strategy "Revitaliza Calp", co-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The new website is very similar to the previous one in terms of design and content, although, unlike the previous website, it will allow the connection with other technological platforms to be introduced in Calp as an intelligent tourist destination. This is the case of a tourist app that will be launched soon and the information centralization platform of the Smart City office.

The launch of this website is a necessary step in order to offer tourists the services that a smart destination entails, such as immediate information services through technological devices that connect to tourists' mobile phones and allow them to find out and obtain information about the place where they are.

Moreover, the new website will improve the management of the Tourism Department, as it will be possible to obtain much more information about, among other things, the concerns of tourists, the times of influx or the resources most requested by them.

Calp City Council has organised an information session to explain some of the projects included in the EDUSI strategy co-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The projects presented are the redesign of calle de Fora in the historic centre, the project of works in calle Alcalde Vicente Pastor and the project of works t for the redesign of calle Benissa and calle Murillo.

During the information session, the municipal technicians and the Councillor in charge of the EDUSI strategy, Pilar Cabrera, answered all the questions of the citizens who attended the City Hall plenary session.

On 16 January, the City Council organised a day to present the EDUSI strategy as a whole, but on this occasion we wanted to hold an information session so that the people and companies affected by these three projects could present all their concerns and contribute their ideas and suggestions.

The questions raised by local residents related to the type of materials to be used in the transformation of the streets, the elements to be installed or the functioning of the ramps and escalators.

The projects are also open to the public so that anyone who so wishes can make any claims they deem appropriate. The deadline for making claims is 13 March, and the documents are available on the City Council's website at the following link: https://www.calp.es/es/content/documentos-exposici%C3%B3n-p%C3%Bablica.

EDUSI Strategy

The EDUSI strategy includes technological implementation to make Calp a smart tourist destination, improving pedestrian mobility on several streets in the city or promoting technological accessibility and transparency of e-government services.

This project, which is financed by the European Union through the ERDF, comprises different lines of action grouped into 4 strategic objectives The first objective is to improve the accessibility and transparency of the city's website and e-government services and to develop initiatives for intelligent cities, ranging from sensorisation, the use of large amounts of data or the extension of the Wifi network throughout the municipality.

The second objective is to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy by developing measures to improve mobility and accessibility and implementing energy efficiency measures.

The protection of the environment and the promotion of resource efficiency with the reclaiming of green spaces and the improvement of the urban landscape are the axes of the third objective.

And the last objective promotes social inclusion and the fight against poverty through an activation plan for the old town, which includes a commercial action plan, a social centre for people at risk of social exclusion or the 21st century tourism office.

Calp City Council has presented to the public 3 of the projects of the EDUSI strategy "Revitalization of Calp", co-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

On January 16th, some of the projects included in this strategy were presented in one day and three of them were presented to the public, so that anyone who wishes to do so can present the complaints they consider appropriate.

The deadline for submitting complaints is 13 March, and the documents are available on the City Council's website at the following link: https://www.calp.es/es/content/documentos-exposici%C3%B3n-p%C3%BAblica

The City Council also organised an information meeting on Friday 28 February to allow all the people and companies affected by these projects to raise their doubts and questions with the technical staff of the City responsible for these projects.

The EDUSI strategy includes technological implementation to make Calp a smart tourist destination, improving pedestrian mobility on several streets in the city or promoting technological accessibility and transparency of e-government services.

The Calpe City Council has presented the projects that are integrated into the strategy of sustainable and integrated urban development EDUSI "Revitaliza Calpe", co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union.

The EDUSI strategy comprises different lines of action grouped in 4 strategic objectives. The first objective is to improve the accessibility and transparency of the municipal website and electronic administration and to develop Smarty City initiatives, ranging from the availability of sensor technology, the use of large data or the extension of the Wifi network throughout the municipality.

The second objective is to support the transition to a low carbon economy by developing measures to improve mobility and accessibility and implementing energy efficiency measures.

The protection of the environment and the promotion of resource efficiency with the recovery of green spaces and the improvement of the urban landscape are the axes of the third objective.

And the last objective promotes social inclusion and the fight against poverty through an activation plan for the old town, a commercial action plan, a social centre for people at risk of social exclusion or the 21st century tourism office.

The presentation of the different projects was given by the technical staff of the City Council and focused on the actions to be carried out in Calle Benissa, Carrer de Fora, and Calle Murillo and Calle Alcalde Vicente Pastor.

In these latter two streets, the most innovative element is the installation of escalators and ramps to improve mobility and urban accessibility in the old town of Calpe, especially for the elderly and people with mobility problems.

Another project is the installation of a new Wifi network with 120 points, 90 outdoors and 20 indoors. In this way, from now on all the municipal buildings and facilities, such as the House of Culture, the Civic Centre and the sports facilities, will be accessible via WiFi. The beaches of La Fossa, as well as the Arena-Bol and Cantal Roig beaches, will also be WiFi enabled from now on.

Another project that was presented is the 21st Century Tourism Office, which will be located in the old town centre, together with a project on the availability of sensor technology and data acquisition and processing allowing Calpe to be configured as an intelligent travel destination.

The Mayor of Calpe pointed out that "the EDUSI strategy is an ambitious project requiring an investment of 6 million euros, 50% of which is co-financed by the European Union's ERDF".

Calpe has become part of the Smart Tourist Destinations Network, a body coordinated by the Secretary of State for Tourism and the Segittur Company, with the aim of promoting innovation and technology in the field of tourism in Spain and thus contributing to increasing the competitiveness of Spanish tourist destinations.

The municipality has been integrated at level three, which is maximum planned to join this network in order to meet the three necessary requirements: a self-diagnosis based on the model of the Smart Tourist Destination (ITD) of the Valencia Tourist Office, to have a strategic plan of the ITD and also to initiate actions in this area.

To this end, Calpe plans to install a technology for collecting and managing tourism data, i.e. sensors that monitor various aspects of the municipality, such as traffic and parking areas, water consumption, amount of waste, number of beach visitors, etc., as well as a control panel on which all this data will be collected. The compilation of this information, which can be accessed in real time, aims to improve services for tourists and be a more efficient destination for managing their resources.

The technological implementation to make Calpe an intelligent destination is part of the EDUSI strategy for sustainable and integrated urban development "Revitaliza Calpe", which is co-financed under the ERDF 2014-202020 with the European Regional Development Fund.

Being part of the Smart Tourist Destinations Network means that Calpe's entire tourism management is carried out under certain parameters in terms of accessibility, environmental sustainability and the application of technologies to the municipality's tourism management. In addition, the city can draw on grants offered by both the Valencia Tourist Office for investments in technology.

The aim is to improve the management of tourism in the municipality and, on the other hand, to improve the tourist experience.

The Smart Tourist Destinations Network currently consists of 66 destinations and 10 institutional members, including public, private and academic institutions.

Ana Sala, the mayor of the city, and several city councils met with municipal technicians from different departments involved in the implementation of the Edusi strategy "Revitaliza Calpe" to analyse the situation of each of the projects collected under the strategy.

The sustainable and integrated urban development strategy "Revitaliza Calpe" is co-financed under ERDF 2014-2020 with the European Regional Development Fund and includes, among other things, the technological implementation to make Calp a smart tourist destination, the improvement of pedestrian mobility in the various streets of the city or the promotion of accessibility and technological transparency of e-government services, among other services.

 As Ana Sala stated after the meeting: "All the actions planned in the EDUSI strategy of ERDF funding are going as planned and with the aim of allowing the citizens of Calpe to get to know them first hand, we are organising a day to present all the actions.