Valencia, (EFE) society as a whole”.
Calabuig has taken office to replace Aurelio Martínez, in an act attended by the President of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig; the president of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, and the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, among other authorities and representatives of civil society.
After thanking his predecessor for “the great work” “in times of exceptional complexity and enormous challenges”, Calabuig has advocated “continuing to move forward” with the perspective of 2030, both in an economic, environmental, and social and institutional dimension.
It has recognized that the ports “have generated a barrier effect in many places” and has considered it necessary “to make an effort to listen to those affected, to dialogue, to minimize the impacts and to contribute to a sustainable and harmonious development with the environment”.
“There have been and there are many spaces for agreement, without maximalism but from the conviction that nobody is absolutely right and everyone is somewhat right and everyone must be listened to”, defended the new president of the Port Authority, who said that “sustainability is essential” and that “this is not the age of developmentalism”.
The most sustainable port
Calabuig has opted to continue consolidating the port of Valencia as one of the most important in Europe, offering confidence, stability and security, as in recent years, and to advance in the challenge of digital transformation, where the port will not be ” a passive observer” but “a determined promoter”.
In addition, it has highlighted the objective of turning this infrastructure into “the most sustainable port in Europe”, betting on decarbonisation, the use of renewable energies and rail connections.
However, Calabuig has warned that all these advances will only be possible “in an environment of dialogue, consensus and a shared future”, in which, as he has highlighted, “we all have a great responsibility and there is no room for frivolity”.
He has pointed out that international consultants point to Valencia as the best city to live, it is for its quality of life, for its human resources, for its connectivity and, also, “for the dynamism that the port prints”.
Door to the Community
For his part, the President of the Generalitat has highlighted the importance of the port of Valencia as a “door to the Community”, and has assured that this infrastructure is key to the arrival of important investments such as the Volkswagen gigafactory in Sagunto.
He thanked Aurelio Martínez for having “worked intensely and with the vision of consolidating the first port in the Mediterranean”, but he pointed out that at each stage they must “set new challenges” and that this is “a relay game and new beginnings , taking into account what has been achieved”.
In this sense, he has considered that Calabuig is “a person linked to the city, who loves the city and who is prepared to add to that better integration between the port and the city”, and also has a global outlook and knowledge major international.
Puig has ensured that this is going to be a “decade of opportunities and the Community is not willing to lose it”, and advocated that the port offer “better opportunities for Valencian companies”, in addition to advancing in decarbonization and digitization, and favor that there are no borders between the port and society.
State Ports: Administrations must “go hand in hand”
Along the same lines, the president of Puertos del Estado has asked the different administrations to “go hand in hand” to ensure that citizens “make the port their own”, as is the case in other European countries, and to ensure that Spanish ports are sustainable.
“We can be the spearhead in the energy transition from the ports”, assured Rodríguez Dapena, who has advocated taking advantage of private collaboration but also Next Generation European funds to advance in this line.