New Equality Network for the Marina Alta
The Marina Alta successfully establishes its new Equality Network to strengthen gender equality policies across the region
20/05/2026
MACMA
The Xàbia Town Hall hosted yesterday afternoon’s plenary session for the establishment of this new cooperative body. The network has emerged from the direct involvement and prior work of equality officers from the different municipalities across the region.
Marina Alta – 20 May 2026. The Marina Alta has taken a historic step forward social wellbeing and equality management.
On Tuesday 19 May, the Plenary Hall of Xàbia Town Hall was the setting for the founding plenary session of the new Marina Alta Equality Network, an initiative created with the aim of uniting efforts and coordinating gender equality policies throughout the region. It is the result of commitment and collaborative work.
Reading and formal establishment of the plenary body of the new Network.
The creation of this network is not an isolated action, but the mature outcome of intensive prior work in diagnosis and cooperation. The body has been brought into being thanks to the firm commitment of the municipalities of the Marina Alta, channelled through the daily and coordinated work of the equality officers currently working across the region.
The importance of launching this network is based on two fundamental pillars:
Resource optimisation: It will allow tools, training and campaigns to be shared, ensuring that equality policies reach all towns with equal strength, regardless of population size.
Regional cohesion and coordinated response: It responds to the need to provide a joint, strong and unified response to current challenges relating to gender, work-life balance and diversity.
During the founding plenary session, the election of the presidency and vice-presidencies also took place. Together with the technical representatives, they will form the Network’s Board of Directors. In this regard, the President of the Commonwealth Association, Sergi Ferrús, wished to highlight and value the fact that the vice-presidencies “have always been distributed in order to represent all the political groups present in the town councils of the region, thereby guaranteeing plurality and representation of all political viewpoints within the various governing bodies of MACMA.”
Alex Waylett Fernández taking the chair after being elected by the plenary session.
Alex Waylett Fernández, Councillor for Equality at Sagra Town Hall, was unanimously elected president of the new Network. The following vice-presidencies were also unanimously elected and approved:
First Vice-Presidency: Laura Grimalt Pérez, from the EATIM of Jesús Pobre, representing the Compromís group.
Second Vice-Presidency: Javier Scotto Di Tella, from Dénia Town Hall, representing the PSOE group.
Third Vice-Presidency: Rosa Anna Caselles Llobell, from Teulada Town Hall, representing the PP group.
Fourth Vice-Presidency: Maria Oltra Vidal, from L’Atzúbia Town Hall, representing the independent group.
Meanwhile, the technical representative roles will be held by Aina González Naya from Xàbia Town Hall and Marta Miñana Alemany from Dénia Town Hall, with their corresponding substitutes being Shaila Monasor Ortolà from Calp Town Hall and Isabel Martín Pérez from Benissa Town Hall.
To conclude the plenary session, MACMA’s new Equality Officer gave an overview of the functioning and regulations of the Equality Network, and all representatives gathered for a group photograph together with the equality officers from across the region.
In the foreground, the Network’s Board of Directors together with the President of the Equality Network and the Mayor of Xàbia, the host town of the plenary session.
Alex Waylett, now serving as President of the Network, stated that “it is an honour to assume the presidency of the Marina Alta Equality Network. I approach this new stage with great enthusiasm and with the commitment to continue working towards a fairer, more inclusive and more equal region.” He also added, “I would like to thank everyone for the trust placed in me and recognise the work carried out so far by all those who form part of this network. We will continue promoting useful and accessible initiatives in order to move forward together in equality and coexistence throughout the Marina Alta.”
With the establishment of this network, the Marina Alta is consolidating its position as a benchmark for intermunicipal cooperation. Gender equality is taking a step forward in scale: it is no longer an isolated objective for each town, but rather a firm, coordinated and collective commitment shared across the entire region.
Now that the founding plenary session has been held, the Marina Alta Equality Network officially begins its work from today onwards, establishing a programme of activities that will shape the region’s social agenda over the coming months.
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