Alzira is a Spanish city of 44.225 inhabitants located in the “Valencian Community”, 40 km away from Valencia which is the third largest city in Spain. For many years and despite the economic crisis, the priorities of Alzira have been the economic and social development in order to offer the citizens the possibility to live in a fair and cohesive city.

As a countryside city, Alzira had to face hardly the economic crisis in Spain. Few industries went bankrupt and the rate of unemployment highly increased from 7% in 2006 to reach its higher point in 20% in 2015. Nevertheless, since then, it’s slightly decreasing and in July 2018 it was of 12,17%. The last data about unemployment (July 2018) shows that more than 63% of unemployed people are women. At the moment the service industry represents the 68,76% of the economy activity of Alzira.

The project would be carried by the local development department of the City Council of Alzira: IDEA (Initiative for the local development of Alzira).

The Agency depends on the Economic and Employment Promotion Department of the City Council of Alzira (Valencia). IDEA aims for promotion economic development and employment in the city. Working within a social context of difficult economic conditions IDEA aims to provide comprehensive support for the unemployed and entrepreneurs alike.

Created in 1995, IDEA works in various fields to develop the city of Alzira and has demonstrated its capacities in the management of local, national and European projects. In 2007 IDEA received the prize of the best agency for the local development from the Community of Valencia. This price recognizes the work and the success of IDEA in the areas of entrepreneurship and local development.

By Possessing a highly competent and efficient staff and versatile facilities (1200m2 of space) that are adaptable to a variety of diverse activities and programmes IDEA has strong structures in place to continue to develop their activities.

The mains areas of IDEA are:

• The labour orientation Service: IDEA supports unemployed people giving them assistance to find employment.
• The Public Employment Programme: gathered programs which directly generate jobs in Alzira.
• The Entrepreneurs service: This service aims to support entrepreneurship through the provision of services that strengthen business plans and support the entire start up process.
• The Training service: this service aims to improve the professional qualification of the groups with greater difficulties in accessing the labour market, and therefore enhance their return to working life.
• The European Projects Office: This service encourages the participation of the City Council in different projects. It also focuses on the European mobility and manages exchange projects for young people.