The Castelló citizen card is consolidating its implementation with 22,538 registrations, encompassing both physical and digital formats. This municipal tool aims to be a unified access point to services, from public transport to libraries and waste fee discounts. Concurrently, the City Council has initiated a prior public consultation for the future ordinance that will regulate the application, issuance, and use of the document, a process open for citizen contributions until July 27.
Of the total cards issued, 15,140 are in physical format, obtained in person, while the rest opt for the virtual modality accessible via a mobile application. The council highlights an improvement in public service, reducing the waiting time for an appointment from one month to approximately 15 days. The itinerant issuance service in El Grau continues on Tuesdays during the summer to facilitate the process for residents of the maritime district.
The future ordinance aims to provide the citizen card with a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure greater legal security, transparency, and procedural guarantees, replacing or complementing the current usage bases. The new regulation seeks to adapt to current administrative legislation, strengthen the issuance and control system, and facilitate the digital transformation of local administration.
Currently, the card allows the use of public transport vouchers (physical format), access to municipal libraries and the Valencian Public Reading Network, use of the Bicicas service via app, and registration of visits to ecoparks using a QR code or physical card. A progressive expansion of functionalities is planned, such as access to sports facilities and registration for activities, with the goal of making it a unique instrument to simplify citizens' interaction with the administration.
The public consultation, available on the municipal website, is the first step towards the ordinance's approval. Interested parties can submit suggestions and observations. The consultation's documentation raises questions about the problems the initiative aims to solve, the necessity of the regulation, its objectives, and potential alternatives. Councilor for Citizen Participation, Paco Cabañero, is confident in completing the process before the end of 2026, providing Castelló with specific regulation for this key element of municipal digitalization.
