Tacticism in politics is a very valuable tool and the Lalín government group managed it, in light of what happened yesterday in plenary session, to play its tricks in the recovery of the current outpatient clinic building when it is free with the transfer to the Comprehensive Center of Health (CIS). Yesterday the corporation approved an initiative from the local executive in which the Xunta is asked to launch a conciliation center – with shared spaces for children and typical of a residential day center – with the aforementioned property as the place chosen for its creation. An hour earlier, the mayor, José Crespo, had already warned that the free transfer of the clinic was not possible since the ministry had informed him that “it would have to be paid” for its transfer to the city hall. The PSOE demanded that the mayor apologize for having ridiculed a similar proposal a year ago regarding the transfer of the health building.
Given that the executive is not willing to spend money on a building that has been propped up for years and awaiting the results of other Crespo strategies, the new conciliation space will either be created elsewhere or its materialisation will take a long time. The mayor, who was absent from the session to attend a meeting at the regional ministry on the launch of the CIS, responded to the opposition’s criticisms about the small size of the health complex by indicating that what he wants is for it to be fully operational when it starts up and he doubts that it will be before the patron saint festivities. He insisted that, with pending organisational issues, the aim must be for the centre to function as a day hospital in the medium term.
The opposition once again criticized him for the delay in coming into operation or the small number of parking spaces that there will be. One of the solutions, pending the acquisition of more land to gain more parking space, is for professionals to use an adjacent property to leave their vehicles. The councilor appealed to the quantitative and qualitative leap that healthcare will experience and revealed that he does not give up on the CIS having a CT and MRI service, but in the meantime he proposes that Sergas arrange these diagnostic tests with private companies in the municipality.
On the other hand, the BNG defended a motion in which it sought to get municipal representatives to take a stand against the Altri plant project in Palas de Rei. Its spokesperson, Francisco Vilariño, accused the Popular Party of acting as a commercial agent for a “colonizing and predatory project” that will punish the environment and that will also contribute even more to increasing eucalyptus plantations in its sphere of influence. He assured that the Portuguese business group wants to visit Galicia because it was not admitted in Portugal. Both PSOE and Compromiso supported the BNG proposal. The socialist spokesperson, Alba Forno, said that with the data known about the project it is prudent to think that it will not be beneficial, that there are contradictory reports and that she trusts that the competent public administrations can stop the soluble cellulose pulp production factory and of lyocell. Or that the European Union, for the same reasons, does not approve the financing requested by the developer. The spokesperson for Compromiso, Rafael Cuíña, assured that in the face of a project of this dimension, especially economic, there are relevant movements that make him think about which promoters and parties involved will seek, if necessary, a regulatory change that opens the door to the Palas factory. , although he showed confidence that the Xunta, State and European Union would firmly ensure that the project complied.
The government spokesman, Avelino Souto, harshly attacked the BNG, saying “don’t do it” and that this party remains stuck in the past and prefers a “Galicia in which people walk around in loincloths and cows graze on the roadsides”, although, he said, the reality is that Galicia is a modern territory. “The AP-9 was a navallada to Galicia; you vote in favour of the wolf and against the cows or against the cattle farmers in the European Union”, he said. Souto appealed to prudence and to the opinions of public bodies, which, in his opinion, will be the ones to open or close the door to Altri. With the PP’s vote against almost announced, the councillor accused the BNG of using “lies” and “manipulation” in the analysis of a project that was initially well regarded by the nationalists. Vilariño recalled how technicians from the Xunta reported in favour of energy projects, later rejected by the courts.
Controversy over the entrance fee for the pool
The government justified resuming the charge for access to outdoor pools after listening to some families, who asked that some access control mechanism be established to avoid incidents or that some people take over the facility almost permanently. This position did not convince the opposition, which cited other increases in taxes, fees and public prices in this mandate, which result in a greater economic burden for families. Vilariño, Forno and Teresa Varela (Compromiso) indicated that the file contains an estimated collection of more than 7,000 euros, to which we must add the same amount from a subsidy, when the executive indicated that the income from accesses in the summer campaign was barely They exceed 2,000 euros. Regarding access control, they told the government that it could be done without recovering a payment that does not establish bonuses for large families or vulnerable groups. Regarding the modification of this public price, Francisco Vilariño pointed out that it will not even come into force on July 1 due to the mandatory procedures and therefore in the first days it will not be possible to charge the neighbors, an issue that for the nationalist highlights once again the improvisation of the government group and its management inability. Souto argued that it was not planned to resume charging the entrance fee this year and that the decision was made at the last minute after listening to this group of people.
Boi Well
In another vein, the City Council will undertake improvements to the Pozo do Boi river beach, which in no case will involve installing many more benches or rehabilitating the grills, since in the latter case their use is prohibited. The motion was defended by Miguel Medela, from Compromiso, and replicated by Raquel Lorenzo.
A regulatory framework for citizen motions
The PSOE proposed a modification to the agenda to replace an initiative on the creation of an archive with another related to the government’s refusal to admit to debate a citizen motion against the implementation of the blue zone on Areal Street. Its councilor Anxo Álvarez accused the executive of not respecting a proposal endorsed by more than 400 signatures, regardless of the fact that the regulation promoted by the quadripartite was not definitively approved. Vilariño was harsher, who attacked “the arrogance” of a government without “democratic will” and boasted that the BNG was the only party that positioned itself from the first moment against the blue zone in Areal. Cuíña, for his part, applauded that a neighbor promoted this initiative, while citing that the representation of citizens falls precisely on the plenary session.
Souto opened his speech by reproaching the opposition for not approving this regulation in four years of coalition government and, without verbalizing it, he let it slip that, as the mayor had stated a couple of weeks ago, the blue zone on this street has no turning back. . He even alluded to the increase in the vote of the residents of this street in the last European elections. He indicated that of the 400 signatures, only a hundred correspond to residents on this street. For Álvarez, the relevance lies in the number of signatures, whether or not they are from residents of the area, while Vilariño announced that if the government is going to muzzle the promoters of this citizen motion, the BNG will bring one of its own in the next plenary session.
Registrations
Vilariño asked the government about cases of registrations in homes whose owners are unaware and hinted that the government could be aware of these practices. He proposed that this matter be addressed in informative commissions, while his partner, Ariadna Fernández, disavowed the organization of the Miss Grand Galicia pageant.