Mayor Bascuñana confronts the Government with passionate speech stating that Orihuela does not accept blackmail

IN an extraordinary statement delivered by the mayor of Orihuela, the residents have been assured that the City Council will not give into blackmail from the Government.

Emilio Bascuñana gave an impassioned speech, exclaiming, “I will never act against the interests of my people, that is why we have to say no to the government and demand that the savings that we have achieved thanks to our responsible management remain in Orihuela and can be used in the needs of the Oriolanos.”
This comes after Emilio Bascuñana had insisted the Royal Decree Law of the Government, regarding the financing measures applicable to local entities, published on August 4, “tries to coerce us so that we ‘voluntarily’ give our savings to the government for its policies, by way of loans that will be repaid in 17 years. This is unacceptable and intolerable.”
The passionate mayor, accompanied by the Mayor of Emergencies, Víctor Valverde, reported that the Orihuela City Council will not deliver its savings to the state government “because we do not accept blackmail of any kind.”
In his statement, he explained that Orihuela needed the promised aid to arrive so that the city council can “make use of 100 per cent of the remnants to cover the needs caused by DANA and the Covid-19 crisis”.
He passionately expressed that “it is a matter that goes beyond the economic, it is an attack on the principles and dignity as a people.”
He recalled that a year after DANA “the aid from the government and the Generalitat Valenciana still has not arrived, and it is necessary to alleviate the serious damage suffered by our municipality and that amounts to €530 million.”
The mayor concluded that the current situation of economic crisis due to Covid-19, “aggravates the situation in Orihuela, and with more reason we must defend the interests of Orihuela. Nobody knows better than a city council what the needs of its residents are.”
Emilio Bascuñana said that he hopes that the central government will “reconsider and backtrack and allow the municipalities to invest 100 per cent of our savings in our municipalities.”
We will wait to see how, and if, the government responds to the passionate mayor.
For more news from Southern Costa Blanca, please follow this link.