The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has defended the “reputation of high quality” of Spanish agricultural products abroad, and in particular of quality red berries, and they are differentiated throughout the world, and considers that, if Doñana is “in the controversy”, it is due to the interest of creating a political debate against the Government that is “absolutely undeserved”.

“Doñana is in the controversy because some want to put in trouble and take advantage of these issues to try to provoke a political debate against you that is absolutely undeserved,” Planas said during the second work session, a discussion with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, held at the socialist headquarters on Calle de Ferraz, in Madrid.

The minister has defended that Doñana is “a great asset” and has proposed using it as a “reference for the Huelva red fruit sector”, where the “most people” with whom he has spoken are “totally” in agreement with that Planas approach because “they are respectful people, who work well and correctly”, but to whom some have sought initiatives “not only impossible but really petty”, such as the proposal of the Andalusian Parliament.

Thus, he has insisted that the proposal of the Andalusian Chamber that seeks to authorize irrigation in nearly 800 hectares in the surroundings of the Doñana National Park generates “a problem that deep down has been created for them”. However, it has celebrated that, “fortunately”, the Government of Spain has managed to “solve” the issue from the point of view of reputation.

With regard to the reputation of Spanish products, he also mentioned “what has happened in Castilla y León in recent weeks” with the controversy over the regulation of more flexible controls on the mobility of cattle at risk of bovine tuberculosis in the framework of the autonomous government of PP and Vox.

“Imagine, the meat sector is one of the most important export sectors in Spain!” Planas highlighted Sánchez, to whom he added that only pork, Spain is the third largest producer in the world, behind China and the United States. United because it is a country of “quality” and “safe” and that produces with “the best guarantees” of quality for citizens.

For this reason, he has underlined the importance of the reputation of a job well done, as well as competitiveness and sustainability.

The families evicted tonight from a building in Teruel in which cracks appeared in the wall and which was on San Francisco street, the same one where the one that collapsed last week was located, have been able to return to their homes.

The building, number 56, has been evicted after the appearance of a crack in the wall and after the alert given to the municipal emergency services by the residents of the property after hearing a loud noise.

Municipal technicians and a private technician provided by the farm have checked the state of the building and have determined that the residents could return.

Municipal sources have reported that the alert was received around one in the morning, which prompted the rapid displacement to the area of agents of the Local Police and National Police, firefighters and municipal technicians, who verified the appearance of a crack in one of the stair partitions.

This situation, which occurs a few days after the collapse of a building in the same city that left several families without their homes, led to the urgent eviction of the residents, “as a precaution,” according to the City and Sustainability Councilor, Juan Carlos Crossed.

The building dates from 2005 and has 13 homes, some unoccupied. According to the first information, the structure is not affected and the damage is limited to the stair partition, so the pillars or the load-bearing wall will not be affected..

Juan Carlos Cruzado has admitted that they do not know what could have caused the crack, although he has pointed out that the rains may have caused some differential settlement that has produced a movement, which would have cracked the partition of the staircase.

In many autonomous communities, the students who have taken the Selectividad this year are already breathing easy. Whether for better or for worse, they already know their qualifications and make their calculations to see if the grade is enough to access the career they want or if, on the contrary, they will face the extraordinary call of the EvAU.

However, in the case of Andalusia, the examinees are still a bundle of nerves after three continuous days of exams that will determine the academic and professional future of many of them.. The exams of the ordinary call were held between June 13 and 15 and, a week later, the results will be announced. Therefore, the notes corresponding to the ordinary call for the Selectividad 2023 in Andalusia will be published on Thursday, June 22, starting at 8:00 a.m..

The qualifications of this ordinary call will be available on the official web pages of the different Andalusian universities. To access, the student must enter with the username that was generated in the EvAU registration process.. Once they know the notes, they have the possibility to request a second correction. The same Thursday, June 22, also opens the period to claim and request the review of the exams.

Until June 30th

The deadline for submitting applications for enrollment in the different university degrees will also begin.. Thus, if students have a sufficient grade to access the university degree they want, they will have until June 30 to apply at the university center. Of course, it will not be until July 6 when the first award is published.

Regarding the total grade, on the one hand, there is the final grade of the access phase, made up of the sum of the grades from the Spanish Language and Literature, History of Spain, Foreign Language and a general core subject of modality. , divided all by four. The resulting qualification will represent 40% of the Selectivity grade, while the other 60% refers to the average grade of the two baccalaureate courses.

The festivities of San Juan are lived with intensity in a large part of the Spanish geography. And, although they generally have a longer tradition in coastal towns (such as Alicante), they are also very much enjoyed in places like Madrid, where different concerts, activities and parades are held every year.. Specifically, districts such as Retiro and Ciudad Lineal carry out their own proposals to commemorate this celebration between June 23 and 25.

In this way, the people of Madrid will welcome the summer with music, shows and gastronomic initiatives. The activities begin on the night of San Juan, this Friday, June 23; They continue on the day on which the birth of Saint John the Baptist is commemorated, on Saturday, June 24, and extend until Sunday, June 25.. In the case of the Retiro district, the programming is divided between its northern zone (on Narváez street, at the intersection of Doce de Octubre and Ibiza streets) and south (Martin Luther King Park and Adelfas Sports Center).

Whether you are residents of these neighborhoods or from other parts of Madrid, you can get closer if you are attracted by what they have planned in their program. In addition, a large bonfire will also be lit in Vicálvaro on the night of San Juan, and there will be activities in other municipalities of the Community of Madrid such as Alcobendas and Alcalá de Henares.

In Alcalá, the free concert of the veteran indie pop-rock group La Habitación Roja stands out, which will perform at 10:00 p.m. on Friday the 23rd in Juan de Austria Park, just after the young band Vaho, which will perform at 9:00 p.m.: 00. At the end of these concerts, the San Juan bonfire will be lit at midnight in the park.

@lahabitacionroj @vahomusica 2 Big!! pic.twitter.com/AdooW18l8o

— Fernando (@fadame) June 20, 2023

San Juan 2023 in the Retiro district

Friday, June 23 (Narváez Street)

• 18:15 Parade: Batucada That Understands.
• 8:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Inauguration and proclamation. Tribute to our elders and small businesses.
• 9:00 p.m. Reine (rock in Spanish).
• 9:45 p.m. Los Rebeldes (rock in Spanish).
• 00:00 h San Juan bonfire simulation show.
• 00:15 pm Group versions Be Band.

Friday, June 23 (Martin Luther King Park)

• 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Batucada: Hakuna.
• 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Choir Corofón: Collective from Seco.
• 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Rumbitels.
• 10:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Fire show: La Horizontal.
• 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ArcanoA Rock Band.

Saturday, June 24 (Narváez Street)

• 12:00 pm Opera for children The Magic Flute. Iron Theatre.
• 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Draw/raffle by Av. North Retreat. Two prizes per minute.
• 9:00 p.m. Ángulo Muerto (rock in Spanish).
• 9:45 p.m. Mar Casak (indie/pop in Spanish).
• 10:30 p.m. Tribute to Mecano: AI DALÍ.
• 00:00 Ludosport Madrid: Sports fencing with lightsaber.
• 00:15 Raúl Vilar DJ.

Saturday, June 24 (Martin Luther King Park)

• 11:30 am Children's show: The Lizard Dances. Iron Theater.
• 1:00 p.m. Vermouth Session: La Troje.
• 8:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. Awa for the Bald.
• 9:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Flavia Beaka.
• 11:00 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. Anís Guateque.
• 00:30 pm DJ Gema Tajadura.

Sunday, June 25 (Narváez Street)

• 11:00 am Dani O'Magic, children's show, family.
• 12:15 pm Vermouth from Zarzuela by the Ferro Teatro Company.
• 1:15 p.m. Chotis workshop.
• 2:00 p.m. Domino awards ceremony: two dominoes for the first and second prize.

Sunday, June 25 (Martin Luther King Park)

• 11:30 a.m. Children's show: Little more clueless elves. Iron Theater.
• 2:00 p.m. Popular paella.

🎊 Festivities of San Juan 2023 #Retiro

🎪NARVÁEZ TENTS: Inflatables, domino championship, workshops (face painting, games, fans, laser swords) on June 23, 24 and 25
🏀ADELFAS: 7-a-side football, 3×3 basketball and paddle tennis tournaments in pairs. Days 17, 18, 24 and 25 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.. pic.twitter.com/yE0l1RMmU2

— JMDretiro (@JMDretiro) June 16, 2023

In addition, during these days there will also be inflatable tents, face painting, a domino championship and a laser sword workshop on Calle Narváez; and 7-a-side football, basketball and paddle tennis tournaments in the Martin Luther King Park.

San Juan 2023 in the Ciudad Lineal district

In the case of Ciudad Lineal, the programming is distributed among three different points: San Pascual (Human Rights Street), San Juan Bautista (Flori Park) and Quintana (El Calero Auditorium).. We will end up having a water fight. Remember to lower your gun!!

Sunday, June 25 (Quintana)

• 09:30 h Chess tournament.
• 11:00 to 14:00 h Children's activities: Inflatables, theater, workshops, games, etc.
• 19:00 to 20:30 h SUN -RAY.
• 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm Voice of women with: MAGALI REVOLLAR and MARIELLA KHON.

The north of Spain has all the ingredients to obtain some of the most spectacular beaches. The contrast between the mountainous landscapes, cliffs and endless beaches makes these regions a true natural paradise.. But, just as we have to value the virtues of these places, it is also time to know which are the worst beaches in the north of the country and, therefore, fail in environmental matters.

To guide us on this path, Ecologistas en Acción has recently presented the Black Flags 2023 report, in which it awards a total of 48 badges: two per province or autonomous city, one flag for pollution, and another for poor environmental management of the coast.. “Year after year we observe problems similar to the previous ones, although without a doubt one of the biggest problems we face is the touristification and urbanization of our coastline”, they indicate from the organization. Thus, among the reasons that carry a black flag are discharges, deficiencies in sanitation systems and serious purification problems; chemical, light and acoustic pollution or the accumulation of marine debris, among others.

These are the 48 #BanderasNegras2023 that we have awarded this year to bring to light the problems of pollution and mismanagement of the coast of the Spanish State. More information in the full report.

👉🏾 https://t.co/jrblGlN50m

We open thread. 🧵🌊https://t.co/GUmcsYc5JX

– Ecologists in Action (@ecologistas) June 14, 2023

On this occasion, from Ecologistas en Acción they highlight a problem that until now they had not denounced. It is about the proliferation of designated dog beaches without a prior environmental impact assessment. Walking with dogs through natural environments has become a very popular activity around the world, “which poses a series of environmental problems and challenges that must be addressed responsibly”, they add, giving the example of the high impact that walking with dogs cause on the coastal fauna, mainly birds, since it is the exclusive habitat for feeding, resting and reproduction for many of them.

Black Flag beaches in northern Spain

In the north of the country we find ten black spots distributed between Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. Pollution and poor environmental management of the coasts, together with the urbanization of the coast, put these ten enclaves in the spotlight.

Galicia

• Pontevedra: Bad management at the Ayuntamiento de Vigo for designating a canine beach at the arena of A Calzoa, and for contamination of the ENCE Factory in Pontevedra due to occupation of the public domain
• A Coruña: Mina de San Finx (poured) and Mina de Touro (poured)
• Lugo: Playa de Areaoura (urbanization) and San Cibrao (contamination)

Asturias

• Musel (Regasifier) and Playa de Bañugues (sprayed)

cantabria

• Under Asón (sanitation deficiencies) and Liencres (occupation of the public domain of the parking spaces)

The authors of this study regret the extension of the concession to the ENCE cellulose factory on the shores of the Pontevedra estuary. “After 75 years pouring onto the coast and having exhausted the maximum number of years provided by law, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the pulp mill, despite a prior judicial ruling from the National Court, ratifying the end of the concession,” they explain..

The enthusiasm that the anti-ultra-right speech of María Guardiola has aroused in Extremadura explicitly denounces the surrender of the PP to Vox in other municipalities and communities, to the point of questioning the limits and aptitudes of Núñez Feijóo's leadership. The Valencia pact and the Mérida disagreement cannot be applauded at the same time, nor can all the confusion that the negotiations with Santiago Abascal's party drag on the excuse of plurality can be attributed to the excuse of plurality.

Have the territorial baronies gotten out of control for Feijóo? Was the president of the PP aware of the Levantine pairing and the Extremaduran divorce or was he not aware? Either hypothesis emphasizes the hierarchy problem. In one case, because Feijóo would not command the PP as a leader should. And in the other, because his problem would then consist in the criteria, if not in a kind of political bipolarity. The euphoria of the agreement in Valencia suffers from the abrupt rupture of Extremadura, more or less as if the candidate for Moncloa intended to satisfy the entire electorate. And as if the cliché of Galicianism exposed Escher's paradox from east (Valencia) to west (Extremadura): go down and go up at the same time.

María Guardiola, or María la Extremadura, as she likes to call herself, has set conceptual limits whose relevance and relevance spoil the collusion of the PP and Vox in local and regional pacts.

It would be unacceptable to govern with a party that denies gender violence, abjures climate change, emphasizes xenophobia, imposes the catechism, externalizes nationalism and threatens the rules of coexistence.

It is impressive that Guardiola's rejection of Vox has turned her into “the red baroness” —this is how El Mundo describes her—, although it is even more striking that they try to justify the agreements with the ultra-right, not because of the deterioration of principles but because of the purely arithmetic criteria.

In other words, the obscene embrace of Valencia would be justified because Vox exercises all its electoral power, while the disagreement in Extremadura would have to be reasoned with the unfounded blackmail of the extreme right: its discrete numbers do not allow it to abuse or aspire to governance.

The ambiguity unmasks the opportunism of the PP and its lack of convictions. Feijóo would have to endorse Guardiola's speech. And turn it into an exercise in political responsibility, assuming for the same reasons that a few investitures may fail..

What sense does it make to reproach Sánchez for his relationships with extremes and then reproduce his same perversions? It is preferable to preserve political decency than expose yourself to ideological and political bribery from the extreme right, but it is not clear that Feijóo controls the PP as might be supposed. This is demonstrated by the precariousness of the political and symbolic list of Madrid. The president of the PP has not managed to enlist relevant personalities. He has not achieved a signing of substance either. It has folded to Ayusismo. And it has turned a political personality as evanescent as Marta Rivera de la Cruz into number two..

It makes sense to ask who is at the controls of the PP. What president awaits us. And how can it be politically sustained that the Valencians deserve in Levante what they do not deserve in Extremadura?. Or the other way around.

It is likely that the swerves will not have an impact on Feijóo's electoral accounts. The victory predicted by the polls does not depend so much on the enthusiasm of his project as on the end of the regime. And of a game of inertia that surpasses the Valencian and Extremaduran situation.

It is the context in which Feijóo has begun to speculate with the tailwind. And to perfect a political artifact —an opportunistic hybrid— according to which Guardiola's bravery in the Mérida plaza has come in very handy to qualify Mazón's meekness in the Valencia arena.

one thing and the opposite. Feijóo wants to show us that he is not a prisoner of Vox. Or that it is only there where the numbers force it to swallow the principles, in such a way that a leadership without a leader or a leader without leadership emerges whose propulsion force is none other than the exhaustion of sanchismo.

The Catalan independence movement is reorganized for the next political course after the elections, where the prospects are negative. This Tuesday, the Moviment per la Independència (MxI) platform held an event at the emblematic Ateneu de Barcelona to prepare the Second Conference for the Own State, which it intends to hold at the end of September and whose closure is scheduled for the 30th of that month. one day before the anniversary of the illegal referendum. In this conference, where the main pro-sovereignty movements will participate, a roadmap for secession will be established that wants to involve all political and social actors in favor of independence.. It should be noted that the First Conference took place in 2011 and led to the birth of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) as the main actor of the independence movement. Now, this second conference wants to terminate the ANC and exchange it for another instrument. Or, at least, change your strategy and convert it into another incentive that shakes the streets again.

The MxI road map, to which El Confidencial has had access, highlights that “the nine pardoned political prisoners are incapable of maintaining their political activity on the front line.”. He asks them for “political responsibilities”, while praising the strategy of “exile” from which they chose to leave, including Carles Puigdemont. He advocates once again “showing the strength of popular support on the street, both in massive demonstrations and in spectacular actions that have a worldwide echo”. These mobilizations “must be very well planned actions, with clear messages and that have the recognition and acceptance of the majority of society”.

The new agitation actors will no longer be the ANC or Òmnium Cultural. Not even the defense committees of the republic (CDR). They will be the Grups d'Acció Territorial (GAT), a kind of territory control squads or commandos, a kind of guardians of the revolution that will assume powers of control and defense of the territory and the population. These are, the roadmap details, specialized groups “which, on the one hand, must develop the corresponding strategy and carry out training and preparation in the methods of nonviolent struggle and, on the other, identify the neuralgic points of the country that have to be occupied and protected, in any circumstance, from the very moment of the establishment of the Catalan Republic in its own territory”. The document considers the GATs a key and essential piece “in the process of reaching the establishment of the Republic” and also “will be the basis of its subsequent defense, once proclaimed, without having to cede this function to a professional army”..

Colonize public spaces

The GATs will be structured, the document states, “as a Catalan Civilian Nonviolent Defense system” and will be decisive for the international recognition of the new Republic in terms of security and defense.. In the field of street mobilizations, the roadmap stresses that it is necessary to “turn them into acts to initiate and promote campaigns of nonviolent struggle, non-cooperation, disobedience, construction of sovereignties… that touch pillars of power, such as those announced in projects 5 and 6”.

These projects refer to the colonization of public spaces and permanent mobilizations “that promote the presence on roads and streets of our towns and cities of flags, shields, banners, slogans and all kinds of symbols, both in public and private spaces that make the disconnection of Catalonia and its distancing from the Spanish State is evident”. It also refers to “special mobilizations”, in “very well planned” actions that may “disturb the normal functioning of the city, neighborhood or affected population”. The territorial structure of the ANC would be fundamental in this type of actions.

Because the prominence of the GATs does not mean that the current pro-independence structures are underestimated. “The ANC, the local councils of the Republic, the Association of Municipalities for Independence, the CDRs and others of a sectoral or territorial nature will take a greater role in the new stage, in which greater specialization and discretion are required.. In most projects, the territorial structure of the ANC, local councils and Òmnium will constitute the best basis for their development. In many of these projects, the sectoral structure of the ANC must have a leading role that until now it has not been able to have”. At the same time, “Òmnium, the Platform for the Language, the CAL (Coordinadora d'Associacions per la Lengua Catalana), the Ens de l'Associacionisme Cultural and many of the federations that are linked, present throughout the country, can be essential pieces to carry out some projects and are the gateway to reach thousands of people with proposals for actions derived from each project”. The same can be said of economic organizations, such as Chambers of Commerce, employers' associations, the Círculo de Economía or private entities.. “They are fundamental pieces in decisive moments,” he stresses, so they will have to be added to the movement.

assault on institutions

The roadmap foresees actions and major campaigns such as “the discredit of the Spanish state in the international arena, the promotion of a discourse of Spanish national defeat of the Ggeneration of '98 type, coordination, at the state level, with other republican forces, the possible cracks legal entities to open debates on topics such as amnesty, self-determination or monarchy…”. To comply with this, it has the experience acquired, the judgments of courts of other States denying extraditions or of international courts contrary to Spain and the multiplication of “country tools”, such as the assault on institutions, be it the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce , unions, universities, cultural entities, sports clubs, etc.. The international resolutions against Spain, he points out, must be “one more element within the strategy of recognition of the democratic right to establish the new State”.

A key point is the “practical use” of the concept of “objectively identifiable group” to accuse Spain of attacking an ethnic minority group. Thus, he promises “a permanent campaign against the unsupportive and Jacobin neocentralism of the power of Madrid” and the possibility of establishing a “Catalan digital currency” that is not based “on a speculative cryptocurrency that leaves its value drifting in the markets.” the countries that adopt it.

For the new movement, it is necessary to strengthen the role of the Consell de la República, the court body chaired by Carles Puigdemont. The Consell is used as a body that represents “the continuity of the Catalan Republic proclaimed on October 27, 2017 in the Parliament of Catalonia”. Its role will be the “representation and international projection of the Catalan Republic in exile, the construction of the institutional structure of the new Republic”. Its strength is that it is outside of Spain.

The MxI considers that “we come from almost 6 years of disenchantment, of collective frustration and only a solid and realistic project can make the strength of the people [which was the motto of the great mobilizations of the past] return to being the engine we need ”. He recognizes that “the independence movement, today, is fragmented and, in general, disoriented”. Does not provide for a new organization to replace ANC and Òmnium. “What is needed is a shared roadmap accepted by all and a coordination tool that ensures maximum effectiveness”. The role of the MxI is to be “a flexible structure, without permanently visible heads, designed to define and execute the different projects that have to generate the conditions to establish the Catalan Republic and maintain it until it obtains international recognition”.

This platform is reactivated with this Second National Conference for the Own State, which will also elect a leadership made up of a maximum of 9 leaders. Each one will have 3 representatives under their command who will be integrated into a Permanent Commission, which will control the operation of the entity.. For “security reasons”, each member of that commission must designate a person to replace him “if necessary, especially if the holders are unable to continue exercising their responsibility due to the effects of State repression, which will intensify as the advance the process of establishment of the Republic”.

This platform points out in a letter that “this new country roadmap makes it clear that the main role corresponds, now more than ever, to organized civil society and that the two arms of the movement -parties and Consell de la República- have to act in accordance with the general strategy agreed upon by the movement as a whole. When we talk about organized civil society, we are not referring to the ANC or Òmnium, the two key pieces of the first stage, but to a new structure of fronts and projects that is proposed in the draft roadmap and that represent a new way organization much more adequate to face the repression that the Spanish state will intensify to the extent that the independence movement once again takes the initiative”.

Among the promoters of this strategy is Jaume Marfany, who had been vice president of the ANC between 2013 and 2015 and had been at the top of the organization since 2012.. In a reflection written on June 1, he pointed out that the highlight of the latest municipal elections is the resounding slap of the electorate to the pro-independence parties. Marfany criticizes that the ANC's strategy goes through the so-called civic list. “The president [Dolors Feliu] and Uriel Bertran [the right hand of the ANC leader] have been doing a whole series of acts for months with the sole objective of selling the excellence of the civic list. The strategy is accompanied by a direct confrontation with all the pro-independence parties and the threat of presenting this list in competition with the other pro-independence lists that are presented in the next elections to Parliament”. That, he says, “is the antithesis of what the ANC should be and why it was created. It is the antithesis of transversality (…) It turns the ANC into an organization that fragments and divides the independence movement”. Marfany points out that the ANC has lost thousands of members in recent months and that in the vote on its roadmap there was 97.5% abstention. Therefore, “a deep reflection is urgently needed from the main representatives of the independence movement.”

Electoral debates between candidates and with closed questions from journalists are already old-fashioned things, from before the internet. Politicians have to debate face to face with the public, simply with a moderator, as has been done for a long time in many other countries..

Electoral debates are an element of accountability, a fundamental concept in any democracy, but which is the great challenge of Spanish democracy, to the point that we do not even have a specific word to define it.. The debates serve so that politicians can be asked about their programs and so that we can all see in real time and without filters if they have proposals to solve the country's problems. They also help us judge their personality and thus determine if their commitment to the proposals they have made is serious..

From the outset in Spain we have a problem with respect to the debates, because as the political programs do not normally contain specific proposals (with costs), the debates do not deal with solutions, but with generalities.. We are still very far, for example, from having a candidate with the clarity of vision, technical knowledge, ease and mental agility that Macron demonstrated in his last electoral debate with Le Pen.. Part of the explanation is that Macron's ambitious program has nothing to do with the general pamphlets of most of our parties..

These empty electoral programs, of content with costs, suppose a particularly serious problem in these elections, because the most likely scenario is that of a coalition with the (luckily still a minority) extreme left or extreme right. The best way to manage this unfortunate situation is to make coalitions with very detailed transparent government agreements, so that extremist parties have almost no room for maneuver to erode neither the fundamental values nor the rationality of the country's policies.. But to be able to make these detailed agreements, you have to start with detailed electoral programs with cost analysis, which is something that is conspicuous by its absence in Spain..

In the absence of proposals and solutions, the only thing left for debate is political noise, to see who gets irritated first, if one steps on the other, if someone gets nervous, if they manage to slip in a phrase that attracts attention, or if one's response upsets the adversary, as happened to Rajoy when Pedro Sánchez called him indecent to his face. All this gives a point of entertainment for the audience. But it's just another reality show, which has little or nothing to do with democratic accountability..

As the Spanish electoral lists are closed and decided by the leaders of the parties, on a day-to-day basis there is no incentive for politicians to interact directly and openly with citizens, as they do in other countries.. Just to give an example, when my husband was Vice President of the British Government, he would go to a radio station every Thursday to undergo live open questions from the public for an hour. That was 10 years ago. And it was not his idea, but Mike Bloomberg recommended it to him, who started doing it as mayor of New York even before. It is worth that our politicians still do not do it every week, but what less than to do it during the elections!.

The debates in these elections should be face to face with the public with open questions. And also the candidates should hold a specific debate with young people. It is the only way to get them to stop shirking when it comes to finding solutions to the real problems of the country.. What would the leaders answer to a young person who wants to know what specific measures they propose so that Spain stops being the European country with the highest youth unemployment? Or to stop being the European country with the highest school dropout rate? Or so that the performance of Spanish students in science and mathematics is no longer below the European average? Or to change the fact that 36% of young people work in jobs that are below their qualification level? Or so that the annual net salary of young Spaniards stops being 13.2% less than the European average? Do the candidates have convincing answers to solve these problems? And if they don't have them, are they going to dare to look those young people and citizens in the face?

The format of the debates matters much more than the number of debates. Organizing debates with direct questions from the public and a specific debate with young people should be the priority of all media.

The Malaga delegation was still trying to digest the disappointment over the designation of Belgrade as the venue for Expo 2027 when the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, clung to an idea expressed in his last investiture speech: “It is a project that is worth. With or without her, we will try to make it go ahead “. The councilor, in this way, did not lower his arms before the doubts that seized the promises of growth of the city and the uncertainties that condition its political future. Because a large part of the management of what is probably his last term was going to revolve around an event of an international nature on which he had outlined the next phase of transformation of Malaga. A development that is now nothing more than an expectation and that forces the popular leader to reinvent himself to try to continue with the project and provide solutions to persistent problems such as access to housing..

The sensation of bewilderment left by the decision of the delegates of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), who granted 81 votes to the candidacy of the Serbian capital, compared to the 70 granted to Malaga, extends over the multitude of infrastructures that they were going to be undertaken due to the impulse of the International Exposition and on which a good part of the expansion of the city was supported.

Taking into account the worrying rise in prices, the construction of 1,440 homes was one of the most anticipated actions. Like the expansion of the Palace of Fairs and Congresses, with which it was intended to satisfy the aspirations of Malaga to increase its share in this tourist segment. The new Auditorium, the Eje Litoral, the construction of the Distributor Road, the A-7054 highway, the Guadalmedina Plan or the expansion of the C-2 commuter line are other initiatives that are currently unknown if they will see the light of day.

The planned investments were around 2,000 million euros, an amount that the Malaga City Council will never be able to assume alone. If we add to this the economic horizon, with the European Union (EU) issuing signals about a recovery of the deficit rules and debt reduction, the margins for other administrations to join their attempt to try to keep the economy alive. project are significantly limited.

The predisposition of all of them can be verified shortly. The central Executive, for example, owns the land on which the heart of Expo 2027 was to be developed. Therefore, the non-election of the Malaga candidacy dissolves the transfer protocol signed in December last year by the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, with Francisco de la Torre. In the place, as an alternative, the possibility of hosting a center for digital companies had been discussed. We will have to wait to see if it is a feasible option. Like the expansion of the Merchandise Center that had been devised.

What should not suffer setbacks is the construction of 1,362 subsidized homes that the Public Land Business Entity (Sepes) has been promoting for years and has begun its first administrative procedures.

Congratulations Belgrade. Thanks to all our rivals: an honor to compete with them. And many thanks to those who have worked hard and well for the candidacy of #Málaga for months, for years. We have done a huge job that will be useful for the city @malaga_2027 FTP https://t.co/RnYIlhVnTn

– Paco de la Torre (@pacodelatorrep) June 21, 2023

The new scenario forces the councilor to review his government plan for the next four years and not disappoint the prospects generated. The Expo was going to be the culmination of his political career, the dream farewell after almost three decades at the head of the city and the legacy to a city in whose transformation he has been a key piece, but the snapshot of the inauguration of that “laboratory on the sustainability” is once again a desire today. And it highlights the difficulties of the city to attract a great event that catapults it to increase its degree of knowledge.

Due to all these conditions, and no matter how much Francisco de la Torre insists on breathing oxygen into the project, it seems unlikely that it can be revived in its original dimension.. This circumstance places the mayor before the difficult task of compensating for the disappointment suffered with exciting actions, which continue to deepen the national and international projection of Malaga, but which tackle the problems attached to the rapid growth experienced in recent years..

“We continue with the same enthusiasm, the same illusion, the same love and passion for the city,” said the councilor, who maintained that “it will not be called Expo 2027”, but “this great project, one way or another, will be a reality ”. Some of the collateral projects “will continue to live, because the city needs it,” he remarked..

10 days ago, when they were negotiating to remove JxCAT from Sitges, no one imagined that the UDEF was going to enter the town hall to arrest the mayoress, Aurora Carbonell, for prevarication, embezzlement and document falsification for alleged irregularities in the award of subsidies and minor contracts between 2017 and 2022. Because last week, another of those arrested, Carles Nicolàs, was commissioned to put together a pact with the local party Fets per Sitges. And it so happens that Nicolás was the president of the Sitges-Garraf Third Sector Board, the entity that received the funds under suspicion.

Investigation sources calculate that there has been damage of more than 600,000 euros of public funds between direct subsidies and split contracts to companies and organizations. Carbonell already tried to back down. In the last plenary session of the last legislature, it was approved to return a subsidy. But it won't be enough.

ERC lost the elections. JxCAT was the force with the most votes and had an agreement with the PSC to govern Sitges, the most fragmented municipality in Catalonia, with nine municipal groups. Junts only needed one councilor. So Fets per Sitges was key. But it was no longer possible to contact him if it was not through Carles Nicolás. He focused on isolating Ignasi Rubí, the only mayor of Fets per Sitges, so that he would remain in the great coalition that ousted JxCAT. Rubí is not involved in the alleged case of corruption, but he was key to forging the pact by which the Republicans obtained the mayoralty.

In principle, there was a plenary session scheduled for this Thursday. But you don't know what can happen. Nor what will the commons do, with two councilors and that now, without eating or drinking it, they have been trapped in a corruption case.

The former comptroller of Sitges had long questioned the deliveries of some subsidies. The case ended up in the Investigating Court number 8 of Vilanova i la Geltrú, which has been investigating since May 2022 alleged crimes of prevarication, embezzlement and document falsification in the consistory. This court entrusted the investigation to the National Police and that is why the case has ended up in the hands of the UDEF.

detained councilor

Among the detainees, there is also the current councilor Jaume Monasterio Miró, also from ERC, who was head of Sports during the last legislature. The secretary of the consistory, Òscar Buxeras, a beach technician and another retired official who had been director of the Territory Area in previous terms, as well as some people who received the subsidies, including Carles Nicolás, have also been arrested.. According to the city council itself, Carbonell has been transferred to the Verneda police station in Barcelona. The one in Sitges has been one more municipal pact, but none in Catalonia has been so evident.

❗️Esquerra Republicana, about the operation of the Spanish police at Sitges City Hall pic.twitter.com/aa3VKPYxoe

— Esquerra Republicana (@Esquerra_ERC) June 21, 2023

Carbonell has not yet formed a government. has only taken possession. But there is no operational municipal folder. Sitges lacks a municipal government. Although the UDEF has tried not to interfere in the political situation —it has waited for the new municipal plenary session to be constituted—, in the end it will have political consequences.

possible irregularities

The Sitges City Council acknowledges in a statement “possible irregularities” that it describes as “external”, but points out that they had already been investigated internally, the subsidies had been stopped and the process for their return had begun. “The city council, once possible external irregularities were detected, commissioned legal professionals to clarify the facts, stopped the subsidies, review the files and start the process for the return of the subsidies that were not fully justified,” the note states..

In the same statement, they also ensure that they have reports that show “the absence of administrative and even less criminal responsibilities, and that demonstrate the diligence of the Sitges City Council”.

ERC in Sitges has also published a letter along the same lines. “The mayoress and the Sitges City Council have already informed the legal teams of the facts under investigation when detecting alleged irregularities” that stopped the subsidies and claimed the unjustified subsidies. The Republicans add that they are “collecting all the necessary information to make it available to the corresponding ethical channels”. They do not explain how the funds can be recovered if the largest receiving entity, the Table of the Third Sector of Sitges, has already disappeared.