“Pedro Sánchez’s position is untenable, lies surround every action of the government”

The councilor recognizes that the PP did not do well by voting in favor of the reform which validates the sentences of prisoners, but asks “not to divert attention” and excludes that responsibilities are assumed within his party .

In an interview with EL ESPAÑOL DE ARAGÓN, he excludes that immigration is a problem for the Aragonese capital. In response to messages from Vox, to whom he must produce the budgets, he emphasizes that Zaragoza is an “integrating and diverse” city. He demands from Sánchez a “true national immigration policy”.

Sánchez is once again in the spotlight after lying to Congress and the Senate during Delcy’s visit and shifting the blame to Ábalos. Do you think I should resign? How do you assess everything that happens after the UCO report?

Sánchez should make a personal reflection on his situation in the government, with unprecedented parliamentary weakness and surrounded by corruption scandals. Lies surround every action and intervention of the Spanish government and its complicity with each of these deceptions that we learn about through the media and legal investigations is evident. Their position is untenable from a political and moral point of view.

How does a municipality like Zaragoza view the agreement on single financing for Catalonia?

This is an absolute inequality. Sánchez chose to stay in Moncloa, letting the extremes, those who want to break Spain, set the price. We saw it with the amnesty law, one of the biggest problems of our democracy, and we saw it again when we had to find an agreement to save Illa and make him president. But not because of Illa but because Pedro Sánchez is very interested in the votes of Catalonia and that is where he sees that he can grow compared to the rest of the Spanish territories. This again generates inequality, but this time by hitting everyone’s pockets.

What effects can this have?

If the second autonomous community with the greatest possibilities to contribute to the common fund stops doing so, inequalities will be generated between the Spaniards themselves. Much less can be distributed, resulting in poorer public services, poorer health care and poorer education. Sánchez even attacks the very foundations of the PSOE.

The Socialist Party has always defended that those who have the most contribute more to give to those who have the least, but Sánchez absolutely does not care about that. As long as it is a question of staying in power, if it is necessary to break the principles of the Spanish Socialist Party, they are, nothing happens. It’s truly scandalous. I hope this doesn’t end and can be stopped; that the PP and the rest of the parties that do not make up this group of extremists around the PSOE can stop it in Congress and the Senate.

Are you going to lead a front of mayors dissatisfied with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP)?

We coordinate to act. In this first phase, it is the regional presidents who are tackling and drawing attention to this inequality, but the municipal councils are not going to sit idly by. We will take action and, if necessary, we will take the matter to the European Council and appeal to the Constitutional Court. We are studying the legal formulas to be able to respond and break this pact.

Zaragoza was one of the cities hardest hit by ETA terrorism. How did you experience the controversy surrounding the reform of validation of prisoner sentences?

It’s another scandal, another twist. Sánchez’s love of power has no limits, it lacks principles. That he agrees on the Citizen Security Law with Bildu, who are the heirs of ETA, those who were previously terrorists, and that he accepts that they stop serving their sentences, is really scandalous. We are facing the worst government president in history and the wound that is emerging in Spanish society will take a long time to heal.

Feijóo finished by apologizing for having voted in favor of the PP. Should we assume responsibilities within the PP?

I believe without a doubt that the PP did not do well and that is why the president recognized his responsibility and apologized. But I don’t think there’s any need to distract. The PSOE did not need the votes of the PP or Vox to apply the decree. He agreed with Bildu and he was going to do it anyway, whether the PP made a mistake or not. On the one hand, the People’s Party was wrong, perfect, and the president recognized it and apologized, that’s all. But let’s not divert attention, because the left does it very well in this area. The fact that Sánchez remains in Moncloa is very costly for all Spaniards and for Spanish democracy.

Zaragoza will be one of the venues for the World Cup in 2030. Should the state specify its economic contribution to the city?

When we asked the Higher Sports Council in the past, they told us that until the cities were chosen, funding would not be discussed, but so far they have not communicated anything to us. We hope that we can find out soon and that this distribution is fair and governed by objective criteria, because there have been many times where we observe random and subjective criteria on the part of the Spanish government.

Two years ago, it directly granted 20 million euros to Barcelona for cultural activities through a royal decree in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The rest of us get absolutely nothing. A month ago, in September, he also allocated five and a half million to Barcelona for the Copa América, but this same Thursday, at the BOE, he again allocated 20 million to different foundations, associations and cultural activities. And the rest? Are we not short of the Catalan quota, currently being negotiated to give priority to the financing of Catalonia, which also gives Barcelona, ​​a city now governed by the PSOE, an additional 20 million on top of the previous 25?

I understand that he not only expects an objective distribution, but that he will demand it.

Obviously. This is part of the cities’ efforts to attend the World Cup. The Spanish Government is the one which, ultimately, organizes it with the Spanish Football Federation through the Superior Sports Council and which has general state budgets of another dimension totally different from the modest municipal budget that manage town halls. We understand that this is right and logical.

Zaragoza rivals Seville to become the fourth city in Spain. How do you imagine him in 2027, at the end of his mandate?

Zaragoza is experiencing population growth year after year and attracting significant investment. In the last case alone, we attracted more than 8 billion euros to the municipal territory. Over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs will be generated, meaning we need to grow as a population. This is very good news because Zaragoza, which is the second city in Spain with the best quality of life and the fourth in Europe, will have interesting professional projects. All of this will help attract new residents, retain talent and continue to grow at an even faster pace.

Is there enough land?

Zaragoza has an urban plan already approved and still to be developed. We will continue to develop in the southern districts. Valdespartera and Arcosur have awakened, as well as the entire part of the extension of Tenor Fleta and Parque Goya II.

We have land to continue growing and housing at competitive prices, but before Zaragoza has a problem of price tension as is the case in Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga, we are doing an excellent job creating housing public rental properties at affordable prices for young people and activation of VPOs. The entire real estate sector is being revitalized so that the offer remains broad and prices are not strained as is the case in other cities.

You say that Zaragoza is not Madrid or Barcelona, ​​but is it starting to look like it? Town planning is already working on a plan aimed at limiting tourist housing…

Fortunately, we are very far from the problems experienced by other cities. Of course, you will have to be vigilant, but the level of licenses for tourist apartments is a hundred times lower than that of Madrid or Barcelona. At the moment we do not have a problem with tourist apartments or tensions with real estate prices, but because we are acting preventively. There are 473 housing units under construction, but in addition, another 500 have already been put out to tender in collaboration with the Government of Aragon, and another 500 will be launched in the coming weeks.

The price of housing in Zaragoza is around 45% lower than that of Madrid or Barcelona and that is why we are showing that we are going to continue being this large, competitive city with a quality of life in which to live. But we are not only acting in construction, we are also investing in rehabilitation like never before. This year alone, we put 13 and a half million into the municipal budget.

Does Zaragoza have a problem with immigration? Would this be for you in case Vox marks this as a red line in the negotiation of the 2025 budget?

No, we do not have immigration powers. The problem is that we don’t have a national immigration policy. Without a doubt, for Spain and Zaragoza to remain competitive, we need immigrants, we need labor. When we see the investments that are going to happen and the job creation that is being generated, all businessmen tell us the same thing: we need professionals, labor and operators. What is needed is a good program so that the immigrants who come are trained and can integrate and contribute to our country through their work. This is where the Spanish government fails and, once again, it misses the mark and blames the autonomous communities and municipalities.

Zaragoza is an inclusive and diverse city that welcomes everyone. What is needed is for the Spanish government to do its job, respect its powers and implement a good immigration program with funds.

Many of your projects go beyond 2027, will you be a candidate for re-election?

I still have a lot of time left, right now I am year after year and moment after moment. Without a doubt, I believe that to transform a city and see successes like those of Madrid or Malaga, which are projects that transcend a legislature, it would not be appropriate to suddenly change course. That’s why everything points to yes, but I prefer to look at the goals I set for myself year by year and step by step and my first step is until May 2027.