Playing into Murcia’s hand

The opposition party in Bigastro have come out in criticism of the mayor, Raúl Valerio Medina for his handling of the economic crisis that is biting hard in the town. There are articles in both Laverdad and Información today expressing the views of the spokesperson of the party, Aurelio Murcia..

In the articles, Murcia says that it is incompatible that, whilst council workers have not been paid their full wages for December and some municipal buildings are running with generators, the town has seen fit for three people, including the ex mayor, José Joaquín Moya, to go to FITUR, the tourist fair in Madrid .

Bear in mind, the PP have persistently accused the current mayor of working in the shadow of the previous one who resigned both from office and the Socialist party when he was incarcerated following allegations of corruption and an investigation into his affairs. You can’t help but feel that, no matter how valid his reasons, by taking the previous mayor to Madrid as part of a delegation to promote the “Citta Slow” project, Medina is playing into Murcia’s hand leaving himself open to further criticism.

According to Murcia, the mayor has asked for a loan of 500,000 and a further loan of 70,000 to pay the council workers. In his opinion. the mayor should settle the debt with Iberdrola and reduce the council workforce, a policy which was expressed in the PP manifesto at the last election. Understandably, the Socialist party do not want to add more people to the already extensive list of unemployed workers in the town.

For those of us who are new to the town, the political situation in Bigastro can be likened to a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. As far as I can see, since Medina took over from the previous mayor the tensions have worsened. The only solace is that when you reach the bottom there is only one way to go.