Not to the Socialists liking

In a surprise gesture, the mayor of Bigastro, Charo Bañuls, announced that two more of the councillors would now receive salaries: Aurelio Murcia, leader of the Liberal Union party will be paid 2,300 Euros per month over 14 months and the Councillor for Finance, Antonio Manuel Gonzalez, will be paid 1,100 Euros per month over the same period. The third person to earn a salary is the Councillor for Culture, Maria Jose Sarmiento, who will be paid 100 Euros for  attendance at meetings of the council, at a rate of one or two meetings a week. In total, the salary for the seven councillors of the government team adds up to about 220,000 per year.

The PSOE spokesperson, Raul Valerio Medina says that this surprise move comes only days after the council have set up plans to make 30 council workers redundant and the farming out of services like the nursery school to private companies. He says that this is a scandal and branded the governing party as hypocrites. He says that the only member of the government team without a salary is the Councillor for Sport.

Medina went on to complain that he was only given a days notice of the plan which was hardly sufficient time for him to prepare. He says that the proposals are unrealistic and that the figures do not add up. For example, the amount for planned redundancies will only provide workers with 2,000 Euros each for all the years they have been employed. He says that the cutting of grants to societies means that even the Musical Union will receive no support this year from the council.