The Mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, has announced that the national government of Pedro Sanchez will not be allowed to get its hands on the cities considerable treasury. The declaration came hot on the heels of the announcement that the city has a treasury of 81 million euros of available funds, the largest surplus in the entire Province of Alicante.
“We are talking about the money and savings of Torrevieja, which should serve to help the productive sectors (self-employed, merchants, hoteliers, small companies, etc.) that are having a hard time during this economic crisis,” said Eduardo Dolon.
Given the recent State of Alarm and on-going economic struggles Spain s experiencing due to the global pandemic, the national government is looking to commandeer the remaining coffers from all municipalities. This has caused consternation at a local level where local councils believe local money should be used locally.
Eduardo Dolón addesd: “As Mayor of Torrevieja and head of this City Council, I cannot allow the Government of Pedro Sánchez to take this money, which belongs to all Torrevieja, for the coffers of the General State Administration, because they are the savings from our residents. Especially at a time like the one we are experiencing, a time of serious health and economic crisis.”
The Mayor explained that the municipal PP group had presented a motion last week at the Board of Spokespersons for the Torrevieja City Council to urge the Government of Spain not to appropriate the resources of local entities. The motion was debated and was agreed by the Ciudadanos and VOX parties. The Popular Party presented an alternative in the meeting to the seizure of the municipal funds that its president, Abel Caballero rejected.
Eduardo Dolon believes that this situation has arisen because ‘the consistories of our country used their savings and the surplus to face the consequences of COVID-19. Now, the Government of Pedro Sánchez intends that local administrations should pay for his terrible management of the pandemic’.
He said: “Handing over the remaining treasury to the Government so that they can return it to the people in the next 15 years is totally inadmissible and would leave the city of Torrevieja stagnant and with no prospects for economic and social progress. We are talking about the money and savings of the residents of Torrevieja, which should serve to help local community through these tough times.”