- The Popular Group has registered an initiative in support of this activity and the “thousands of Andalusian families” that depend on it, and will promote an Institutional Declaration in Parliament
- The parliamentary spokesman, “shocked” by the Socialist Group’s hiring of the law firm where Espadas’ daughter works, recalls that it is “public money”
The spokesperson for the Popular Party in the Andalusian Parliament, Toni Martín, announced on Tuesday that the PP has registered a non-legislative proposal in the Andalusian Chamber to “flatly reject the European Commission's proposal to further reduce, if not eliminate, bottom trawling in the Mediterranean and show our most resounding and firm support for the Andalusian sector of this type of fishing”.
In a press conference, Martín described the situation of the sector as a “very serious issue that affects thousands of families in Andalusia and which we are not prepared to remain passive about”. “We think this proposed cutback is absolute madness, which means no less than 80% less activity for the Mediterranean trawler fleet, leaving it at a ridiculous 27 days a year”, he argued, while referring to recent statements on the matter by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, “in which he described these 27 days as a hobby, because you cannot call it work or dedication to something that can only be done 27 days a year”.
The parliamentary spokesman has assured that “the Government of Andalusia is already in contact with the Government of Spain and has made itself available to the Ministry to, with all its administrative and political strength, support the Government of Spain in its claims, which we understand it will do with all the force it has at its disposal before the European Commission”, since this is an “attack that we cannot tolerate in Andalusia and that affects thousands of fishing families in our community”. He has pointed out that, in fact, “it means that almost 600 boats will remain tied up forever in our community”.
For this reason, the Popular Group has registered the aforementioned initiative – which cannot be debated until the next session – “and depending on how some negotiations that are already taking place in Brussels on this issue go, if the substance of the matter does not change, throughout the day today we will contact the rest of the political groups in this Chamber from the Popular Parliamentary Group to propose an institutional declaration in the Plenary Session that begins tomorrow in this Parliament, so that all the parliamentary groups, if they deem it appropriate, join forces in the defence of a sector that is currently being attacked in an absolutely unacceptable manner”, he stressed.
Data versus “apocalyptic visions” in the State of the Community debate
Toni Martín has announced that in the debate on the State of the Community, which will be held in Parliament between tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, he will defend with data the management carried out by the Andalusian Government and will demonstrate, as he explained, that “we are on the right path”, against “the apocalyptic visions” and “ashes” of the opposition parties. “Not everything is done, nor are we in that situation of catastrophe and collapse that the opposition paints and that does not correspond at all with reality”, he emphasized.
He recalled that the debate that the House will host tomorrow “is about the state of the community, and the community is all of us. The community is the Government, obviously, which has to give an account of its management, but also of the opposition”, he said, while adding that “this state is indeed ruinous, in view of the internal battles that some of the political forces present in this Parliament are experiencing and in a very obvious way the Socialist Party”, which he urged to “meditate on what its situation is and that these months serve to try to put forward a project that can inspire some Andalusians”.
Martín also said he was “shocked” by the information released on Tuesday about the hiring of a law firm by the Socialist Parliamentary Group, where the daughter of its president and general secretary of the PSOE-A, Juan Espadas, works, in relation to the complaint of this group against the Government of Andalusia regarding the emergency contracts of the SAS. “Mr. Espadas’ tendency to sweep for home and sweep for the family is beginning to be something legendary. First it was his wife, placed by hand in a public foundation, the FAFE, and now it is his daughter. Now it is the law firm where his daughter works, hired to legally attack the Government of Andalusia.”
In this regard, the popular spokesman has stressed that "this is a paid complaint, not with money from the Socialist Party, but from the Socialist Parliamentary Group, paid with money that comes from the Parliament of Andalusia, and therefore, public money from the Parliament that the Socialist Group has for its operating expenses", to which he has urged him to explain "how much of that public money that the Socialist Group receives is being allocated, by decision of Mr. Espadas, to the office where his daughter works".
Likewise, Martín has asked "whether the other deputies of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, whom Mr. Espadas made sign this complaint, knew that their presentation and defence would be carried out by the office where Mr. Espadas' daughter worked at his own decision."
For the spokesperson of the Popular Party, this is "surprising news that requires explanations from the Socialist Parliamentary Group and very directly from Mr. Juan Espada", behind which he has pointed out that there could be "friendly fire", given the "moment of internal confrontations" that the Andalusian PSOE is currently experiencing, in which Espadas' leadership is being questioned.
