More money doesn’t always mean better management. That has been the main message that Vox wanted to convey during its speech in the Debate on the State of the City, where its spokeswoman, Eva Torres, has assured that Zaragoza has missed a «historic opportunity» despite having had more than 1,000 million euros per year throughout the legislature.
Unlike the PSOE, Vox has not questioned the continuity of the municipal government, but it has hardened its tone with Natalia Chueca. The party has claimed that the budgets have gone ahead thanks to its votes, although it has warned that its role has been that of a «budget partner» and not of the government, taking advantage of the debate to demand a change of course in the final stretch of the mandate.
Torres has contrasted the Zaragoza of the great announcements presented by the mayor with the reality that, as he has defended, the residents live every day, marked by dirt, the abandonment of consolidated and rural neighborhoods, insecurity and mobility problems. In his opinion, the municipal government has prioritized «megaprojects» and image over the resolution of the daily problems of the people of Zaragoza.
NEIGHBORHOODS, SECURITY AND MOBILITY
One of the axes of the intervention has been citizen security. Torres has stated that crime has increased by about 10% during the first quarter of the year and has accused the municipal government of trying to hide that reality. He also assured that many young people can no longer go to the neighbourhood festivals with peace of mind due to the presence of criminal gangs, a situation that, he said, the neighbours perceive every day.
The Vox spokeswoman has also charged against the mobility policy of the Zaragoza City Council. He has denounced the elimination of lanes and parking spaces, giving as an example the 400 eliminated in Las Fuentes, and has assured that the works are causing a significant collapse of traffic due to lack of planning. In his opinion, forcing workers and self-employed workers to go around to find parking is the consequence of a «poorly designed» strategy that only seeks «the photo of the mayor».
In the social section, Torres has defended strengthening policies aimed at families, the birth rate and child protection, also demanding that social aid and access to housing prioritize Spaniards. So much so that the spokeswoman has placed these measures among Vox’s main demands for the coming months.
LESS BUREAUCRACY AND MORE MANAGEMENT
Torres has also questioned the municipal management model by assuring that Zaragoza allocates 38% more spending to structure and bureaucracy than cities such as Valencia or Seville. As he has defended, every euro allocated to «administrative duplications, foundations and patronages» is a euro that is no longer invested in cleaning, security, housing or social policies.
Torres concluded his speech with a warning addressed to the mayor. He has asked him to «park the lectern, the photos and the lights» and not to turn the end of the mandate into «a campaign of self-tribute». Instead, he advocated taking advantage of the remaining months of the legislature to resolve pending issues «with decency, humility and usefulness until the last day».
