Jorge Azcón, Mayor of Zaragoza: "It is a historic victory, but tomorrow we have to negotiate a new decree"

• Congress: The Government will reap a historic defeat by losing the decree on the surplus of the municipalities

The Government is going to take a huge parliamentary blow this Thursday.

For the third time in a democracy, Congress is going to repeal a government decree law.

The majority of the Chamber has announced that it will vote "no" to the text of the

on the state use of the 15,000 million remnants of the municipalities.

Some thirty mayors from 13 political parties, coordinated by the first mayor of Zaragoza,

(PP) and with the very active participation of cities such as

(Cs),

(En Comú),

(Adelante Andalucía),

( ERC) or

(PDeCAT), have starred in the rebellion against a decree that, in their opinion, tried to "confiscate" their savings.

The sum of PP, PNV, Cs, Vox, JxCAT, Bildu and ERC guarantees an absolute majority against the initiative.

Azcón attends EL MUNDO in Congress, where he has traveled to follow the votes of the plenary session.

And he assures that the non-validation of the decree "is a historic victory for the municipalities, but tomorrow we have to negotiate a new text."

The intention of the mayors of the PP.

"If the Royal Decree is not validated, the minister has the obligation to sit down immediately" with the mayors.

"He must do what he has not done during the summer and start negotiating with us. The longer it takes, the more problems they will create for all Spaniards," says the mayor of Zaragoza, who is the PP spokesman in the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).

The 'popular', coordinated with the critical mayors, have rejected the last-minute offer of the Minister María Jesús Montero, who offered them that 60% of the fund of 5,000 million that was going to be enabled for the municipalities be distributed based on the population.

And the remaining 40% (2,000 million), depending on how many remnants each consistory lent to the Executive.

"It is a haggling that neither the municipalities nor the citizens deserve. It is a regrettable sight," he says.

"In our cities we need a reinforcement of public transport, more police and more funds for social services or disinfection of the streets," Azcón emphasizes.

"And Montero has not wanted to negotiate that with us, but has prioritized his deficit."

In effect, spending the surplus of the municipalities produces a public deficit.

Why?

For the simple reason that if a surplus is subtracted from the overall deficit figure, it increases.

Local corporations closed 2019 with a surplus of 0.31% of GDP, 3,839 million euros.

Azcón stresses that the "quickest" way is to approve "tomorrow", or as soon as possible, a new royal decree that includes the demands of the municipalities: that the funds are distributed based on the population, and not according to how much money Finance "confiscates" each local entity.

"For the Ministry of Finance to try to punish us and have a revenge with us would be a serious mistake, because it would be punishing our neighbors."

"We would not understand revenge: he would be wrong with all Spaniards," he adds.

Finally, Azcón stresses the role of Abel Caballero in the "failure" of the measure.

It was the president of the FEMP and mayor of Vigo who negotiated the decree with Montero, without measuring the discontent of the mayors, even those of his party, such as Óscar Puente (Valladolid), who has been against it.

"If tomorrow Caballero does not recognize his mistake and is the first to request the new aid for the municipalities, I will ask for his resignation," adds Azcón.

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