The union of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena, hanging by a thread due to the tight count in Don Benito

• Extremadura referendum 43.3% of the residents of Don Benito and 58.9% of those of Villanueva de la Serena have voted on the merger of the municipalities

The residents of the Badajoz towns of

and

voted yesterday in a historic referendum whether or not they approved the merger of both into a single city.

In order for the project to be approved, the mayors of the two municipalities had set as a condition to press the start button of the union that the consultation obtain

in each of them.

At the end of the night, with the website from which the scrutiny was to be offered posted, the results that came from Villanueva de la Serena far exceeded that percentage, with

blank).

Everything was pending Don Benito, where the results were very uncertain.

“I have been in politics for 26 years, but I have never had such an important decision in my hands and those of my neighbors.

This date will be marked in the history of

he said on the verge of tears as soon as he cast his vote

mayor of Don Benito.

"I had never experienced an election with such emotion," his colleague

In

the

(69.77% in the last municipal elections) and somewhat lower in

(63.17% in the municipal elections of 2019).

"We have voted yes for the future of our daughter

said

eight months pregnant, and

at the exit of the

polling station in Villanueva de la Serena.

The couple trusted in the potential of the new city

the third most populous in

only behind

and

and ahead of

and in the forecasts that predict employment growth of at least 5% in the new city.

Ana and Carlos

have been living and working in

but they are still registered in Villanueva de la Serena.

They have taken advantage of a few days of vacation to visit the town and vote yes.

"Culturally we are going to continue to maintain everything and the bigger we are, the stronger," she argued.

The couple was accompanied by their eldest son,

an 18-year-old

student in Madrid, who was voting for the first time: "It doesn't make sense to vote no, it's much better for both of us to join together."

Antonio and Leonor,

53 and 50 years old, teachers and also residents of Villanueva de la Serena, explained their support for the merger as follows:

- Him: You will always have more strength, when it comes to attracting investments and resources, having more inhabitants.

In addition, both are very close.

[Just four kilometers separates them and in the middle of the two there is already an urbanized nucleus, which includes the shared hospital, the fire station, an institute, a hotel, houses].

-She: We have been competing for many years.

Deciding where one thing or another is placed has always caused controversy.

Now there won't be.

On the terrace of

restaurant -we are still in Villanueva de la Serena- a large middle-aged group was chatting at lunchtime.

"For me that the merger was done tomorrow because I would charge 350 euros more," said one of them.

He is a municipal police officer, he explained, and like the rest of the City Hall employees, he earns less than his colleagues at Don Benito.

The thirty residents of Villanueva de la Serena consulted by EL MUNDO declared themselves voters of yes.

The enthusiasm among the other surveyed contracting parties was not so unanimous.

A mid-morning mother, daughter and granddaughter, aged 83, 51 and 21, were walking along

the

All three supported no.

“It is said that it is long-term, for the benefit of our children and grandchildren, but in 15 years, Don Benito does not need Villanueva.

Then we will have 70,000 inhabitants”, says the daughter.

The forecast of her would suppose to double the population of the locality, Don Benito has something more than 37,000 inhabitants;

Villanueva, 25,000.

“I am going to vote no”, “and I am undecided”, pronounced a married couple on their way to the

"Better the bad known than the good to be known," he used to say.

He would respond to his saying with another

"Unity is strength."

A

59 years old, candy delivery man, is one of the 4,315 inhabitants of Don Benito -4,444 of Villanueva de la Serena- who already had open tables in each locality for those who wanted to anticipate.

José Luis was upset when we told him that the two young people with whom we had just chatted had opted for no.

"Don't tell me they voted no," he would say in a disappointed tone.

His companion,

69, explained the phenomenon in this way: "That's because we are in the center of town and here the PP wins and they are going to vote no."

The hundredth thing is that all the parties of both consistories -PSOE, PP, Citizens and United-IU- have supported the merger without fissures.

«I have voted a resounding yes, very big, it did not fit in the envelope», José Luis said goodbye.

5% more employment in the new city

AM ORTIZ

Before requesting a popular consultation, the mayors of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena asked the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Extremadura for a study on the repercussion that the union would have.

He concluded that the new city would generate 11.2% of the province's GDP and that employment would grow by at least 5% at a general level, 10% in the service sector and 15% in business services. .

It would also be the first town in Extremadura in agricultural and livestock production (19.7%) and in industry (8.1%), and the second commercial nucleus (16%).

The experts also predicted an increase in household income of 2.75% and a 5% rise in the population with university studies.

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