It has emerged that almost 3000 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of the title ‘Torrevieja’s Favourite Son’ from the former Spain Ambassador to London Federico Trillo.
A similar petition in Alcoy, where Trillo was awarded the distinction in the year 2000, has also attracted a large number of signatures.
An article on the website change.org urges the Torrevieja Council to remove the honour as a consequence of the diplomat’s involvement in the Yak-42 air crash tragedy where 62 Spanish soldiers died on their way home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2003.
Trillo was the Minister of Defence at the time of the accident.
The former councillor Julián Carcaño, initiator of the petition, considers that “it is evident that the title was awarded purely for political reasons and that it was made without any kind of agreement”.
The petition states that the approval to grant the title to Federico Trillo was approved by the Plenary on July 21, 2005 “thanks to the absolute majority of the Popular Party” and that twelve years later, in line with recent findings published by the Council of State and the Ministry of Defence regarding the Yak-42 incident” the people of Torrevieja have mobilized to remove this award.”
