Concerned by the ‘Looky Looky’ epidemic that is currently sweeping Cabo Roig with no sign of action by either the government, the Local Police or the Guardia Civil, members of the Cabo Roig Strip Business Association attended the Emergency Plenary held in the Orihuela Town Hall on Monday where they appealed for the authorities to take action.
Association Spokesman Pedro Mancebo was unable to meet with the mayor but he was interviewed by local tv and radio channels which is likely to heap even more pressure on the authorities to resolve the problem.
However the purpose of the plenary itself, almost two months afte
r the Municipal elections were held, was to agree councillor salaries and appointments as well as the appointments and salaries of their assessors and government advisors.
The Mayor’s proposal included a salary of 61,537 gross euros per year for himself and 48,350 for his councillors.
The mayor, Emilio Bascuñana, was able to present his recommendations to the council meeting but because the government had not previously discussed and agreed the subject prior to the plenary, the opposition, consisting of Ciudadanos, PSOE and Cambiemos all voted against the motion while the two members for Vox abstained.
Ciudadanos, which was the main hope of the government team in getting its proposal approved, voted against “because it does not seem coherent to talk about salaries without having first formed a proper government, the model that the city wants,” said spokesman José Aix.
The Socialist spokeswoman, Carolina Grace, has defended the vote of her group relating to the salary increase of the mayor saying that it was “quite disproportionate” insisting that the mayor “must move from his position and bring a salary proposal that improves the conditions of the opposition councillors as well”.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for Cambiemos Orihuela, Carlos Bernabé, said that “to be good representatives, we have to be representative” so he asked the mayor for a proposal that fits more “to the needs of the people we represent”
As such, the government team, comprising of just 9 councillors, and its advisors will continue to manage the local administration without salaries nor advisors.
Orihuela is now thought to be the only Municipal Council in the entire Vega Baja that is still to formally appoint it’s team and their responsibilities a month after it was first invested.
The spokesman for the government, Rafael Almagro, has said that it is an “attempt to block the PP government” adding that they will be back with a new proposal shortly.
