Voted Best
ISSUE NO. 1750
17 - 23 January 2019
Newspaper in Spain 2017 & 2018
COSTA DE ALMERÍA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
New man at the top ‘THE most important day of my political life,’ was how the new Almeria Council President Javier Aureliano Garcia Molina described his inauguration on Saturday. The former provincial administration vice-president’s appointment as council head was supported by the votes of his own Popular Party. The Socialist PSOE party, Ciudadanos and United Left abstained. Garcia Molina takes over from Gabriel Amat, who stood down to focus on his job as Roquetas de Mar mayor. Paying tribute to his predecessor and ‘teacher’ Amat, the new president made reference to the shift to the right in the Andalucia regional government. “It is going to put our land in the centre of the map, not in the corner,” he commented, adding, “a new horizon is in sight.” Garcia Molina used his speech to underscore what he maintained were the administration’s most important achievements in recent years, citing record tourist numbers, greater investment, and measures which have generated wealth and improvements to services. He said the first major measure to be implemented under his presidency was aimed at increasing self-employment in municipalities with less than 3,000 inhabitants, also highlighting the importance of revitalising Almeria City’s historic centre, policies of
HAPPY: New Almeria Council President Javier Aureliano Garcia Molina said his inauguration was ‘the most important day of my political life.’ equality, and promoting the province as a sport and fine dining destination. He also addressed the opposition parties, saying he had ‘extended my hand to my colleagues on the opposition to negotiate and reach agreement on the most important and necessary decisions for the province,’ with the aim of ‘having an impact on the well-being of the 103 municipalities.’ In a statement, Almeria Socialist Group spokesman Juan
Antonio Lorenzo criticised the PP’s last seven years of government in the province, accusing the administration of being ‘less effective, transparent, impartial and supportive of the smallest municipalities’ and of governing without a strategic plan to address the main challenges in Almeria, among them basic services, infrastructure and unemployment. Lorenzo accused the PP of ‘dealing with demands with partisan prejudices,’ and called on Garcia Molina to
‘work for the province, treating all municipalities equitably.’ Among the 250 guests attending the inauguration at the Provincial Palace Patio de Luces were Popular Party Secretary General Teodoro Garcia Egea and former Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido, as well as regional, provincial and local politicians and representatives from trade unions, the Almeria business community and local celebrities.
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