PSOE and United We Can reach agreement on the first large budgets for Granada in five years

PSOE and United We Can reached an agreement on Wednesday morning to prepare a budget for the year. According to spokespersons, these are the first "expansive” accounts for the city since 2015. This pact allows for the start of administrative procedures to ensure that the initial approval of this document reaches the plenary in July.

Five years of extensions later, a 2020 "emergency budget" was approved by the city thanks to an agreement between PP and Cs. Paco Cuenca, the mayor of Madrid, stated that the PSOE-UP alliance would allow the creation of "expansion" account that will allow for investments. This will be possible because of "a good management model" which takes advantage of more than 30,000,000 euros in European funds.

According to Cuenca the accounts reinforce Plaza del Carmen's image of stability and tranquility. The agreement is open to all councilors. It will be monitored monthly by a commission made up of both groups, which will assess the execution of the projects.

Cuenca thanked the United We Can group for their "enormous work" and "high-mindedness", and expressed gratitude to Cuenca.

Both groups' spokespersons expressed gratitude to Jose Maria Corpas (socialist councilor) who passed away a few weeks back. He was responsible for initiating and forging some agreements that served as the basis of the accounts.

Mayor Ana Munoz stated that the budget would allow for the meeting of the needs of small businesses, self-employed and families who are "having the worst time." Ana Munoz, Deputy Mayor, said that the budget will ensure the provision of public services and consolidate protection for vulnerable citizens. It will also provide stability in the city.

Antonio Cambril, United We Can's spokesperson, acknowledged that they would have created other accounts with remunicipalization. This formation favors public management of public transport, cleaning, and transportation. However, it is the best budget possible, taking into consideration "the ruin" and "the lack of municipal income".

The accounts have been approved by the United We Can assembly. Since our arrival at the City Council, we made the promise to prioritize the interests of Granada. Cambril stated that we are the municipality group that has presented most motions to the territory. He also highlighted some of the accomplishments of the municipal group, including the moratorium on lowering the average payment period to suppliers and the change "of government of rights", the Pact for Granada, or the agreement of measures to improve the City Council's governance. "Now, we will approve some basic budgets to meet citizens' needs."

Cambril warned that their support for the budgets would legitimize them in their opposition work. We will continue to criticize the impertinent and damaging budgets, but today we will highlight the positive and thank the PSOE for accepting initiatives. He stated that the budget is "a good foundation to continue building Granadans' city."

Budgets can include actions that relate to:

Garden maintenance and conservation

All year round care for the homeless

Public spaces that are greener and more shaded should be improved

New website for the City Council

Public and private electric charging points

Elimination of pedestrian bollards

Riverbed restoration

To reduce pollution, convert the public vehicle fleet

Renting social housing is possible through the use of social funds

Assistance for small and modest businesses

This agreement is two years after the pact between PP, Cs, and PSOE to execute the municipal accounts. It was signed after five years of extensions. Luis Salvador, the head of the government team, secured the support of the socialist municipal group to approve the budgets. These included 22 measures for "economical and structural reconstruction" of the city, even in the first wave coronavirus.

They were rejected by United We Can -which claimed they had broken the Pact for the City - and Vox, who criticized the fact that the PP had appointed a mayor with a long socialist career and then applied the same economic measures to the city.

These accounts had been a symbol for stability in the City Council until the '2 2'crisis of a year ago ended in a political upheaval which saw the socialist Paco Cuenca take the baton. The PP councilors quit the government team. Luis Salvador was trapped and presented his resignation to Jose Antonio Huertas.

On July 7, Paco Cuenca was elected mayor by an absolute majority thanks to the support of his municipal group of the three councilors from Salvador, United We Can and Huertas. He began a series of meetings with United We Can. Although it was not included in the municipal government, he sought to form an alliance of agreements.

The PSOE and the confluence have taken steps to include the incorporation of staff to Social Services, the low-emission zone, or modification of difficult places. Concerning the budget, a 15 million agreement was made to support several municipalities through transfers from the state and another of 1.5 million to allocate the Inagra benefits to social intervention programs.

United We Can has repeatedly criticised breaches of agreements, such as regarding the renaturalization and restoration of the Genil River. It also disagrees with the government team on issues like the transfer of the Andaluces station to Hipercor. Antonio Cambril (United We Can's spokesperson) acknowledged that budget negotiations were difficult because of these discrepancies.

Jose Maria Corpas was the last councilor who died just a few weeks back. He was responsible for the negotiations that led to the budget agreement we see today.