If Yolanda Díaz had been Prime Minister during the Melilla tragedy – in which at least 23 immigrants died during a massive jump over the fence – Fernando Grande-Marlaska would no longer be a minister. She herself would have fired him. This hypothetical scenario, raised by the vice president, has caused "surprise" -although they also frame it in an electoral key- in the department headed by Marlaska, who assured this Monday from Melilla precisely that Díaz has never told him in private that he should leave office .
The minister's team had been preparing their return to Melilla for some time after the fateful 24J. Although the agenda included several meetings with the heads of the State Security Forces and Corps, the main intention was to go to the Civil Guard Command to thank the agents for their "professional and exemplary" work in protecting the border and in the fight against the mafias that traffic people. Once there, the minister expressed his solidarity with the soldiers who "have suffered firsthand the rigors of such a demanding and dangerous job."
The minister did not want the vice president's comments to cloud his visit to Melilla. For this reason, when asked by the press, he did not show a combative profile – as might be expected. Despite the fact that her companion from the Council of Ministers assured that there should be a person who enforces human rights at the head of the Interior, ”Marlaska highlighted the“ very good relationship ”she maintains with her. And she referred to her 35 years dedicated to public service -most of them as judges-, who are the "main guarantors" in defense of citizen rights. "It is part of our DNA," she replied without first recalling that the Prosecutor's Office carried out an "extensive" investigation into the tragedy in Melilla that was filed when no criminal evidence was found by the Civil Guard.
Despite the fact that the minister did not want to fan the fire that the vice president set, sources close to him are clear that the "unfortunate" have to do with the electoral campaign. "Some living room comments from someone who is in the opposition, rather than from a person with government experience who has been managing realities," criticize the same sources. “They come from a person who boasts that he knows the workers well. Well, the one who was this Monday defending –again– the public employees was the minister”, they sentence
