Núria Marín: "Interior has to change the way of dealing with mafia occupations of flats"

Núria Marín faces the municipal elections on May 28 with the purpose of remaining four more years in the mayoralty of the second city of Catalonia, to which she agreed 15 years ago.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
02 March 2023 Thursday 22:29
24 Reads
Núria Marín: "Interior has to change the way of dealing with mafia occupations of flats"

Núria Marín faces the municipal elections on May 28 with the purpose of remaining four more years in the mayoralty of the second city of Catalonia, to which she agreed 15 years ago. The mayor of l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and president of the Barcelona Provincial Council receives La Vanguardia at the Can Buxeres park mansion to review the news of her city and future projects.

Do you face the next elections as if they were the last ones you run for?

The truth is that I am not considering when my work as mayor will end because I am presenting myself to finish very important projects in the city, such as burying the roads, the innovation and health biocluster, burying the Gran Via, transforming the northern zone and continue working so that the little things are very present in our city.

In addition to the experience of 15 years at the head of the City Council, what can you offer as a new one to try to revalidate the trust of the citizens?

We cannot underestimate the experience in charge of the second city of Catalonia in very difficult times, economic, political, social crises, a pandemic, the war in Ukraine... I believe that all this must be valued, although the candidacy will combine experience with new sap

The great transformative project of the city in the next decade is the burying of the train tracks

It is a project that will truly transform the city. L'Hospitalet of the 80s has nothing to do with today's, but there is a project that will change the city, the residents and the people who enjoy the city is the burying of the train tracks. But it is also a very important project for all Catalans because it will mean a leap forward in improving the Rodalies network

At the moment there is only the basic project, but there is still a lot of technical work to be done and an investment of 1,000 million. Do you have guarantees that this time things are serious?

Since I am mayor, from the first day, I have been insisting, fighting with ministers, presidents of the Government and technicians so that this great work can be done and never before have we had such a degree of concretion, 21 project volumes in which says that everything we want to do in l'Hospitalet can be done. Work is already underway on the executive project that will specify all the details of this work: 1,000 million euros, 5.1 km of undergrounding, the construction of an infrastructure that will not be seen but that will allow improvements to be made to the rail network. to put Rodalies in the real 21st century and that will create the conditions for us to be more competitive and to generate prosperity for our citizens. It is a project that has never been so mature and I fully trust that this time the commitment will be fulfilled.

No calendar yet?

We do not have a fixed calendar. The work will undoubtedly cover more than one mandate. We have to try as soon as possible to have the project ready, for the bidding for the work to begin, for it to be awarded and for us to start works that will be long, complex and not free of complications and inconvenience, but without a doubt very necessary.

Will this work serve to sew the city socially, to reduce the differences that exist between the neighborhoods on one side of the tracks and the other?

This transformation generates a great space for civic meeting, a space of 120,000 square meters of green space that is very necessary in a city like ours where each square meter of green area is very difficult to achieve. We started democracy with 50 hectares of green areas and meter by meter we have been able to multiply them by four.

Another project that has accumulated many delays, which seems jinxed, is that of the PDU in Gran Via. Are you finally on track?

I always say that no one gives us anything at l'Hospitalet and that everything costs a lot and this is the example. We have broken a record. Just before the Government broke up, we had agreed with the Ministers of Health, Universities, Territory and Business that the Generalitat would decree this as a strategic project for the country. Fifteen days before the Government Council was approved for approval, the rupture occurred. In 12 days I managed to speak with the four new ministers and get them to approve this agreement, which was necessary and which allowed the new master plan to be approved before Christmas. The political instability of these years has meant that the Generalitat was not focused on projects as powerful as this one. But it has already been approved, we have the executive projects and we are ready to bid. Work could begin at the end of next year.

What will this project mean for the city?

On the one hand, 500,000 square meters of land for biomedical companies to land in l'Hospitalet and to generate 50,000 jobs. And, on the other hand, more than 500,000 square meters of green area, another lung that is added to the burying of the tracks

What degree of concretion has the project of the promoters of the Hermitage Barcelona to settle in the old Godó and Trias factory?

They have presented us with a project and we have taken note. It is an interesting museum project that has a lot to do with our commitment to culture, which we are studying and which we will put out to competition when it is more mature.

Can it be a boost for the cultural district? I have the perception that this initiative got off to a strong start but has cooled off a bit.

I do not have this perception. There is a continuous trickle of new artists and companies that settle in the cultural district Despite the slowdown caused by the pandemic and the crisis, the cultural district is in very good health and is progressing at a good pace

8 years ago, when Ada Colau became mayor of Barcelona and showed rejection or reluctance to some investments, you raised your finger and offered the alternative of l'Hospitalet. Is that strategy still alive?

L'Hospitalet is a city that wants to take advantage of opportunities, it doesn't matter if they come from Barcelona, ​​Paris or Amsterdam. For us it was important to develop the hotel sector, it was a strategic bet, and the moratorium imposed by Barcelona benefited us. L'Hospitalet did not have a single hotel and today we have a great offer

Is the historical claim to recover an outlet to the sea serious?

We do not give up on it. When we launch a claim like this it is not to make headlines. It is a possibility that, discreetly, we continue to work, although it has not been, by any means, the number one priority of a mandate as complicated as this one.

Insecurity appears in all surveys as the number one problem in most cities, also in l'Hospitalet. Is there a lack of police officers?

We have done our homework. The Urban Guard has a staff of 400 troops and we demand that the Mossos have a similar endowment. And we ask that the National Police also have the troops that correspond to the second city of Catalonia. But it must also be said that the perception of safety is greatly affected by phenomena more linked to incivility: dirt, scooters that generate many problems...

And the occupations of flats?

Indeed, the mafia occupations in our neighborhoods generate a lot of insecurity because they alter coexistence.

Is it a major problem?

In Catalonia and basically in the metropolitan area, 50% of the occupations in all of Spain are concentrated. That means that we are not doing something right in Catalonia. Depending on what the instructions of the Department of the Interior are, one thing or another happens. These mafia occupations must be avoided at all costs and the way that the Interior has to deal with this phenomenon, which has become a mafias business, must be modified. It has to fight forcefully, with law and order.

Does the fact that the new ERC candidate is the councilor who denounced the case of the Sports Council make the relationship with the Government of the Generalitat difficult?

That would have to ask Mr. Aragonés and his team

But have you noticed a change in the relationship since the break between ERC and Junts?

My relationship with the entire Government is cordial. Last Sunday, without going any further, the president came to the rociera mass on Andalusia Day.

Did you ever consider resigning?

Never, because I was fully aware of my innocence and my resignation made no sense

In this term he has made the mayoralty compatible with the presidency of the Provincial Council. Will it continue to be so in the future?

I don't like doing science fiction. In May we will pass an exam and the citizens will give us a grade. I hope that the citizens trust us again. In other institutions such as the Provincial Council, subsequent agreements will determine who assumes the responsibilities. At this time it would be very pretentious on my part to say what will happen in the Diputación

Has governing with a pro-independence formation like Junts in the Provincial Council been complicated?

Everyone would expect him to say yes, but the truth is that he has not. It was clear to all of us that it was impossible to agree on the process, but that there were many issues that united us. We have worked in very good harmony and there has not been any issue that has endangered the pact.

There is an issue that involves her doubly, as mayoress of l'Hospitalet and as president of the Provincial Council. It is the future Hospital Clínic. Is the chosen location the best possible?

The expansion of the Clínic is a question that comes from afar and that should have been resolved a long time ago. The Clínic should be almost about to open, but I think a very good job has been done, the best rated place has been chosen and work is being done thoroughly to make the new location suitable.

Does the project for the new Clínic hospital not clash with that of the new Red Cross hospital in l'Hospitalet?

The planning of the health system corresponds to the Generalitat but I put on the table the evidence that l'Hospitalet needs a new hospital in the north of the city that responds to 50% of our population. The Generalitat has not yet ruled, it has not denied the possibility of building this hospital, but we are waiting.