The City Council of l'Ametlla de Mar has removed this Thursday morning a banner for the 'Freedom of political prisoners' and an estelada flag from the façade of the town hall building, as well as another estelada from the tourist office and a yellow ribbon which is welded to the feet of a sculpture on the roundabout leading to the municipality.
The council has removed the symbols due to the imposition of the Zonal Electoral Board (JEZ) of Tortosa.
The resolution responds to a complaint from a civil organization "for constitutional rights" called Impulso Ciudadano.
The mayor of Ametlla de Mar, Eva del Amo, has explained that they abide by the JEZ agreement although they were surprised that this time the requirement arrived much earlier than in previous electoral processes.
The municipal government of L'Ametlla de Mar (Baix Ebre), coerced by Junts and PSC, will respond to the request to remove the banners and the independence flag, and also a yellow ribbon, for the political prisoners.
"We have no choice but to comply with the order," said Del Amo. "We have always done it because in all electoral processes we have been required to remove some of the elements, but it has never been done so far in advance," added the mayor.
Eva del Amo has acknowledged that the request has surprised them due to the time in which it was received.
The council had 24 hours since it received the notification from the JEZ yesterday. This afternoon the compliance decree with photographs will be sent.
The mayor of L'Ametlla de Mar does not know if the complaint has always come from the Impulso Ciudadano organization and has pointed out that it is the first time that the JEZ of Tortosa has also asked to remove the banners. In fact, she announced that when the electoral period ends, all the elements that the Electoral Board "considers partisan" will be put up again, "especially the banners in defense of political prisoners." "Until the amnesty law is effective, we will keep them," she reiterated del Amo.
