The mayor of Amposta, Adam Tomàs (ERC), warns that the "extreme right" and "racist" discourse by opposition parties regarding public security problems in the municipality threatens to "break" the "social peace" built in recent years.
Tomás reproaches Junts per Amposta in particular for using insecurity politically by linking it to immigration. Tomàs says not to turn his back on the municipality's security problems, but he points out that it is an issue that goes beyond all Catalan councils.
After completing one hundred days of his third term with an absolute majority, he announces changes in the management of the Regional Hospital to counteract the poor image of the emergency service among users.
Narrowly maintaining the absolute majority achieved in a very large way four years ago - despite losing five councilors - and with the resurrection of Junts per Amposta as the main opposition force with former mayor Manel Ferré at the helm, Tomàs has seen how the elections have shaken the political environment of the city.
"The capital of Montsià, recalls the mayor, is currently the only municipality larger than 20,000 inhabitants governed by ERC without the need for agreements or alliances with other parties. But political pressure, during that first stretch of the usually calm mandate, has escalated noticeably.
The fight in the street at dawn on October 1 in the center of the city and the decision of the municipal government to close, at least provisionally, the Legend nightclub to appease neighborhood criticism has raised the echo generated by the debate on security in the city. Especially in the area of Plaza del Mercat, pointed out by some neighbors as a regular source of annoyances, conflicts and petty crimes.
Tomàs does not deny this concern, but he reproaches that the fire is fueled to obtain electoral benefits. He especially accuses the Junts per Amposta group, the main opposition group that ideologically places "the extreme right", of "feeding" a "racist", "populist" and "irresponsible" discourse on the issue of security.
He argues that cases such as the fight on day 1 are being overstated, when years ago, under the CiU government, they also occurred in the old Metro nightclub, in addition to cases of stabbings, confrontations with firearms and fatalities.
"You end up realizing that the difference is that, at that time, there was responsibility of the opposition and, now, there is the will to use a situation that occurs everywhere. It is true that there is diversity and a percentage of people, that we do not deny, it generates problems and an attempt is made to convey a racist discourse. We cannot at any price break social peace that has cost a lot to build," declared the mayor, for whom the city has become a "reference in community management." diversity".
He appeals to the opposition to talk about the "Positive Amposta" and the pending city projects from a constructive perspective and maintains that, despite the recorded growth in the number of crimes, the city "is safe." He recalls that the increase reflected in the statistics is a problem that is repeated throughout Catalonia and that has already found an echo in a commission in the Parliament. "Municipalities have very limited powers and there are things that we cannot control," he argues.
Apart from the citizen security portfolio, Tomàs faces his third consecutive term as mayor of Amposta with the desire to turn around the perception of the health services provided by the Amposta Regional Hospital, under municipal management. "I recognize that, especially with emergencies, we have a problem," he says.
He is upset because, "if we compare it with other centers in the territory", the accounts close with a surplus and resources have been invested in equipment in recent years. "The surveys carried out by the Generalitat say that it is the second best in the province and the opinion of the citizens is different. We must do something," he assumed.
Regarding the controversy surrounding the viability of the land for the future new Terres de l'Ebre hospital project, the mayor of Amposta questions that the debate has focused solely on its location in Tortosa - without taking into account its territorial scope - and becoming a political "attack tool", in an electoral context, between the different political groups of the neighboring city.
Tomàs does not hide that, like other nearby municipalities, Amposta offered to locate the reference public health center in the territory and asks for responsibility in the process. "Entering the auction, surely, does not make much sense. It would make more sense for someone to analyze and say that the ideal for the territory would be to say where it would go, putting a thumbtack on the map of the Terres de l'Ebre and pinning it wherever: so that there are suitable terrains, adequate communications or whatever conditions. But the problem is that it is used as a throwing weapon," he declared.
In a similar context, the mayor welcomes the fact that industrial establishments such as Kronospan or Florette have been installed in the Catalunya Sud industrial estate and refutes criticism of the lack of large industrial investments in the municipality. He remembers that Catalunya Sud is a territorial polygon of the Terres de l'Ebre, with enough space and adequate infrastructure for large projects.
This helps to ensure that there are driving and auxiliary companies that are located in peripheral towns and help their growth. It is very clear to me that Kronospan was going to Tortosa. "Either he went there or to Sagunto," he states to refute what he considers reproaches made from "demagoguery and localism."
This same week, the municipal government has announced a tax increase - 36% in the garbage rate and 10% in the IBI - with the aim of maintaining "the structure" of the council and municipal services.
A measure, _he assured_, of which he claims to have not hidden and that responds to the increase in inflation, salaries, energy costs and bank interests in recent years.
According to their calculations, the increases - residuals aside - leave the tax burden at a level similar to that found when entering the government in 2015.
The accounts for next year, he has advanced, want to maintain the commitment to projects subsidized with co-financing in the tourism field, such as the electric river tourist boat or the Vall de Safan greenway that should give continuity to the current one that comes from Terra Alta to Ràpita.
He believes that tourism, which from 2021 to 2022, "tripled" the collection of the specific tax with nearly 30,000 euros, must continue to promote cycle tourism, family groups and the natural environment.
