The mayor of Granada, Marifrán Carazo (PP), criticized this Thursday that neither she nor the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno (PP), have been invited to the dinner that will be offered at the Parador de Granada, located next to to the Alhambra to the more than 40 European heads of State and Government who will attend the summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in the city.
Just three hours before the official start of an event that will focus the world's attention on Granada, Carazo revealed that, since the organization of the summit, "the city, the City Council or its mayor have not been counted on as hostess on the official agenda".
"There is a rigid protocol, where the decision is made by the organization of the summit. I understood that, as ambassadors, welcoming and greeting the leaders at this meeting was a matter of protocol and also of education, and it seemed to me that That was the moment where the city had to be represented," explained the Granada councilor, who stressed that "if the summit organization has not seen it as correct and they tell me that there are no other precedents, we have done what we understood from the first moment and we are delighted to host this meeting".
In an interview on Canal Sur Radio, Carazo spoke about the government's involvement in this matter, ensuring that "the explanation that the Government of Spain has given us has been that it is a matter of rigid protocol and that no exceptions should be made regarding to other summits of these characteristics".
In general, the mayor has highlighted that the city is prepared to host the international summit after weeks of work and offering a lot of information from the City Council so that this impact on day-to-day life in the city is minimal. The act will generate mobility restrictions and new itineraries that affect public transport and parking, but, according to the mayor, "the inconveniences have been correctly reported and I am convinced that Granada will shine and proudly show the best of ourselves." .
"From the first moment I have offered maximum collaboration and institutional loyalty, it is our obligation in a summit of these characteristics. The City Council as ambassador has to collaborate and contribute its knowledge of the city to ensure the safety and protection of the summit, where Local Police and firefighters have helped the rest of the State Security Corps and Forces to get the city ready," Carazo detailed.
Finally, Carazo regretted that the city registered "a third day of new delays with only three High Speed connections with Madrid" and defended that this summit could be "a moment of vindication" to demand better rail and airport connections because "Granada, despite this difficulty, is a tourist city of enormous importance and we have aspirations to continue growing. It has leadership, strength, attractiveness and what it needs to be able to progress and be competitive by improving those connections", something that it will claim" once the Government is formed." "It will be a task that we all have to face, because there is social and business consensus in the city. We all have to work hard to achieve these improvements," he concluded.
