The Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, will have to appear in the Parliament's commission for promising the construction of a second public residence in Santa Coloma de Gramenet in an act with Gabriel Rufián, candidate of the Left for the local mayor's office.
On a visit to Terrassa, the minister assured yesterday that the Generalitat supports the creation of new residences for the elderly "whoever is in charge" in the municipalities. "It escapes me where the controversy can come from, because what I said in Santa Coloma de Gramenet is what I say in all the municipalities I visit," Campuzano stressed, adding that "there can be no partisanship" on this issue.
Last weekend, in an ERC act –although Campuzano is independent–, the minister promised to promote a new residence for the elderly. The Twitter profile of the Republican party in Santa Coloma de Gramenet also linked the construction of the residence to a good result for the Republicans in the May elections. For this reason, all the groups, except ERC, voted yesterday at a meeting of the Social Rights commission in favor of the urgent appearance of the minister, who this week has received criticism as a result of this matter, especially from the PSC, which governs the city with Núria Parlón, and Junts per Catalunya, two formations that do not rule out promoting their disapproval.
But not only these two groups have put Campuzano on the trigger, the other formations have also criticized that a second residence in the municipality of Barcelonès is linked to a good ERC result.
In the session that took place yesterday, ERC was left alone when trying to stop the urgent appearance of the minister, who will be the one who sets the date for the session. In his speech, the Republican deputy Bartomeu Compte recommended to the other groups – who have crossed out these days the announcement that was published on the networks of “electoral blackmail”, “sectarianism” or “indignity”, among other qualifiers – to listen to the entire and the literalness of Campuzano's statements in relation to residence.
"We know that Santa Coloma needs a second residence," Campuzano said at the event, and indicated that "the City Council must have the will to build it." If this will exists, said the minister, "the Generalitat and the City Council will agree to build this second residence and to guarantee its public financing." However, the profile of ERC in the municipality linked the construction of the geriatric center to the fact that his party is decisive in the next term with Rufián, who, after a barrage of criticism, indicated that it was not a promise from the Government.
With all this matter, the Socialists are very "annoyed" and assure that the residence has been claimed by the Parlón City Council since 2012 several times and, according to what they indicate, has been denied. That is why they criticize that now the minister is taking advantage of a campaign event with Rufián to promise its construction. On Thursday, Campuzano will meet with Parlón, in a meeting requested several times and agreed upon before the controversy. The mayoress hopes that the minister apologizes.
