Valladolid (EFE).- The mayor of Valladolid and socialist candidate for re-election in three months, Óscar Puente, is convinced that the city is facing “a decade of authentic splendor” from the economic, labor, cultural point of view and environmental, with “global projection”.
“Valladolid is going to play where it belongs, where it should have always played,” Puente declared in an interview with Agencia EFE, sure that in the near future the Slovak battery company Innobat will formalize its landing in the city, that the Indian electric bus manufacturer Switch Mobility will start its activity at the end of 2023 and that the rail integration will culminate a new stage in the medium term.
He does not see these industrial projects as “aces up his sleeve”, because they are not “cheating moves” but rather the result of the work of several years, without reproach or suspicion towards the Board in the case of Innobat, due to the fact that the preliminary agreements were They signed at the headquarters of the Presidency due to their demand: “I don’t hit myself for those things, if I have to go to hell to sign to bring the factory to my city, I go and sign.”
In the political game it also frames the position of the PP to focus a good part of its campaign on the project of burying the tracks, with a reproach towards its “imposture”, by “telling the citizens or some of them what they want to hear, like if they were fools, assuming that what he is telling them is unfeasible” and ignoring that the popular candidate himself, Jesús Julio Carnero, was a councilor when they assumed a debt of 400 million “behind the plenary’s back”.
“There they are… when the adversary makes a mistake, you don’t have to distract him, let them continue,” he added.
The times 2027?
After eight years in charge of the Mayor’s Office, Puente has assured that they have become “very short”, as if there had been a “blink of an eye”, the result of his full dedication “24 hours a day and seven days a week”. the week”, which has generated “a lot of wear” on a personal level, but has also made him “a much better politician, with more experience and baggage”.
Asked about his worst moment as mayor, he recalled that it was “facing the underground debt” and seeing himself “with a knife in the neck by a banking ‘pool’ to which 400 million were owed and which put pressure in many ways” :
“I remember a call from a notary at 12 at night, while I was in bed, and a terrible conversation. Those days were very hard, I will never forget it”.
On the other hand, among his best moments he points out his first outing on the balcony of the Town Hall at the festivities “with the Celtas Cortos under his arm”, the day that rugby filled the Zorrilla stadium in the presence of King Felipe VI, the visit to Pope Francisco and the concerts in the Plaza Mayor with “the stars for whom I have fought so hard”, highlighted the mayor, confident of opening a new gap by hosting the Goya Awards, which he hopes to tie shortly by 2024.
On the possibility that, if he wins the elections on March 28, 2027, it could be his arrival season, Puente has indicated that his project was always considered for “three terms”, so that some of the initiatives could crystallize, without From that moment on, I could guarantee nothing.
“I would like to leave, I would not like to be thrown out. Not having to leave because the citizens get tired of me ”, he summarized in this regard.
Low emission zone
“It is a cultural change, most of the cities in Spain are doing the same”, he stressed about the deployment of the Low Emission Zone in the coming months, in the midst of the analysis phase of the amendments presented by the Valladolid society , but convinced that it is a basic tool to improve the quality of life and the health of citizens.
In the words of Puente, “at the bottom of all this is the health, of course of the planet, but also of the citizens”, which is why he is confident that commitments such as increasing the use of the bike as a means of transport will be a pledge in Valladolid society.
It has set the city of Vitoria as a close reference, with 18 percent of daily journeys aboard bicycles, so Valladolid still has room for improvement, after going from 0.5% to 3 in the last eight years. Current %: “I’m not talking about the Netherlands, I’m talking about Vitoria, which is next door, it’s a city similar to ours, which is a model in green areas, in well-being.”
“And if this is productive, let no one fear, that is something that citizens do because they want to, because they feel good, because it is a cheap, fast and healthy means of transport”, he added before recalling that Valladolid is one of the 100 European cities (7 in Spain) with the goal of zero emissions for the next decade, after being selected by the EU for this project.
Sánchez as electoral argument
Puente does not believe that the PP’s strategy of mixing the objectives of 28-M will be successful, because “the people are with their heads in their mayor, their councilors and their city… when they have to stand before the ballot box they will think about Valladolid”.
In his opinion, this approach by the representatives of the PP to link the result of 28-M with ‘sanchismo’ denotes, in the first place, a “lack of respect for the electorate, because they are not stupid, they know that in the generals they will vote for the generals , and if you are happy with your City Council, what you are not going to do is harakiri because it suits Mr. Feijóo better or worse ”.
In addition, this strategy reveals “very little confidence in their candidates”, since in the opinion of Puente they do them “a disservice” when the PP presents its headliners as “a kind of battering rams of a motion of no confidence”. “It seems a bit ridiculous to me,” he added.
Asked about the apparent differences and some similarities between the coalitions at the municipal level in Valladolid and the state one, the first thing that Puente said was that the one between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos “has problems but has worked much better than many predicted”, since that “nobody gave a penny” but “they take their budgets forward” and keep “the Government standing.”
With Pablo Iglesias out of the equation, Puente believes that the figure of Yolanda Díaz as vice president has contributed to stabilizing the Government, in a comparison that he sees as “very appropriate” with the role played by the now candidate from Valladolid Take the Word, María Sánchez .
“That is the spirit that makes government coalitions work harmoniously, putting differences aside, which there are, sometimes putting a damper on them, not putting them aside, but not oversizing them, and putting on the table what is in common and shared interests.
“It has been an absolutely ideal marriage,” he said about his municipal coalition.
Regarding the scenario that is opening up for the municipalities of the province capitals of Castilla y León, he has opined that the five socialist mayors are “well regarded and are managing well”, for which reason he has trusted that they will revalidate their responsibilities, without the citizens they can see them as “a kind of lap dog of the regional government”.
In this sense, he has been surprised to hear Carnero (PP) say that his project is “Mañueco”, since he doubts if that is “the best business card” before the voters: “My project is not Pedro Sánchez, it is Valladolid ”.
The chat with Sánchez, for a “good book”
Puente maintains a “very good relationship” with the Prime Minister and leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, based on “loyalty” to say “good and bad” things with discretion: “My WhatsApp chat with Pedro will one day give for a good book”, he stated.
He has recognized that when he sees something that he does not like about the Government’s management, he applies that loyalty that is based on “not saying it in public, but saying it to him in private”, which fuels a relationship with Sánchez of “great cordiality, loyalty and respect”.
As one of the pillars that raised him in the primaries that returned him the leadership in the PSOE, Puente believes that Sánchez is already clear that he is not “available” to leave Valladolid and dedicate himself to national politics: “I am nothing more than what that I have wanted to be in my life… my highest aspiration in politics is to be mayor of my city and from here, if the citizens want, I am not going to move”.
Mañueco, “not even in paint”
The mayor has been convinced that the people of Valladolid “do not even want to see a government like that of Mr. Mañueco in their city”, referring to the coalition between the PP and Vox in Castilla y León.
Puente has argued that the PP has a “hack” when it tries to link its municipal coalition with that of the PSOE and Unidas Podemos at the national level: “People know how Óscar Puente and Valladolid Toma La Palabra govern, with some elements common to the Government of Spain, but with its own line”.
However, in the case of the PP there is “the unknown of what a PP and Vox government would be like in the town halls… and it only has a benchmark to measure it, which is the PP and Vox government in Castilla y León.”
“People don’t even want to see a government like Mr. Mañueco’s in their city, even those who may have some doubt about whether or not to support Puente.” “I see the balance more inclined towards a large majority for Puente before having an imitation of the autonomous government in government.”
“I was listening to Mañueco the other day say the phrase that ‘we are better than a year ago’ (for the anniversary of the regional elections in 2022) and I think… my goodness, how would they be a year ago… what a year… I don’t know if it stops forget or to never forget, so as not to make an error of these characteristics again”. EFE
