Santiago de Compostela (EFE) ‘ of the BNG, has affirmed that it assumes the results “if there is any resentment”.
“A person must be consistent with their way of thinking and in this sense I do not feel any resentment for doing what I understood to be done in each case, always thinking of the general interest. I assume that if you have to pay a price for that, it is well paid ”, Bugallo declared at a press conference held at the town hall.
Bugallo has recognized that he did not expect the ‘sorpasso’ of the BNG and that he contemplated three possible scenarios. In the worst of them, he expected a tie in councilors with the BNG but thought that his formation would win the nationalists in votes; in the end they obtained about a thousand fewer votes than the nationalists after losing about 8,000 compared to 2019.
“Things are as they are. I can only express my immense gratitude to the citizens of Santiago for the trust they have given me for so long”, she expressed.
The acting mayor has avoided making an analysis of the electoral defeat and has indicated that others will have to assess “what was done and what was not done.”
“One of the few advantages of retiring from the front line is that I don’t have to struggle to figure out why things happened. I learned more from the failures and failures than from the successes. But since I have no intention of re-presenting myself in the elections, I hope that this assessment is made by others ”, he declared.
Bugallo foresees agreements between PSdeG and BNG
Bugallo will be acting mayor until June 17, when the plenary session of constitution of the new municipal corporation will be held, to which the socialist has indicated that he will not attend, after confirming that he is leaving local politics.
That day, June 17, the new corporation will take office and the new councilor or councilor will be elected, who would have to reach an absolute majority of 13 votes or else the head of the list would automatically be proclaimed mayor. voted, in this case the popular Borja Verea.
It is almost certain that the next mayor of the city will be the nationalist Goretti Sanmartín, after an agreement between the BNG, the PSdeG and Compostela Aberta, the three left-wing forces that added 14 councilors in the elections.
Bugallo has indicated that after abandoning politics, he does not want to “interfere” in the decisions of the councilors of the socialist group, although he has added that he is convinced that there will be agreements since “traditionally” the BNG and the PSdeG have managed to understand each other in the City Council.
“In Santiago it would be difficult to explain that having a corporation with 14 councilors who confirm a progressive majority, there would not be a government of that coalition,” he stressed.
However, it has not entered into assessing “how it is going to articulate” that government, since it is not up to it, but to the socialist group, to decide who will be the interlocutors in the agreement process.
“Until June 16, I am going to limit myself to fulfilling my mission as acting mayor,” insisted Bugallo, who on the other hand has confessed that politics “never leaves one and that it is always part of a person’s life ”.
Asked about his future, he has indicated that it is not in his plans to continue in politics, but he has recognized that given his vocation, in the event that he was called to a certain position, he could not avoid “thinking about it” or “taking it seriously ” the offer, in the event that it can continue to be “useful”.
Surprised at the electoral advance
In relation to the surprise announcement by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to advance the general elections to next July 23, he said that, if he had known before, perhaps he “would have waited a bit” to formalize his resignation.
“I had not imagined that I was going to see early elections,” said the acting mayor, who defended his decision and said that he surely did so thinking that, after the elections, we will enter “a new stage of political confrontation and of wear”.
“That period of wear and tear is saved by anticipating the elections. The political confrontation in Spain in recent months is intolerable and exceeds what is reasonable. What he did seems quite understandable to me, ”she has stated.
Before concluding his appearance, the socialist has indicated that he would like the next person to lead the party in the city to be a person who acts “as an element of union” and who is “committed to Santiago.”
“I hope that the person who leads the socialist party is very aware of what Santiago is and its relevance,” he added.
After five terms in two stages as city councilor, Bugallo has recognized that his dedication was not an occupation, but “his life” and that after 40 years serving the residents he now only thinks of exercising “his right to retirement ” and walk through the streets of the city. EFE