València (EFE).- The mayor of Valencia and candidate for re-election for Compromís, Joan Ribó, has affirmed that “of course” he would accept being deputy mayor if in the municipal elections on May 28 his formation is not the most voted for, since the The first objective of Compromís is for the progressive forces to win, “not for Joan Ribó to be mayor”.
During his speech this Thursday at the Mediterranean Tribune Europe Forum, he pointed out that it is the voters who determine which position is held after the elections, and he has shown himself convinced that the left-wing bloc will win again and again with a result ” more or less tight”, as in 2015 and 2019, when the difference was one mayor.
Ribó has advocated reissuing a left-wing coalition government, since, as he has said, they have shown that they know how to negotiate and reach agreements based on differences, and he has explicitly thanked the work of the PSPV-PSOE, and of Podem in the legislature in which he was in local government: “I want to make everyone co-responsible for all the successes”.
Invitation to Yolanda Diaz
Asked if he has invited Yolanda Díaz to participate in his electoral campaign, the mayor has indicated that he has, although he does not know if she will be able to come, although he has demanded that the Valencia campaign focus on this city and not be a “battleground of other campaigns at the state level” nor the one prior to other campaigns.
“I am a person who understands me very well with Yolanda Díaz,” said Ribó, who quoted a few words from the Vice President of Government to defend that “it is time to add” -politics “in capital letters is to talk, talk and talk ”, especially with those who think differently, to reach meeting points-, and has considered that “this is a coalition government”.
Regarding whether he will be there for the entire following term or could leave earlier, the 75-year-old mayor has admitted that he is “an age” in which he cannot guarantee that he will be twenty years old, although “many in the world cannot guarantee that either. , and not from small countries”. “I go to work in a normal way during all the time”, he has affirmed.
Housing as a priority
Ribó has stated that housing policies are going to be a priority, and in line with this they will limit the rental price, promote inspections of illegal tourist apartments and promote intergenerational housing cooperatives.
He has also defended the need to continue working on the city’s railway infrastructure and to create a new management entity between the City Council, the Generalitat and the Government of Spain to consolidate La Marina as an “axis of innovation” and economic boost.
“We are transforming the city, it is something so clear that no one can deny it”, asserted the mayor, who added that Valencia is increasingly “greener, more walkable and closer”.
Regarding the expansion of the port, he has called for an environmental impact statement to be made that takes into account how the millions of containers that this expansion will entail will be moved, something that could already have been done three years ago when it was warned.
Finally, he has claimed that, in the face of political polarization and an extreme right “at the gates of a PP government”, the response must be that of politics aimed at solving day-to-day problems beyond the tension in the to bet on dialogue, also with the opposition.