The Canary Government has reprimanded this Tuesday the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín (CC), for his statements on gender violence, even if he has rectified them and has apologized for them, because it considers that "every word counts" in this matter and "there is no room for ambiguities".
In the plenary session held last Thursday, Machín said that, on occasions, when the Local Police informs him of a case of gender violence "and there are children involved", the City Council has lodged the alleged aggressor in a hotel to avoid arresting him.
In a statement, the mayor has apologized for these statements and has alleged that he explained himself badly, because he assures that what he wanted to say was that the City Council had lodged a victim of gender violence in a hotel to remove her from her aggressor.
The Minister of Social Welfare of the Canary Government, Candelaria Delgado (CC), responsible for Equality, appreciates that the mayor has apologized for what he said and has clarified that "in no case were aggressors lodged and that all the measures adopted by the City Council of Tinajo have been aimed at protecting victims in situations of special vulnerability".
However, Delgado warns Machín that, "in matters of gender violence, there is no room for ambiguities".
"Every word counts, and public officials must be very clear in our message. The only priority is to protect the victims, never the aggressors," she stresses in a press release.
Delgado acknowledges that many municipalities, especially small ones (Tinajo has 6,572 inhabitants), lack their own resources such as sheltered housing, which sometimes forces them to seek alternative solutions.
However, she stresses that these measures must always be coordinated with the security forces and within the official protocols.
The Canary Government continues to work to strengthen the network of reception and protection resources on all the islands, "so that no woman is unprotected and no municipality has to improvise emergency solutions," says the Minister.
Candelaria Delgado stresses, finally, that "gender violence is too serious a problem to leave room for doubt", so that "citizens need clear, firm and coordinated messages from all institutions".