The mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín (Coalición Canaria), has issued a public apology after the controversy generated by his statements in the last municipal plenary session, where the PSOE accused him of ordering the accommodation in hotels of perpetrators of gender violence “to prevent them from being arrested.”
Machín now states that his words “were not expressed clearly” and regrets that they may have given rise to an interpretation “that does not reflect either the reality of the facts or his intention.” “In no case did I intend to minimize gender violence,” the mayor stressed in a statement, in which he flatly denies that the City Council has offered accommodation to aggressors.
“It is completely false that the aggressors have been housed, which I invite anyone who has doubts to check with the police themselves, who at all times have ensured the protection of the victims,” he said. According to the mayor, the measures adopted by the consistory and the Local Police “have always been aimed at guaranteeing the safety of the victims,” who are the ones who have received accommodation in situations of special vulnerability.
Machín has explained that, in all cases —including the one that generated the controversy—, the municipal priority has been to offer preventive protection to women who have not wanted to file a complaint, while the official complaint is being processed by the security forces. This practice, he points out, is applied “in the absence of sheltered housing available in the municipality,” something that other administrations do manage.
Faced with the accusations of the PSOE, which described his statements as “inadmissible” and denounced an “improvised and negligent management” of gender violence, Machín defends that the Tinajo City Council applies “with the utmost rigor” the protocol established in this matter. In addition, he has invited citizens to view the full plenary session to learn about the context of his words and has reiterated his “firm and unequivocal” commitment to eradicating any form of violence against women.