Tías and the inherited legacy

February 16 2019 (13:52 WET)

With the call for general elections, we can say that this year 2019 brings us an "electoral rain" at different levels that will make us step into the schools of our municipalities on more than one occasion. A "rain" that will put us in the uncomfortable situation of making relevant decisions at all levels of government. From the local to the European level. Therefore, we must try to have adequate information to make decisions consistent with reality to prevent political marketing from misinforming us. And what better than to analyze a town hall, the place where citizens have a closer relationship with the Administration. In this case, the town hall of the municipality where I grew up, Tías.

In 2011, the PP obtained the electoral victory in the municipality of Tías. At that same moment, the discourse of the party led by Pancho Hernández was that of the "inherited legacy", that of the excessive debt accumulated by the previous government. There is no need to deny the evidence, but we must not allow truths to be half-truths from the voter's point of view. And even less after 8 years of management. After the audit held by Ramón Melián, the City Council recognized a debt of 41 million. Amount echoed by both the newspaper La Provincia  and Europapress. The strange thing about this statement is that the debt was exactly 31 million, not 41 million. The outstanding debt (debt with banks) amounted, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, to 15,357,000 euros; the debt with suppliers to 10,542,000 euros; and the rest, about 4,000,000 euros, were pending judgments to be paid. This was stated by Melián himself before these media. So, why did these media proclaim an amount that bordered on the apocalyptic? Why in 2014 was it stated on the same website of the Tías City Council that the real debt of 2011 was 34 million, in 2015 32 million, in 2016 33 million and in 2019 again 34 million? Are they lying consciously or do they not know what they are saying? It is necessary to magnify the "inherited legacy" in order to act with total impunity during the mandates. Fear always works and that is why, as you can see, the debt in 2011 seems to decrease and grow again depending on the year it is said. Curious.

It should be clarified that the debt to suppliers was paid in part through access to a loan, from the Supplier Payment Mechanism of 2012, worth more than 7 million euros. This mechanism was available to any local entity interested in financing itself outside the banking market in order to meet its debts with suppliers, the main victims of the 2008 crisis. So, it is strange that, with the help of a mechanism implemented by the Government to provide liquidity to the town halls, the PP of Pancho Hernández dared to affirm in 2015 that "not only has the debt left by the socialists with the suppliers been paid" and that in four years the debt had been reduced by 15 million euros. This statement is ironic if we take into account that the passive debt of the town hall amounted to 16,800,000 euros at the end of 2014 (Table 1). An amount higher than the inherited outstanding debt. Therefore, the only thing that the Mayor had achieved was to pay the pending judgments and the suppliers, and the latter thanks to the Supplier Payment Mechanism. The outstanding debt was even higher.

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As we can see in the table, the City Council not only did not reduce the outstanding debt until 2016 and then grow again, but it increased above the existing outstanding debt in 2011 during 2014. Year prior to the 2015 elections. Coincidence? No. This is doing old politics and we were supposed to have learned that this type of politics is not efficient, nor does it serve to improve our municipality.

In the following years, the City Council reduced the outstanding debt by amortizing part of the bank loans and reducing investments in the municipality. Why? Obviously, this year there are elections and in 2018 it was necessary to revitalize the image of the consistory to prepare the ground for the electoral campaign. What investments have been made then? We have the road of the Lilies that was a fiasco, another paving plan for its visibility, a swimming pool without opening, the Princess Ico street in Pto del Carmen unfinished, etc. But, the damages of the wall of the Avenida de Las Playas have not yet been repaired or the Police Station in Tías has been reformed, to which I invite all citizens to go and see, especially its bathrooms. Nor has the construction of the police station in Pto del Carmen been carried out, something so necessary given our tourist relevance. They have had time for this and more, but this happens when you do not know how to do anything but old politics, the politics of inefficiency in the management of public funds.

It is also enlightening to see how they proclaim that in this year 2019 it is intended to make an investment of 15 million in works. I suppose they will refer to the new Pavilion in Tías worth 3,200,000 euros. Pto del Carmen I suppose has no local residents, only tourists. Thus, it is here when my astonishment reaches its peak with the management carried out when reading in the media that according to the City Council of Tías, this has managed to reduce its level of indebtedness by 61%. But if that only means about 16-17 million euros of the existing debt upon arrival at the consistory. Taking into account that part was paid thanks to a state loan and that the forecast of the outstanding debt is that it will increase to exceed previous levels, we can already say that they have told half-truths. I am afraid when the Treasury data on the outstanding debt of the City Councils for the year 2018 and 2019 come out.

Therefore, we can observe several relevant aspects about the outstanding debt, the investments and the argument of the "inherited legacy". First, they do not know or do not want to know what the real debt was in 2011 because they have varied their data in the form of a U, going from an amount that is reduced and grows again near the electoral times in a clear desire to instill fear in the electorate. Second, the outstanding debt has remained stable or above during the two terms except for the year 2016, which shows that the City Council still needs credit from banking entities to undertake investments that, in all likelihood, do not represent a real qualitative improvement in the quality of the municipality if we take into account that we are at the bottom in social spending at the national level and that there are many promises that have not been fulfilled. Third, various investment programs have been carried out, preferably through paving plans, which are very good if it were not because the municipality suffers from clear deficiencies in terms of security or tourist renovation, leisure facilities, green areas, etc., which could have been solved in 8 years. Fourth, during these two terms the City Council has lost or let go of several aids such as the 500,000 euros to renovate the Plaza de las Naciones or the 15,000 euros to install Wifi in the tourist areas. Fifth, in 2019 Pancho Hernández and his government team continue to wield the discourse with which they began their first term knowing that their management has been terrible, with the hope of instilling the same fear that the municipal voter had when he went to vote in 2011.

These points are a clear example of the lack of capacity to establish discourses according to the moment that is lived and that the PP in Tías cannot defend its management without resorting to argumentative fallacies. So, when you go to vote, keep these data in mind.

 

Alejandro Pérez O'pray, Political Science and Administration from the UNED.

 

 

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