Following statements by the mayor of Calahorsa this weekend accusing SEPES of refusing to take over the installation of natural gas and optical fiber in El Recuenco, the government delegate in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, has criticized that “instead of trying to deceive the Calagurritans, it would be more convenient for their loyalty to be offered to the Administration than after 10 years of abandonment of El Recuenco mobilized to promote this industrial estate.”
Arraiz Nalda recalled that, in February of this year, the reception certificate was signed without expressing any inconvenience about it. Also, on June 26, the mayor of Calsalvo held a meeting with the general director of Sepes, in which the City Council itself announced that they planned to make improvements in relation to the supply of gas and optical fiber. Therefore, he has urged that this change of criterion for “coherence” be explained now.
Likewise, this meeting also served to clarify from the SEPES to the Calagurritano Consistory that there had not been any increase in prices compared to the year 2022, as affirmed by the mayor, and to reiterate the commitment of SEPES in the commercialization of the industrial soils of El Recuenco, from which various commercial actions derived.
On the other hand, the delegate has pointed out that, in the polygons of the SEPES, as the mayor should know, there is no investment in this gas service, although a location is enabled in case any company wants to incorporate it. “Gas is not an essential service and the Government of Spain works for decarbonization and, therefore, with the elimination of gas,” he explained.
As for the optical fiber, Telefónica’s pipeline exists and any operator can include it.
For all of this, Arraiz Nalda has pointed out that “we find, therefore, that the maximum representative in the City of Calsalvo is characterized by trying to deceive the Calagurritans or, simply, does not know the reality of the municipality that manages. Just as serious are the two options.”
The delegate has urged the mayor that, if she really wants to defend the interests of her city, what she should do is request explanations from the Rioja Executive because the only investment that has been withdrawn from El Recuenco is the more than 20 million euros of the Government of Spain that she renounced.
“Both the mayor and those who accompanied him on that visit demonstrated their institutional disloyalty with the sole purpose of achieving political gains, even knowing that what they denounced was not true,” he said.
Finally, he recalled that the business park of El Recuenco was promoted with the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with a total investment of more than 45 million euros. However, this project came to a standstill during the tenure of PP President Mariano Rajoy and was resumed with a new PSOE government led by Pedro Sánchez.
“Taking into account the effort that the socialist governments have always maintained at the head of Spain, it would be more convenient for the mayor of Calahorsa to demonstrate her loyalty to the administrations that have really promoted this industrial estate,” he concluded.