The mayor of Gijón, Carmen Moriyón (center), from Foro Asturias, in the plenary session on September 13th.EUROPA PRESS
Almost four months after signing an agreement with PP and Vox to guarantee the government of Foro Asturias, the mayor of Gijón, Carmen Moriyón, has said enough and announced this Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the end of the 100 days, the break of the pact with the Ultra formation of the tripartite government have been completed. He justified this by saying that Vox had not only been unable to carry out the responsibilities assigned to it by the citizens, but also because “it had placed its initials above the general interest” of the city, the most populous city in Asturias, with 268,000 residents. .
Hours after the regional deputy and city councilor for celebrations, Sara Álvarez Rouco (Vox), announced that they are considering making changes to the Gijón International Film Festival (FICX) to open it to more audiences, in line with her party’s line. and far from “bias and partisanship”, the Gijón city council expressed itself in detail in an appearance without questions: “Vox is outside the government. “It is a very considered decision that does not only refer to the statements, although they violate the tolerance that characterizes and will continue to characterize Gijón.”
Moriyón went further and attacked Vox’s work during these almost four months of government. “It has paralyzed the work of the city council and it has been passive regarding such a fundamental element as the tax regulations,” said the councilor. “The forum firmly believes in democracy. And he understands that the polls had called for Vox to be integrated into the government to work for and for Gijón. But after this time, not only was Vox unable to fulfill its obligations, but they also put their initials above the interests of Gijón. And that will not be tolerated. As long as I am mayor, I will not accept any interference from Madrid or wherever,” said the mayor, who appeared surrounded by the majority of Foro Asturias councilors.
Before ending his brief intervention, Moriyón sent a reassuring message to the people of Gijón and the FICX organizers: “Gijón will not suffer a setback in its freedoms.”
Vox Councilor Álvarez Rouco also announced that another award would be created to recognize “the values of effort, work and respect for others.” A decision made without prior explanation to the other partners of the municipal team, Foro and the PP, and based on “the values defended by Vox”, as Álvarez Rouco himself explained. This is the second verbal attack in less than two months from the same city council that warned in July that artists who used Asturian in their performances would not be hired. The mayor of Gijón addressed the controversy this morning on social networks with a short “It’s over”. The President of the Principality, the socialist Adrián Barbón, also published this in his post
The two Vox city councilors became part of the local government of Gijón after the local elections of May 28, in which the center-right and right-wing bloc (Foro Asturias, PP and Vox) received 15 representatives, compared to 12 on the left (PSOE, Izquierda Unida and Podemos). To ensure that Carmen Moriyón returns to the office of mayor that she held between 2011 and 2019, Foro Asturias (with eight councilors) reached an agreement with the PP (five councilors), agreeing on the support of just a few hours before the plenary session the two Vox city councilors for the investiture.
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The director of the festival, Alejandro Díaz Castaño, expressed confidence that the event in Gijón will not lose the essence of recent years. “I have every confidence that Carmen Moriyón will defend the independent festival as it has always been during her years in government,” he noted. “We are waiting for news,” said Díaz Castaño.
The Asturian city’s film festival, originally aimed at youth cinema, experienced its first major heyday from 1995 to 2012, when it was directed by José Luis Cienfuegos, current head of the Seminci of Valladolid. It became the most important independent film competition in Europe, at a time when American indie film was producing its best work. There were also good vintages of filmographies from France, Argentina and Asia. In 2012, Cienfuegos was removed from office when Foro Asturias, a party then led by Francisco Álvarez Cascos, came to the city council demanding “a change of direction to give more attention to the Asturian audiovisual market”. After several editions in which the competition lost its direction and identity, the Asturian festival regained its prestige in the film world and in the European festival scene with the appointment of Díaz Castaño in 2017 after winning the public competition.
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