Félix Bolaños, Spanish presidency minister, discredited this Friday the thousands of Catalan pro-independence demonstrators who mobilized yesterday, Thursday 19th against the Spanish-French summit, despite the time and the fact it was a working day, and defined them as "the Catalonia of the past" and "tension, division and conflict". "In Barcelona, the Catalonia of the past, the Catalonia of tension, division and conflict, held a demonstration", he stated. Bolaños made these declarations from La Palma, where he defended the autonomous community of Catalonia as the model "of the future, of agreements, of dialogue, of major investments and great opportunities". "Of course, the Spanish government is always, every day and at all times with the Catalonia of the future", reaffirmed the minister, who also pointed out that it is not only "better" and "good" for this territory, but also for the whole of Spain.
The demonstration's organizers estimated the number of demonstrators at 30,000, who occupied a much larger area than planned and concentrated on Avinguda Maria Cristina, in front of the Catalan National Art Museum, while the Guardia Urbana lowered the number to 6,500.
Catalunya està més que preparada per ser un país.
— Bernat SC (@Bsecap) January 19, 2023
No pels que manen però sí per qui empenyem sempre i fins al final!✊🏻 pic.twitter.com/1gtCbB4Dfn
On the other hand, Bolaños took advantage of his visit to La Palma to point out that in sixteen months the Spanish government has mobilized 500 million euros for the reconstruction of the devastation caused by the volcanic eruption, which has benefited 24,000 people, and added that with the contributions of the Canary Islands government and the local council, the total has reached 670 million. At the press conference following the meeting of the commission for the reconstruction of La Palma, the minister said that this is a record figure, and stressed that such speed had never been seen before in Spain after a natural disaster.
Ángel Víctor Torres, president of the Canary Islands, said at the same press conference that "in response to the claim that aid has not arrived, I must say that it is not true", and pointed out that the administrations' economic services accredited that 605 million euros had been delivered. Mariano Hernández Zapata, president of the La Palma Island Council, insisted that they will not rest until a solution to the housing problem is found, and assured that everything must be better than it was before the volcanic eruption that began on September 19th 2021.
The minister began his speech by saying that this is his seventh visit to La Palma after the volcanic eruption and that he will send a report to the Ombudsman with the measures taken until December 31st 2022. Bolaños acknowledged that for those who have lost everything or something, the time elapsed is "a long time", so he regretted that action could not be taken quicker, although he stressed that in December last year a decree law was passed to extend the aid, which he hopes will be validated next Tuesday in Parliament.