Following last Tuesday´s late announcement that the Partido Popular and the Ciudadanos in Orihuela have come to an agreement to support the government as a majority, they are now able to get on with the job in hand, with their first priority being an increase in their own salaries.
They will now award themselves a 15% pay rise on average, with the new mayor seeing his salary increased to 56,000 euro from the 48,000 taken by Monserrate Guillén, the previous mayor.
The CLARO political group on the Orihuela Costa pointed out that when the mayor of Orihuela proposed a 5% increase in salaries, the Ciudadanos party rejected it. But when the mayor proposed a 15% pay rise, the Ciudadanos party accepted and with it they get 17,000 euro per year for all their 3 Councillors even if they do not have actual positions in Government. “Great way to earn money at our EXPENSE!! Orihuela Costa again will suffer”.
Although the Ciudadanos members will not be active in government, they have vowed to support them in decisions, which gives the PP the majority vote.
The PP mayor of Orihuela, Emilio Bascuñana, has justified the payment to the Ciudadanos members as being “compensation” for their support.
The proposal will be tabled in the plenary meeting on Friday and is likely to be approved by this new majority. The government team will also be paid for attending that meeting to vote on their pay increase.
Meanwhile, considered more of a priority for residents, the streets remain unclean, with rubbish piled high and no apparent action by the government to clean them.
