Sílvia Orriols, from the extreme right-wing pro-independence party Aliança Catalana, became mayor of Ripoll against the odds, as the opposition’s alternative pacts to prevent her from governing failed. He faces the mandate with six councilors (out of 17) and a possible motion of censure in the air. Among his priorities, start the procedures to close the mosque.
Why do you want to close it?
Because she was involved in a process of radicalization that ended with a series of deaths on the Rambla in Barcelona. It is outrageous that this mosque, managed by the same Islamic association that hired the Salafist imam, remains open and can continue to radicalize Muslims living in Ripoll. The imam gave radical sermons, calls to kill Westerners.
The association has always denied it. If that were the case, it would be closed.
Muslims who were not involved in the 17-A heard these radical sermons and did not denounce these facts. Topic was falsely closed.
What other priorities do you have for Ripoll?
We will check the census to see if the immigrant’s visa has expired. If so, we will report it so that they can be expelled.
Together he lost five councillors, the same ones that Aliança has won. How do you explain it?
We have not only collected votes from Junts, but also from PSC and ERC. This is due to the inability of these formations to address issues that affect the people of Ripoll and that they pretend do not exist, such as insecurity, immigration, incivility…
His electoral slogan was “Save Ripoll”. From what or who must be saved?
Of senseless social policies that have been applied by previous governments and that have led the municipality to a situation of degradation, devastation and uncontrolled immigration.
Is 13% uncontrolled immigration?
What happens is that we go from “there’s nothing to do either” to “there’s nothing left to do”. And we are not ready to reach the “there is nothing more to do”. We want to stop the situation before it reaches a point of no return.
It is because of statements that it is placed on the extreme right.
The labels are the same for us, we fight for the survival of our people. Aliança Catalana is not extreme right, it is a Catalan nationalist party that advocates for common sense.
What is the difference between Aliança and Vox, flag on the sidelines?
We differ on the issue of nation, but I can agree on issues such as the media campaigns against granting more social aid to immigrants than to vulnerable people in the country. We will eliminate the clauses that discriminate against the people of Ripoll from access to social benefits. There are requirements that are required of a native that are not required of an immigrant.
62% of those served at the Social Welfare Consortium are Spanish…
In this percentage there are many Moroccan immigrants who already have Spanish nationality.
What other problems are there?
The official protection housing does not cover the demands. More new flats are being processed. We will prioritize them for our vulnerable residents. It cannot be that our young and old people do not have the opportunity to access these flats and families that have just arrived have priority.
This sounds like “Primer els de casa” said by the far-right Josep Anglada…
We prioritize our people, which is the most normal thing. In the family sphere, everyone prioritizes their children before those of others, on a national scale we do the same.
At the investiture he said that they are “fed up” to see that there are almost more women with their hair covered than uncovered in Ripoll. Isn’t this a xenophobic statement?
No. It is a cry to avoid ending up like the Islamic Republic of Iran, where women have no rights. In Ripoll, the first Muslim women who arrived wore uncovered hair and dressed as Westerners. Now most of them wear Islamic headscarves.
His claim is an exaggeration. About 5,000 women live in Ripoll and only 684 are foreigners and not all of them are Muslim…
We from Ripoll are clear that we don’t want this at home. It is a problem because this harassment of women is being normalized.
You wear a cross as a pendant, a religious symbol. How is it different from the Islamic veil?
The cross is a religious symbol that can be worn by both men and women and that no one can see. No, the veil is extreme misogyny and must be eradicated from our society.
This is a country of religious freedom, freedom of worship and free expression of religious sentiment…
The veil is an attack on women’s freedom.
