Sílvia Orriols, from the extreme right-wing pro-independence party Aliança Catalana, became mayor of Ripoll against the odds when the opposition’s alternative pacts to prevent her from governing did not succeed. He faces the mandate with six councilors (out of 17) and a possible no-confidence motion in the air. Among his priorities, start the procedures to close the mosque.
Why do you want to close it?
Why was she 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, is still open and can continue to radicalize Muslims who live in Ripoll. The imam made radical preaching, calls to kill Westerners.
The association has always denied it. If so, it would be closed.
Many Muslims who were not involved in 17-A heard these radical preachings and did not denounce the events. The topic closed falsely to turn the page.
What other priorities do you have for Ripoll?
We will review the census because until now it had not been verified whether or not the visa of the immigrants who came to register had expired. If so, we will report it to the relevant authorities so that they can proceed with their expulsion.
In these elections, Junts has lost five councilors, the same number that Aliança Catalana has won. How do you explain the evolution of the vote?
We have not only collected votes from Junts, but also from the PSC and ERC. This is due to the inability of these formations to address issues that affect the people of Ripol and that show that they do not exist, such as insecurity, immigration, incivility….
His electoral slogan was ‘Salvem Ripoll’. What or who should be saved from?
From the meaningless social policies that previous government teams have been applying and that have led the municipality to a situation of degradation, devastation and uncontrolled immigration.
The immigration rate in Ripoll is 13%, a figure below the Catalan average. Is this an uncontrolled immigration?
What happens is that it goes from ‘there is no such thing’ to ‘there is nothing to do anymore’. And we are not willing to arrive at ‘there is nothing to do anymore’. We want to stop the situation before reaching a point of no return.
It is for statements like this that she is placed on the extreme right.
We don’t care about labels, we fight for the survival of our people. Aliança Catalana is not an extreme right, it is a Catalan nationalist party that advocates common sense.
Are you closer to VOX or CUP, Sílvia Orriols?
I have always said that I give more priority to the national axis, therefore I will always be close to those who want the independence and survival of Catalonia before those who want extinction.
What difference is there between Aliança Catalana and Vox regardless of the flag?
It is evident that with the issue of the nation we diverge and we are opposed, but there are other things with which I can agree, such as their media campaigns against granting more social assistance to immigrants than to vulnerable people in the country. We will eliminate the clauses that discriminate against the people of Ripol from access to social assistance. There are requirements that are required of a native and that are not required of an immigrant. The older woman who has a flat in poor condition does not have access to aid because she already owns a property, on the other hand, the immigrant is not asked for any document that certifies the patrimony of her country.
The data does not reflect that impression that foreigners receive more aid. According to the latest report from the Ripollès Social Welfare Consortium, 62% of those served are of Spanish nationality…
In that percentage there is a lot of Moroccan immigration that already has Spanish nationality. And many profess anti-Western values.
What other problems does Ripoll have?
Officially protected housing does not cover all demands. More new floors are being processed. We will prioritize that they are for our vulnerable Ripolleses. It cannot be that our youth and older people do not have the opportunity to access these floors and newly arrived families have priority.
That sounds like ‘Primer els de casa’ that the far-right Josep Anglada used to say…
I don’t care who said it before. I consider that this is not extreme right. No one has accused those who have promoted ‘outsiders first’ policies of being extreme leftists. We prioritize our people, which is the most normal thing. In the family sphere, anyone prioritizes his children before those of others, at the national level we do the same.
But don’t immigrants have the same rights as everyone else?
We are not anti-immigrationists, we believe in a controlled, regulated immigration that adapts, works and contributes and does not question or question the civil laws of the country, nor the culture, nor the autochthonous values.
At the investiture, he said that they are “sick” of seeing that there are almost more women with their hair covered than in the air 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 to arrive had their hair uncovered, tight pants, and dressed like Westerners. Now, most go with Islamic headscarves and tunics.
In any case, that statement he made in plenary session is an exaggeration. Some 5,000 women live in Ripoll and only 684 are foreigners and not all are Muslims…
Perhaps it is the perception of a Barcelonan or someone from another part of Catalonia upon arriving here. We Ripolleses are clear that we do not want this at home. It is a problem because this harassment of women is being normalized.
You wear a pendant cross, a religious symbol. How is it different from the Islamic headscarf, another religious symbol?
The cross is a religious symbol that both men and women can carry and that does not vex anyone. The veil is not a religious element, it is of extreme misogyny and it must be eradicated from our society because the more it advances, the more difficult it will be to stop it.
But this is a country of religious freedom, worship and free expression of religious feeling…
The Islamic veil is not a religious item; It is not freedom, it is an attack on the freedom of women.
