The Civil Guard has sanctioned the president of the Ourense Provincial Council and the provincial PP, José Manuel Baltar, for driving at 215 kilometers per hour last Sunday on the A-52, at the height of the Zamorano municipality of Asturianos, in the direction of Madrid . The sanction amounted to a fine of 600 euros and the withdrawal of six points from the driving license, as confirmed by sources from the Provincial Council to Europa Press. The Civil Guard sent Baltar’s report to a court for a possible crime against road safety.
Sources familiar with the report have reported that Civil Guard agents filed the fine on the spot. Even so, said proposal is now subject to the Puebla de Sanabria (Zamora) court ruling on the possible crime.
Sources from the provincial institution cited by EFE explain that Baltar traveled to the Spanish capital on Sunday in an official car that belongs to the Ourense Provincial Council and that is available to the Presidency to participate in different meetings of the organization. The reason for the trip from the city of As Burgas to Madrid was to participate in some work meetings on Monday, according to La Voz de Galicia.
Baltar did not identify himself as an authority nor did he reveal to the agents his position as president of the Provincial Council and the PP of Ourense. The traffic civil guards did not carry out a breathalyzer/drug test because they did not perceive symptoms or there was an accident, which would have made it compulsory to carry out the test.
Police sources consulted by EFE have indicated that there would be a crime for driving above 212 kilometers per hour in a section that is limited to 120, therefore, more than 60 km/hour above the permitted speed. In this context, article 379 of the Code contemplates a prison sentence of three to six months, a fine of six to twelve months or work for the benefit of the community. In any case, it establishes the deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles for a period of between one and four years.
The first political reactions have not been long in coming and the PSOE of Ourense has already demanded the “immediate resignation” of the president of the Provincial Council, Manuel Baltar. In a statement, the Socialists demand the resignation of the also president of the Orensano PP for committing an “alleged crime against road safety” by driving “with one of the official cars of the institution, which he drove himself”, at this speed.
The PSOE considers “indecent” and “absolutely unacceptable in a democracy” that the president of the Provincial Council committed this “serious crime”, “recklessly driving an official car in another province to carry out activities that he has not yet explained on a Sunday”. Where did Baltar really travel with the car paid for by everyone if no event in Madrid or outside Ourense appeared on his official agenda, neither that Sunday nor the following Monday?”, he asked.
The Socialists assure that Manuel Baltar “cannot continue for one more minute in charge of the presidency of the Delegation of Ourense for democratic decency” because “he confuses the deputation with his home.” “He does not meet the honor and exemplarity that the position requires” and out of “respect for the institution and the province that he represents”, since we are facing “a serious crime that could have much more serious consequences”.
Likewise, the formation demands the president of the Galician PP and the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, and the national president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to “take action on the matter as soon as possible.”
José Manuel Baltar has chaired the Ourense Provincial Council since 2012, when his father, José Luis Baltar, left office after 22 years. He has been the leader of the provincial PP for thirteen years, a responsibility for which he renewed the confidence of the militancy in a congress held in September 2021. Baltar has been a councilor for the town of Esgos since 2003 and was also a regional deputy during the first decade of this century .
