Harsh words from the mayor of Premià de Mar, Rafa Navarro, in reference to the campaign to collect signatures promoted by the neighborhood platform “No more flats” to oppose the implementation of smart containers since, according to them, it could violate the privacy of the neighbors. Navarro, a journalist by profession, went further and called the dissemination of the news on local radio “yellow press and lax journalism.” Some comments in which this is confirmed and that have raised an intense political dust from which the municipal opposition has taken advantage.
The PSC, the main opposition party, issued a statement demanding that Navarro recant and issue “a formal apology to the station’s staff” while asking the rest of the political parties to condemn the events and show their support for the station’s workers. They also demand that the mayor address the citizens with respect, without disqualifications such as “colla d’eixelebrats” (group of crazy people) referring to the neighborhood platform. Crida Premianenca has been sent out in similar terms on social networks.
Along the same political lines, the local section of CCOO maintains that the mayor “called the Ràdio Premià workers unprofessional and questioned the continuity of their work and the radio” by linking it, according to the union, “to obedience.” to his government.” In another statement, the Platform “No more Apartments at Premià de Mar” has also condemned the mayor’s “disdainful” words and shows his support for the radio workers.
For his part, Rafa Navarro, in statements to La Vanguardia, reaffirms his statements that, he assures, “have been taken out of context” with a clear political intention. He also asserts that “the mayor has every right to give his opinion, as a journalist, about the media” and even, as is the case, to announce “if the code of ethics is violated if the public media does not contrast the information.” real and based on opinions” to prepare the news. The first mayor, also Councilor for Communication, affirms that “in six years in charge of the council I have not interfered in the radio and I have maintained the values ??of its independence.” In the face of criticism, he warns that “if anyone has evidence that I have threatened someone, they should present it” and condemns the “distortion of reality” that some political forces try to generate.
