The plastic tide that has begun to cover beaches on the Galician coast has fully entered the pre-campaign for the regional elections of the 18th of February. The parties themselves have been in charge of introducing it into the agenda with the landing of their leaders on the most affected beaches and the institutional crisis between the Galician and state administrations over the management of what happened has heated up the debate to such a point that the regional president, Alfonso Rueda (PP), calls for depoliticization. “Whoever wants to help, let him help and whoever doesn’t, let him continue campaigning, but don’t get in the way,” he says, summarizing a political war that inevitably reminds us of that of the Prestige in 2002.
Discrepancies over the way in which the crisis should be managed have crystallized into exchanges of accusations of disloyalty between institutions. The Galician head of Mar, Alfonso Villares, accuses the state Executive of knowing about the situation since December 20 and not transmitting the information to the Xunta until 14 days later, on January 3. However, the Government of Pedro Sanchez They insist that Fisterra Maritime Rescue informed the Coast Guard of the arrival of the pellets already on the 20th.
The political parties themselves agitate the Prestige, trying to capitalize on the possible wear and tear that a new environmental disaster could have on the elections, punishing the two governing parties. The political climate is reminiscent of the one that led to the movement Never Again, focused on attacking the PP that governed in Galicia and Spain. Now, the powers are divided between PSOE in Madrid and the PP in Galicia and it is the most radical left and nationalism that use this argument and try to extract profits from the civil society that mobilizes to clean the beaches, so that the discontent is resolved. translate into votes 40 days before the elections, when all the polls point towards a majority for the PP.
21 years ago, that strategy did not wear down the popular in the municipal elections of the following year: they repeated in their historic mayoralties of ground zero of the chapapote. The then regional president, Manuel Fragathe Xunta did lose, but almost three years later and the impact of the management of the Prestige in the victory of the bipartite PSOE-BNG that would govern for only four years.
The BNG candidate on 18-F, Ana Pontoncriticized the PP candidate and acting president, Alfonso Rueda, that in the face of the tide of pellets he is repeating the “tide of lies, manipulation and incompetence” that he already used in the Prestige while the headliner of Sumar, Martha Loisinsisted that “the initials of the PP remind us of the Plasticine Party”, alluding to the fact that, after the Prestige, Mariano Rajoyspokesperson for the Government of Aznarsaid that “small threads, solidified trails that looked like plasticine” came out of the tanker.