Three out of four Extremadura residents consider the government responsible for the closure of Almaraz

This argument is not trivial since a large majority of analysts see it as a key factor in deciding the vote in the region for these elections and as such, it appears recurrently in the campaign. Not only do citizens not agree with the closure of the factory, but most of them consider the government of Pedro Sánchez to be responsible, especially three out of four. 54% believe that the Executive is mainly responsible and 20% share the blame between the administrations. national and regional; In total, almost three in four point the finger at the government which approved the closure. More than half of those surveyed who voted for the PSOE in previous elections share this opinion.

Extremadurans also do not appreciate the alternatives promised by the central government in response to the closure of the nuclear facility. Nearly 70% consider them insufficient, including more than half of those who support the PSOE, and only a minimum of 6% consider them sufficient.

So next Sunday I could maintain or intensify the sanctions that the socialist party has already suffered in the cities of the region of Almaraz, when he lost support in eleven of the twelve surrounding municipalities.

On this subject, the positions of the Popular Party candidate, Maria Guardiolawhich has transformed the continuity of Almaraz into a sort of crusade in recent months, and that of Vox are clear. For his part, the socialist candidate Miguel Angel Gallardohas had to perform many balancing acts to justify both his commitment to the expansion of the plant, for which he has promised to “intercede” and for which he is sure it will happen, and his support for the closure policy championed by Moncloa’s coalition government. So much so that a few weeks ago, when PSOE deputies from Extremadura voted against a PP proposal to Congress that called for the repeal of the closure schedule, Gallardo defended the vote of his party colleagues by assuring that they were not voting “against Almaraz”, but against the “demagoguery” and “lies” of the popular party. This situation meant, for example, that recently a socialist councilor of the municipality of Casatejada, in the nuclear environment, left the socialist group after voting on a motion in which the aforementioned deputies were declared “non grata”.

The factory is considered the largest industry in Extremadura and leaves more than 400 million euros per year. In this area, unemployment is 25 percent lower than that of the entire province of Cáceres where it is located and, in addition, it has 43% of population under 40 years old, a fact that shines in a clearly aging regional average. It is estimated that six of the municipalities with the highest average income per person in the autonomous community are located in the area around the establishment.