The mayor of Burgos, Cristina Ayala (PP), has reversed the controversial withdrawal of aid to NGOs that work with immigrants in the 2025 budgets, imposed by Vox to carry out the municipal accounts of the government she presides over and which have generated a wave of neighborhood and social rejection.
Ayala has announced that the PP will recover this aid in the 2025 budget project, which leaves it in the hands of its government partner to fulfill its threat and not support the accounts and leave the municipal government if these cuts, which have been made, were not carried out. provoked harsh criticism from the opposition, unions and social and neighborhood organizations. The mayor has acknowledged that the massive concentration of rejection of the measure “has made us think.”
“We are not going to break that stability,” said the mayor of Burgos to assume what Vox can do at this moment, reject the budgets and leave the municipal government. And he recalled that to move forward the municipal accounts there are alternatives such as the motion of confidence if Vox refuses to support the accounts.
For now, the PP will carry out the agreements with the NGOs with an amendment that will be presented to the Finance Commission next Tuesday. It will include maintaining an economic allocation with the three organizations vetoed by Vox “with the same figures” as in 2024. Ayala has assured that the PP has been informed of the decision vertically, from the provincial president, Borja Suárez; to the regional president of the PP, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco; and the general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra. In this sense, he has recognized that the head of the party at the regional level, Fernández Mañueco, and the general secretary, have shown him their conviction that “it was the step that had to be taken.”
This Wednesday, a massive demonstration filled the Plaza Mayor of the Castilian city to protest against the measure imposed by Vox and initially accepted by the PP to eliminate aid to NGOs that work with migrants, which led others such as Cáritas to reject any help from the council. Burgos. The elimination of the item within the PP and Vox budgets for 2025 of 119,000 euros leaves the situation of about 7,000 people in the air and represents a “social rupture,” explained the president of Accem in Burgos, Gloria Aguilar.
The crisis in the municipal government of Burgos was unleashed when it was learned that Vox had imposed on the PP the disappearance in the 2025 budgets of the item destined for the entities that serve the migrant population of the city, which until now was managed by the ACCEM organizations, Burgos Hosts and Intercultural Watchtower. Immediately afterwards, other organizations such as Cáritas announced that they would renounce aid from the council if it did not back down. On this Wednesday morning, the mayor, Cristina Ayala (PP) indicated that she did not want to “assume” the cost of there being no municipal accounts for 2025, so “at this moment there is no option to change the budget.”
The City Council’s decision motivated Unicef, the UN agency for children, to warn the Burgos City Council that the title of ‘Child Friendly City’ was in danger, as acknowledged by the municipal spokesperson this Thursday, Andrea Ballesteros.
Vox assumes the reverse if the money goes to “legal immigration”
The municipal group of Vox announced minutes after the mayor’s appearance that it is assuming the PP’s retreat, also boasting of its support for the accounts that it considered “a milestone” because it was “realistic.” Vox acknowledged that the issue of denying funds to NGOs that work with migrants was “an agreement in the draft budgets with our partner” and that “for whatever reasons” they are going to amend those budgets.
“There was a draft agreement with Vox but now the PP is going to amend it,” said vice mayor and spokesperson Fernando Martínez-Acitores. “We, based on the fact that we are very careful and want the citizens of Burgos to be a reference in coexistence and solidarity and that things are carried out in accordance with the law and orderly regulation, we are going to make a transaction to that amendment” , he pointed out. His proposal is to condition that “these items always refer to legal immigration, to regular immigration.” The extreme right requires that “not even one euro be allocated to illegal immigration situations.” To do this, they will ask for monitoring commissions to ensure that “this is so.” In addition, Vox will ask that the same amount allocated to these associations be expanded to the concepts “seniors, childhood and youth.” “This process is open,” stated the Vox spokesperson, without wanting to specify in response to questions from the press whether the government remains in place. At least until the Finance Committee next Tuesday, they will remain united, although there is no agreement, “we have communicated to each other what we are going to do.”
Mayor thanks to Vox
Cristina Ayala reached the position of mayor of Burgos after the municipal elections of May 2023, when thanks to a Vox pact she obtained the support to obtain the position, although in the electoral campaign she had insisted to the PSOE that the list with the most votes be allowed to govern. . The PSOE won with 12 councilors but the sum of the 11 from the PP and the 4 from Vox handed the municipal government to Ayala.
In June of this year, Vox tried to get the Burgos Municipal Police to carry out “periodic inspections, home visits and identity checks” with the aim of detecting “possible cases of illegal registration,” according to the deputy mayor, Fernando Martínez-Acitores. spreading the hoax of a possible “electoral fraud” in these registrations in addition to pointing out that “all” the causes are related “to cases of illegal immigration.” On this occasion, Mayor Cristina Ayala disavowed her government partner and recalled that only she gives orders to the Police. Vox’s idea was considered by the Ministry of Migration as “interference” in matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the national police and “with xenophobic purposes.”
The departure of Vox in the government of the city of Burgos occurs in a context of confrontation between PP and Vox in Castilla y León after the departure of the extreme right from the Mañueco government months ago. Both parties also govern in the city of Valladolid, among other towns in the community, where at the latest in February 2026 there will have to be new elections.
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