Saragossa It has approved in the municipal plenary the necessary credit modification to tender the second phase of the regeneration works of the Huerva River, whose cost will be increased by more than seven million euros, going from the 16.9 initially budgeted to 24 million. The decision has had the support of the government team and the favorable vote of Vox, while PSOE and Zaragoza in common (ZEC) have refrained. This modification allows to meet the deadlines marked by the European Union to access the financing of European funds.
The municipal opposition has loaded against this budget increase. Elena Tomás, spokesman for ZEC, has demanded the withdrawal of the file, qualifying the management as improvised: “It was approved without knowing how much it was going to cost, and now there is logging of trees and neighborhood complaints,” he denounced. For its part, the Socialist Councilor Marta Aparicio has indicated that “they have managed to anger the neighbors with an ugly file and with an extra cost that is money that we do not have”, adding that the increase has been financed by selling soils destined for affordable housing in the Aluminum land.
From Vox, although they have supported the modification for “responsibility”, they have also been critical. Eva Torres has questioned the strong increase, ensuring that “they just want to cut ribbons before the elections” and claiming greater planning and rigor in management. “We are bad and in a hurry,” he lamented.
Chueca defends that there have been no deviations
Recreation of how the Huerva River will be as it passes through Zaragoza
The mayor Natalia Chueca He has defended the performance of the government team, denying that it is an extra cost as such. As explained, the increase in the budget is due to the fact that, when the initial estimate was carried out, there was still no executive project, so it worked with orientative figures. “We are facing a work of extreme difficulty that had never been carried out in Zaragoza before,” he said, adding that improvements requested by the neighbors have been included and that the project strictly meets the deadlines of European funds.
Chueca has also stressed that there have been no deviations about awards, as in other state projects, and has asked the opposition that there is no doubt about a project “admired and congratulated by European and regional institutions.” He has defended that the process followed is the usual: a credit modification after knowing the real cost with the final project, and that additional financing of the government of the government of Aragon and of the Biodiversity Foundation.
The Minister of Finance, Blanca Solans, has backed the mayor and recalled that in the first phase a 20% saving has been achieved with respect to the budget. He stressed that it is a work “of great importance for Zaragoza”, which will run until 2026 and represents a first -order technical challenge. He has insisted that no extra cost has been produced and has appealed to joint support to complete a strategic action for the city.
