Puente quits: Mallorca parties clash over election

Palma, Mallorca, 4 November: Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente has resigned, and parties clash over whether he is taking responsibility or shielding Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before the 29 November general election. Party spokespeople give sharply different verdicts at press conferences after their meeting.

Socialist spokesperson Iago Negueruela praises Puente’s “enormous dignity” and says he acted at the right time. Josep Castells of Més per Menorca says the resignation was essential: someone at the highest political level had to take responsibility. Unidas Podemos MP José María García agrees Puente could not stay after two very serious accidents in nine months. But he says the minister should have quit immediately after the accident at Urda.

The conservative People’s Party sees the timing differently. Its deputy spokesperson, Marga Durán, asks why Puente did not resign after the accident at Adamuz. She claims Sánchez forced him out to protect himself from opinion polls ahead of the election. Vox spokesperson Manuela Cañadas welcomes the resignation, but says the government’s responsibility does not end with Puente’s departure.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com