Page 8 - aruba-today-20190430

A8 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 30 april 2019
Far-right in Spain sweeps town with anti-migrant message

By RENATA BRITO cause in his town.
JOSEPH WILSON "People want serious and
Associated Press strong steps to be taken
EL EJIDO, Spain (AP) — Sur- to fight against illegal im-
rounded by miles of green- migration," Bonilla told The
houses where migrant Associated Press. Tradition-
workers grow fruit and al parties "have not known
vegetables for the rest of how to solve the territo-
Europe, this sleepy town rial question (of Catalonia)
on the sunbaked Mediter- nor immigration or the high
ranean coast has become taxes Spaniards are subject
a beachhead for the ar- to."
rival of the far-right in Spain, Juan Barón, a 41-year-old
the latest country to be hit taxi driver who also has
by the wave of national- worked harvesting green-
ist populism sweeping the house tomatoes, said he
continent. voted for Vox because he
El Ejido was where the up- believes migrants who work
start far-right Vox party for lower wages are unfair
made its most impressive competition.
gains during Sunday's na- The government "helps the
tional elections, with its migrants more than people
promises to defend Spain's In this Saturday, March 2, 2019 photo, a Moroccan worker collects tomatoes in a greenhouse in that are from here," Barón
unity and quash the sepa- El Ejido, a municipality of Almeria province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. asserted, repeating a large-
ratist push in northeastern Associated Press ly unsubstantiated claim of-
Catalonia, while also rail- ten heard from the anti-im-
ing against the women's Vox struck its biggest vic- of European and African for May 26 local elections migrant right that migrants
movement and animal- tory with another of its ban- descent strolled along its to be held across Spain. get more public assistance
rights activists who want ner causes: halting illegal clean, tree-lined streets. On Monday, Bonilla cel- than native Spaniards. Vox
to ban traditional Spanish immigration. In El Ejido 30 There was, however, an un- ebrated Vox's victory with won 24 seats in the 350-
bull-fighting. percent of the vote went to dercurrent of the populist a cake in the party's bright- seat Congress of Deputies,
That message helped pow- Vox, making the party the anger that has helped cat- green color decorated the lower house of Spain's
er Vox to 10% of the vote biggest victor in town. apult the far-right to elec- with a photo of himself and parliament, making it the
nationwide, giving Spain's The day after the election tion victories in Italy, Austria one of the party's national fifth-leading power in Span-
parliament its first lawmak- there were no Spanish flags and Hungary. heavyweights. ish politics. Its gains came
ers from the extreme right hanging from the balco- Juan José Bonilla, a lawyer While also mentioning his largely at the expense of
since the 1980s. nies of the town's white- and farmer who grows zuc- concern over the risk the Spain's traditional conser-
But it was in El Ejido, a town and-pastel-colored build- chini in the greenhouses Catalan separatists rep- vatives, the Popular Party,
of some 85,000 residents ings, and no gatherings in known locally as the Sea of resent to Spanish national which suffered its worst
with a large number of its public squares. There Plastic that blanket the sur- unity, Bonilla said it was ever defeat, plummeting
overseas workers key to its was no sign of campaign- rounding Almería region, is Vox's stance on immigra- to 66 seats from 137 in 2016
agriculture industry, that ing anywhere as residents Vox's candidate in El Ejido tion that drove the party's elections.q
Thousands protest replacement of Czech justice minister

Associated Press
PRAGUE (AP) — Thousands of Czechs
are rallying in Prague and elsewhere to
protest the proposed replacement of
the justice minister.
The protesters said Monday that might
compromise the legal system at a time
when prosecutors have to decide
whether to indict Prime Minister Andrej
Babis over alleged fraud involving Euro-
pean Union funds.
Babis denies wrongdoing.
The justice minister has significant con-
trol over the prosecution. The minister to
be appointed Tuesday is Marie Bene-
sova, a lawyer and adviser to President
Milos Zeman, Babis' close ally. Zeman
has repeatedly criticized the prosecu-
tion.
As a lawmaker, Benesova voted against
a police request to strip Babis of parlia-
mentary immunity to face investiga-
tion. The protesters and the opposition
Thousands of people take part in a march in the centre of Prague, Monday April 29, 2019, to protest the proposed say Benesova might try to influence his
replacement of the justice minister. case. A union of judges also expressed
Associated Press
doubts about the change.q