The Feminism Councillor dismisses Tania Virgen amid criticism

BarcelonaThis week's plenary session will be The last one as an ERC deputy was Tània Verge, former Minister of Equality and FeminismsBut far from receiving kind words as she closes her political chapter and returns to academia, her departure has been met with a barrage of criticism from the current regional minister, Eva Menor. It was during the parliamentary question time that Verge again questioned Menor about the work carried out by the department, now led by the Socialists. This is not the first time the former minister has questioned Menor's approach; throughout the last year and a half of the legislature, the representative of Salvador Illa's government has engaged in heated debates with Virgen, who has also leveled criticism at the department's role. The battle of these past months culminated on Wednesday with tension: "self-satisfied" and "paternalistic" were two of the terms Menor used, who also clashed with Virgen over their views on feminism.

"I know this is the last plenary session you'll be attending this legislative term. Unlike you, I greatly appreciate your work and the contribution you've made to the public policy of this country," Menor began. She then launched an attack: "I can't say the same about you, and I say this with great regret. From the very first moment I assumed the responsibility of Minister for Equality and Feminism, every time you've had the opportunity to question me, you've done so with a self-satisfied and utterly paternalistic tone," she added. And she went even further: "This is not how I conceive of either sisterhood or feminism. My actions will be judged when I cease to be a Minister of the Generalitat. It will be based on my actions, not on my words, nor on yours," she concluded, visibly angry.

Virgen, in turn, had criticized, as she usually does, that the department "lives off the proceeds of projects initiated by the Republican government," denying that it has done anything new and lamenting that Menor has "depoliticized and undermined the department." "It sounds like political rhetoric; they're hiding behind a technocratic logic, conducting evaluations as a pretext to halt existing plans," she said. She also criticized the "precariousness" of entities and workers in specialized services.