Illa asks teachers for a "parenthesis" in the strikes and announces a plan to air-condition the schools

On the eve of the start of the school year and a new educational strike, Salvador Illa announced this Monday that, in the coming weeks, the Government will present a complete program to air-condition all educational centers in Catalonia. The President of the Generalitat explained this on Monday in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio: "We will explain to the public where we stand and what we will do to resolve the situation," he said. The measure, he added, will also be implemented in nursing homes for the elderly.

In this sense, he explained that one in four schools in Catalonia dates back to before 1965, and said that "it must be taken into account" when solving the problem of high temperatures in schools. Illa pointed out that the Government is studying how to solve the entire problem in collaboration with city councils and the private sector.

A few hours before the strike called for this Tuesday in the classrooms, Illa assured that he respects "the right to strike," but also asked for "respect for the right to education": "It is compatible." In this sense, the president asked the striking unions for a "break" and added that "surely" things could have been done better "at some point" but asked if anyone has put more resources into education than his government.

Illa's words have not convinced his investiture partners. The secretary general of ERC, Elisenda Alamany, reproached him for having reached the month of September without the educational crisis resolved: "It is surprising that in two months, no one in the Government has found time to resolve the educational crisis," she stated in a press conference. The Comuns also joined in, and their spokesperson, Gerardo Pisarello, who called it a "failure on the part of the Government" to start the school year with a strike: "More than a truce, what we need are concrete facts," he insisted.

Sílvia Orriols' tweets

During the interview, Illa also referred to the tweets by the leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, about the deadly assault in Manresa, in which two minors were arrested for having stabbed a man.

Specifically, Illa has assured that the Government is considering reporting Orriols and her publications for "promoting hate". "Whenever behaviors that violate the legal framework and that promote hate by violating the legal framework are observed, the Government will act," he insisted. The president, on the other hand, has also assured that he is not opposed to "a review of some policies" so that incidents like those in Manresa are not repeated.

Welcoming minors from Ceuta

Illa has also made statements regarding the migration crisis in Ceuta. Specifically, he referred to Catalonia's position regarding the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors. "Catalonia has always been in solidarity and will have to see what the starting point is and how the distribution will be carried out to the rest of the autonomous communities," he said.

Thus, he insisted that it is necessary to "discuss" and "assess" what is "the capacity to host." "We will not go around with our heads in the clouds nor will we be naive, but we will act with solidarity," he remarked, and he assured that Catalonia "has been at the forefront" in terms of hosting unaccompanied minors in recent years.

The response to Ayuso

Finally, Illa has responded to the statements that Isabel Díaz Ayuso made during the second session of the state of the region debate regarding financing in Catalonia, where she asserted that the people of Madrid "will not pay for the nationalist party for a few nobodies".

"Do not mess with Catalonia and do not mess with the Catalans," Illa rebuked her in the interview on Catalunya Ràdio, live from the Palau de la Generalitat. "There are no nobodies nor any party. There are hardworking people, who do not complain and who get down to business," he said.

Along these lines, the president of the Generalitat also criticized Ayuso's statement in which she said that in Catalonia public money is used to pay for "official residences" and "all kinds of shacks." "I would not talk much about official residences", replied Illa, in reference to the penthouse that the Madrid government bought (and later put up for sale) to replace the seat of the Madrid government during the works.