Illa asks teachers for a "break" in strikes and announces a plan to air-condition 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 with 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 said, will also be implemented in nursing homes for the elderly.

In this regard, he explained that one in four schools in Catalonia dates back to before 1965, and he said that "it must be taken into account" when solving the problem of high temperatures in schools. Illa noted that the Government is studying how to resolve 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 "pause" 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.

The criticism from the Comuns regarding this request was not long in coming and their spokesperson, Gerardo Pisarello, demanded that concrete measures be taken forward beyond asking for a "truce." "More than a truce, what we need are concrete facts," insisted Pisarello, who considered that starting the school year with a strike is a "failure on the part of the Government".

Report Sílvia Orriols

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

Specifically, Illa has assured that the Government is considering reporting Orriols and her publications for "promoting hate". "Whenever behaviors are observed that violate the legal framework and that promote hate by violating the legal framework, 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 do not repeat themselves.

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 to the rest of the autonomous communities will be carried out," he said.

Thus, he insisted that it is necessary to "discuss" and "evaluate" what "the capacity to host" is. "We will not go around naive, nor will we be ingenuous, but we will act with solidarity," he remarked, and 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 made by Isabel Díaz Ayuso during the second session of the debate on the state of the region regarding funding in Catalonia, where she assured that Madrilenians "will not pay for the nationalist party of four 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 work," he said.

In this vein, the president of the Generalitat also criticized Ayuso's assertion in which she said that in Catalonia public money is used to pay for "official residences" and "all kinds of shacks." "I wouldn't 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 Madrid government headquarters during the renovations.