Angel Garcia left to pick up pieces in the wake of Josefina Cruz Villalón’s outburst

Costa News | Noticia

Josefina Cruz Villalón’s scathing remarks about expats living in Almería have had a profound effect on the expat community in Arboleas.

The socialist PSOE mayor, Angel García, appeared at a public meeting (the second in two weeks) to explain the possible impact of the Junta’s much-vaunted decree to legalise properties in the Almanzora valley.

In the event, he spent most of his time trying to distance himself from Sra Villalón’s comments in which she accused Brits of showing a lack of respect for Spain’s culture by ‘filling’ the area with illegal homes.

Expats, who were still reeling from the ferocity of her attack, were in no mood to listen to the mayor. Crispin Welby, mayoral candidate for the Ciudadanos Europeos party in Arboleas, railed against Sra Villalón, saying her remarks were “rude and ill-judged” while criticising Sr Garcia and members of his PSOE party for failing to demand her resignation. Mr Crispin added: “The weakness of the PSOE is such that party members are unable to publicly criticise their leaders.”

Arboleas resident Jean Bircher told the gathering: “The Spanish who live in Britain are not treated this way - we are being made to feel very unwelcome.”

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