Late trains minister survives censure vote
Development minister, Magdalena Álvarez, survived a motion of censure proposed by the CiU and ERC parties by just three votes yesterday as the PP sided with the minority extreme left, Republican and nationalist parties it has been so critical of during their nearly four years in opposition.
Ms Álvarez, who arrived twenty minutes late for yesterday’s House of Congress debate - only the 29th of its kind in Spain’s democratic history (none of which has been successful) - was saved by the votes of the PNV Basque nationalist party, as well as a number of Grupo Mixto MPs and turncoat PP MP, Joaquín Calomarde, with the IU-ICV, CiU, CC, ERC and PP mustering 170 votes to the government’s 173.
The vote would have been less of a close-run thing had it not been for the absence of seven MPs, including Economy minister, Pedro Solbes, and Nafarroa Bai MP, Uxue Barcos.
The debate coincided with the news that the last of the local train lines closed since the end of last month by unexpected complications in the construction of the final underground stretch of the AVE high speed train link into Barcelona city centre, will reopen to the public at the start of next week. Notwithstanding, the free alternative bus services organised to minimise commuter inconvenience, will continue until the middle of next month in case of further unforeseen setbacks.
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