The new city resulting from the union between Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena will not be called Concordia del Guadiana or Mestas del Guadiana. This was announced this morning by the mayors of both municipalities, Miguel Ángel Gallardo and José Luis Quintana, in an appearance together with the spokesmen of the other municipal parties.
“We cannot turn a deaf ear to public opinion, since neither one city nor the other has understood these new denominations,” Gallardo indicated. Since the two toponyms have not found enough social support to take them to a plenary vote, the councilors have decided not to go ahead with the names announced last Tuesday night.
During the appearance, the mayor of Villanova has recognized that when they decided to create the commission of experts “we were wrong.”
However, they have insisted on the “extraordinary” work carried out by the fourteen people that make it up, and have claimed “their honest, transparent work and having reached a conclusion.”
A thank you that they have transferred by videoconference this morning, in addition to apologizing, after the meeting of all the spokespersons. Given that the merger does not make sense “without a consensus”, the spokespersons of all the political forces with municipal representation will meet to determine the procedure to be followed for the choice of the name “based on consensus”.
The objective, said Quintana, will be to reach a sufficient agreement that is supported by the citizenry. Although they have not specified deadlines to reach consensus or the new name, they have clarified that it will be as soon as possible “and we will not leave the meeting until we have an agreement.”
The work of the commission in charge of the names is therefore closed, as they have stated, “making it clear that they have not been paid, but rather that it has cost them money because they have had to move, so we have not been fair,” he concluded. Miguel Angel Gallardo.
