The Mayor of Almuñécar, Juan José Ruiz Joya, has distanced himself from the official line of the Popular Party and strongly condemned what he described as a “full-scale genocide” taking place in Gaza. He made these remarks during Thursday’s municipal plenary session, words that take on special significance this weekend amid growing divisions within the PP over the conflict.
“A barbarity that is forcing millions of people from their homes and causing the deaths of thousands of adults and children in a totally disproportionate attack that defies common sense,” stressed the mayor. On behalf of the municipal government, he expressed Almuñécar’s solidarity with the people of Gaza and, in particular, with Khan Younis, the town twinned with the coastal municipality.
“We hope this ends soon and, from here, as Mayor of Almuñécar, I send a strong embrace to our sister city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip,” added Ruiz Joya.
A stance that creates distance within the PP
The mayor’s words contrast with the position recently defended by national PP leaders such as Alberto Núñez Feijóo, José María Aznar and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who have maintained firm support for Israel and avoided using the term “genocide”.
The debate, however, has intensified within the PP. The President of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juanma Moreno, speaking in Parliament on Thursday, ended up conceding: “If you want me to acknowledge that what is happening in Gaza is genocide, I will acknowledge it,” although he had initially sought to sidestep what he called “semantic debates”.
Galicia’s President, Alfonso Rueda, also spoke in the same vein earlier this week, becoming the first PP regional leader to openly describe the events in Gaza as “genocide”. On Wednesday, his parliamentary group joined in a minute of silence for the victims, and he declared: “We know full well that we have just condemned a genocide.”
International context
Ruiz Joya’s statements also come at a time of growing international pressure on Israel. King Felipe VI himself called on the United Nations General Assembly to “stop the massacre in Gaza immediately”, stressing that “it is difficult to comprehend what Israel is doing”.