Important Catalan city votes to leave the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI)

Ignasi Jorro 16/07/2020

Image of the extraordinary municipal plenary session held in Sant Cugat del Vallès on Wednesday / CS

Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) will no longer belong to the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI). The town, once a convergent fief, will disassociate itself from the secessionist organization by ceasing to pay the annual fee. This has been possible because the tripartite government formed by ERC, PSC and CUP has accepted an amendment to municipal budgets presented by Ciudadanos (Cs) party.

The proposal was approved on July 15, in the extraordinary plenary session that debated the municipal accounts for the current year. In the plenary session, the local executive who pilots Mireia Ingla (ERC) accepted a Cs amendment to the budgets for the current year that asked the municipal government to stop paying the 8,300 euros per year to the AMI.

A judicial decision led the way

The decision of the municipal plenary causes Sant Cugat to de facto cease to be a member of the AMI, since membership of this nationalist entity is linked to being up to date with the payment of the annual fee. The non-payment of the same causes, emphasizes Citizens, “that the city council makes the separation effective.”

The taking of position of the binding municipal body comes after the Investigating Court number 14 of Barcelona declared null the adhesion of the municipal corporation to the association chaired by Josep Maria Cervera, mayor of Port de la Selva (Girona), in February this year.

There will be no money for the AMI

Now, the city council has had to estimate the amendment presented by Citizens and which is linked to that judicial resolution. In the accounts for this year, then, an item of 8,300 euros will not appear to the group of localities for independence.

“We have managed to prevent the Sant Cugat City Council from paying the annual fee corresponding to the Associació de Municipis per la Independència (AMI),” said the spokesperson for the orange party in the municipality, Aldo Ciprián. In his opinion, he hoped that this separation would become feasible in the coming days and that it would last over time.

https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/sant-cugat-ami-independencia_368301_102.html