The PSOE spokesperson on Zaragoza City Council, Lola Ranera, described the change in plans as a "deception" and a "new lie", and said San José residents would be faced with "luxury housing", private parking and spaces that, in her view, would be "cemented areas". Ranera, accompanied by socialist councillor Ros Cihuelo, also said there had been an agreement in the Bilateral Commission between the city council and the Government of Aragon to build public and affordable housing on the site.
Ranera called on Chueca's government to stop selling public land and use it to facilitate access to housing and help residents remain in their neighborhoods. She also argued that the project would not address residents' parking needs and criticized the reduction of green spaces in a city that, she said, needs measures to tackle climate change.
CITY COUNCIL DENIES GREEN SPACES WILL BE ELIMINATED
In response to these accusations, the councillor for Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Energy and Housing, Víctor Serrano, said the former Alumalsa site had already been zoned for residential use before the current municipal government took office. "We have not changed a single comma of what they left behind after governing the city for more than 16 years," he said.
Serrano also said there had never been any public housing project for the site. According to his explanation, the closest proposal was its inclusion in the Government of Aragon's Más Vivienda program, promoted by Jorge Azcón and Natalia Chueca, an initiative he said was criticized by the PSOE. Zaragoza City Council ultimately chose to sell the land for the construction of private housing and generate revenue to finance public housing elsewhere.
The councillor also rejected the socialists' claim that the green spaces would disappear and be turned into cemented areas. He said that "no green space will be destroyed", but that a car park is planned beneath part of a future green area.
