Alex Trelinski
THE MAYOR of Pantoja in Toledo province faces a Guardia Civil sanction for carrying a large shotgun during his town’s fiesta parade.
The Partido Popular’s Julian Torrejon carried the unloaded weapon during the parade of floats on September 25, with the opposition PSOE socialists describing his behaviour as ‘unusual and unjustifiable’.
Video footage and photos of the gun-toting mayor were published on the Pantoja council website and via their social media channels, as he walked as part of a front escort for a car.
The socialists say that 146 of the Royal Decree was broken which states that it is ‘is forbidden to carry, exhibit and use outside the home, workplace, where appropriate, or the corresponding sports activities, any kind of short firearms’.
The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha confirmed on Monday that the Guardia Civil has already opened a file with a proposal to sanction Julian Torrejon.
Delegate Francisco Tierraseca said the Guardia looked at the gun.
“They examined it and it was not loaded, but in accordance with current legislation he will be sanctioned.”
“We believe that we must send a message: we must be very prudent and scrupulously respect the law,” added Tierraseca.
“It is a concern because compliance with the weapons regulations must be very scrupulous,” he concluded.
At a news conference on Monday, the Partido Popular’s regional president, Paco Nuñez, who attended the fiesta parade, brushed aside the seriousness of the incident.
He asked the media ‘not to turn anecdotes into news’ when, for example, there is an international context ‘so complex’ that it can generate ‘so much damage’ for the country.
“I am more concerned about the war, the financing for Castilla-La Mancha or the amnesty than an anecdote at a time of celebration”, said Nuñez.
