Teresa Ribera, the minister in charge of water resources from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, will travel to Alicante Province as part of the European elections campaign scheduled for June 9. The stop is set for this Tuesday in Dénia, far from Vega Baja, the hotspot of controversy surrounding the Tagus-Segura aqueduct. The water issue has become a central thread in the regional campaign, leveraged by the conservative party as it promotes a leadership position by the Socialist Party government in Madrid.
The campaign event, not originally planned, will take place in a hotel in the Marina Alta town starting at 7:00 p.m. Ribera will be accompanied by Leire Pajín, eighth on the electoral list, and by the town’s mayor, Vicent Grimalt, who belongs to the socialist ranks.
It will be the third campaign appearance by the Socialists in the province, following a rally led by Minister Félix Bolaños in Benidorm on Friday to launch the campaign and a gathering this Saturday in Elche headlined by Pajín. For Saturday, June 1, the first vice president of the Spanish government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, is expected to take the lead in a central Socialist campaign event in the province. It is unlikely that the party leader, Pedro Sánchez, will attend any event in Alicante, despite its rank as the fourth most populous region and its significance in a national, single-list election strategy.
Earlier in the campaign, Sánchez opened with a large rally at a cultural center in Valencia, a gathering that also featured former president Rodríguez Zapatero and the PSPV secretary-general, Minister Diana Morant, among others. Yolanda Díaz, leader of Sumar, is not anticipated to visit Alicante for this cycle, and she did not participate in the Friday event at the Mercado Central square, a coalition-friendly venue that hosts Compromís and includes Estrella Galán as the top candidate along with Vicent Marzà and the Compromís spokesperson in the Corts, Joan Baldolí, among others. In the province, a separate economic-focused stop occurred during Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s visit to Elche. Ultra-right Vox is finalizing plans for a rally in Alicante on Monday, June 3, featuring Santiago Abascal and Jorge Buxadé.
— End of excerpt — [Citation: Agencia EFE, translated coverage of regional campaign events and statements about the European elections in Alicante Province]