“You need to go back to your country”. With this forceful message on X (former Twitter), the VOX councilor of the Valencia City Council has addressed, Cecilia Herreroto the Secretary of Anti-Racism of Podemos, Serigne Mbayé, born in Senegal. In the last legislature he was a regional deputy in the Madrid Assembly, in addition to being a prominent anti-racist activist.
Cecilia Herrero in her response to the politician from Senegal. / ED
He comment racist de Herrero, who is in charge of managing the areas of Entrepreneurship and Agriculture, is a reaction to a post by Mbayé in which he shares videos of a well-known video producer in which he showed off his racism against black people with comments such as “Mbappé’s poor cousin”“ticks that come to catch and commit crimes” or “You should have been hunting antelope in your land.”
Rain of dismissal requests
Herrero’s comment has already provoked reaction of opposition members of the ‘cap i casal’ consistory. The socialist Borja Sanjuán has requested the dismissal of the mayor to the mayor of Valencia, Mª José Catalá, since the VOX councilor is part of the Popular Government. The councilor considers that es “intolerable” The local government has a councilor who makes these types of racist comments and demands that the PP take urgent measures in this regard.
The representative of the Government in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabe, has expressed regret that the “open, plural, modern and diverse Valencia that we built is overshadowed.” It should be remembered that Bernabé was a member of the local government until his appointment as representative of the Government of the Valencian Community.
The socialist trustee in the Valencian Courts, Jose Muñozhas joined Sanjuán’s request and has gone further by targeting Catalá and President Carlos Mazón for allowing the entry of this type of ideology into the town hall and the Consell: “Thank you Catalá and Mazón for opening the door to racists”. On the other hand, the spokesperson for the PSPV in the council, Sandra Gómez, has lamented that this is the “welcoming, friendly and open Valencia that we have become with María José Catalá.” “This is what Catalá has in its government“, the socialist has stated Javier Mateowhich has stressed that hate speech “has no place in democracy.”
Since Compromís, Pere Fuset has criticized that a councilor of the municipal government “show off your xenophobia“. “Zero surprise, but even less getting used to his hate speech,” he added. He has also spoken out on the matter, requesting the dismissal of the Vox councilor, the Compromís councillor. Lucia Beamud who has condemned this episode of “pure racism” and has criticized that this is “the government we have in the Valencia City Council, the government of María José Catalá”, which he has accused of trying to “impose darkness” and has called “deeply extreme right-wing, reactionary and racist.” “. Faced with this, he has claimed: “There are many of us who will always defend an open Valencia where hatred has no place.”