What Estrella spoke about.

22

Jan

2025

Speeches ES

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 December 2024 (debate)

Madam President, Mr Costa, what does it sound like to you if I tell you that, during 2024, about 30 people a day have lost their lives trying to reach the Canary Islands? More than 10,000 people have died trying to reach Europe's southern border. That's an unacceptable figure, isn't it? And it is tremendously painful, but it is not an accident, a natural catastrophe or something inevitable. It is a direct consequence of cruel border control policies that are making routes increasingly dangerous. Policies that, supposedly, are aimed at orderly and regular migration. This is a euphemism - and you know it all too well - because without legal and safe pathways there is no regular migration that is worth it. We know that. Let's not deceive the population, the voters. We don't want legal and safe pathways. They don't want them and that's why they have to risk their lives. Meanwhile, in December, the Council, Mr Costa, removed the humanitarian clause, which is very worrying, because with this we are criminalising rescue NGOs, which are only trying to save lives. And, in parallel, the Commission has begun to dismantle the right to asylum, turning itself over to far-right policies under the guise of hybrid threats. This Parliament cannot be complicit. Human rights are sinking like the Titanic and we're going to stay like the orchestra, playing under the music of the far right. Don't count on me.

18

Dec

2024

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Promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining and the right to strike in the EU (debate)

Mr President, thanks to the social dialogue in my country, Spain, the Ministry of Labour has successfully negotiated, together with employers and trade unions, fundamental agreements to improve the lives of the social majority. It has done so by agreeing on a labor reform that has improved the quantity and quality of employment, increases in the minimum wage and non-discrimination measures for LGTBIQ+ people in all companies. We regret that, in this process of continuity of improvements, now the employer has risen from the table of dialogue to reduce the working day, despite being a mandate of the polls for our Government. Because, I insist, in democracy there is dialogue, negotiation and agreement; Social dialogue is not used to block a measure that has the full support of Spanish citizens. We want to say from here to the bosses that the powerful no longer rule by phone. In democracy, politics governs the economy and not the other way around.

18

Dec

2024

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Preparation of the European Council of 19-20 December 2024 (debate)

Madam President, I do not know whether the Council is aware of the situation that some of our neighbours are suffering, who are families like ours, schoolmates of our daughters and sons, who take care of our parents and elders or who took on the hardest jobs during the pandemic. Precisely today, on International Migrants Day, all of them are targets of the hate speeches of the extreme right. The Council has given itself to this narrative that criminalizes and dehumanizes them and, instead of guaranteeing fair policies that leave no one behind, is taking measures that represent an alarming setback in rights. In the face of hatred there is another more just Europe, such as the one represented by the more than 700 000 Spaniards and Spaniards who have signed up to present a popular legislative initiative that requires regularizing the situation of those who live among us without access to rights. We ask the Council to reconsider and, before giving in to the message of hatred, suspending the right to asylum or criminalising solidarity, as was done just last week, to defend courageous and just migration policies. Because human rights are not negotiable.

16

Dec

2024

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Regional Emergency Support: RESTORE (debate)

Madam President, what the island of Mayotte has experienced and the people of Valencia continue to experience today is not an isolated event. It is the clearest evidence that climate change is no longer a debate for the future, but for the present, no matter how much some, even in this Parliament, continue to deny what science shows. Therefore, we must decide how to face the challenge and for this there are two models: the model of salvese who can, of denialism and hoaxes - which we have unfortunately lived in our country with the right and the far right in command - or, in front of it, our model, that of the social shield, to leave no one behind. And leaving no one behind means that today almost 3,000 companies have applied for an ERTE in Valencia, protecting more than 30,000 Valencian workers. It also means strengthening Valencian social services to address the ensuing poverty. And it means, too, creating mental health units for emergencies. Because of course, solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples, but the people are really saved by good public services.

28

Nov

2024

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Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)

Madam President, today, more than 5 400 migrant children are trapped in the Canary Islands, in an overflowing reception system that cannot guarantee compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is precisely what we are debating today. Do you also know that, according to the UNHCR, 70% of these children are refugees? And the reason for this embarrassment? The racism and hatred that have sown the anti-immigration parties that sit in this Parliament today and that, in addition, are a majority and cause the blockade of a fair and solidary distribution throughout the Spanish territory, with the complicity of the rest of Europe, which does not want to welcome them either. Tell me how we are going to explain this to our children when they know the treatment we are giving to these kids of the same age, who simply need minimal living conditions to be what they are: children who need to dream, play and have rights, as contemplated by the Convention, which is precisely what we are dealing with here. Stop criminalizing them and using them as a political weapon, for electoral purposes. They're boys and girls. Because, do not hesitate, Europe will have to give explanations not only for these children, but for the forty children a day...

27

Nov

2024

Speeches ES

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Recent legislation targeting LGBTQI persons and the need for protecting the rule of law and a discrimination-free Union (debate)

Madam President, the reactionary forces in Europe have no other project than hatred. They hate migrants, they hate free and empowered women, and they hate LGBTQ+ people, because when they hate them, they hate our friends and they hate our lesbian sisters and friends, and also our trans sons and daughters. Because when they hate them, they hate us, too. Wherever they can, they censor culture and attack the freedoms and rights of those who are, feel or think differently. We need to make funds conditional on respect for the rights of all people, because we are part of this society. The European Union of rights and freedoms cannot remain a mere slogan. The far right is being fought by expanding rights – as we have already done in Spain – with a new norm for equality and non-discrimination of LGBTI people in companies. Europe cannot be an accomplice. They want LGBTI-free zones and we want a Europe free of hatred and homophobia.

27

Nov

2024

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Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Madam President, today Europe has nothing to celebrate. A Commission embracing the far right, Mrs von der Leyen, is being approved here today. And, in addition, you give him a vice-presidency, which is not just anything. Do you owe them that much to give them such an important position? We are going to vote "No". And it will be a resounding and clear 'No', because we will not be complicit in a Commission that is whitewashing the heirs of fascism and the blackest history of our Europe. Today they are going to adopt a Commission whose priorities are far removed from the needs of the social majority. We voted 'No' to a Commission that whitewashes those who deny the climate crisis, those who consent to genocide in Gaza while drumming war on our borders, those who do not defend public services, those who foment hatred, racism and xenophobia, those who criminalise the LGBTI community and, moreover, deny diversity and equality between women and men. Today, the workers of Europe, the citizens who dream of a fairer and greener Europe, have nothing to celebrate.

26

Nov

2024

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Urgent need to tackle the gender pay gap (debate)

13

Nov

2024

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The devastating floods in Spain, the urgent need to support the victims, to improve preparedness and to fight the climate crisis (debate)

Madam President, first of all, all my solidarity with the victims of the DANA in Valencia and with my Valencian comrades, who have been on the front line fighting and helping their people. This tragedy has made two things clear to us: the infinite solidarity of the peoples and that it is the public services that save the people, responding to those who have lost everything. What Valencians and Valencians do not deserve is the embarrassing spectacle that we are seeing these last two weeks and that we have also been seeing for two days in this Parliament. I feel deeply ashamed. Are you not ashamed to use this misfortune for politics and for your own political interests? Because, in the face of the negligence of Mazón and his government, in the face of shameful climate change denialist speeches and in the face of far-right hoaxes, our response can only be one: social shield, social shield and more social shield. We need more public resources, better services, because the only plan to protect people and to face climate change – which is present here and is not a Chinese tale – is tax justice, because tax justice today allows more than 12 700 workers in Valencia to have their wages protected, even if they cannot go to work, because it is tax justice that allows 10.6 billion euros to be approved to help the families who need it most at the moment. But, of course, these aids have to come, Mr Marzà. They've got to get here! That tax justice is what they repudiate from the far right and the right, preventing fair taxes. We've been saying it for a long time: The debate is not about raising or lowering taxes, but about who should pay them. We are going to make those who have more contribute to recover Valencia. Valencia, we're with you.

23

Oct

2024

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Managing migration in an effective and holistic way through fostering returns (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, the most repeated word in your speech this morning was return, return and return. Is that really the short-sighted view we want to apply to migration management? Building prisons for refugees in Europe is barbaric: concentration camps for human beings whose only crime has been to flee to save their lives. Can you imagine that we would have done this with the Ukrainian people who fled the Russian invasion? Mrs von der Leyen has crossed a red line in exchange for a handful of votes. How far are we going to allow Mrs Meloni to govern Europe? The proposal to open Guantanamo in neighbouring countries that do not respect human rights is illegal, immoral and inhumane. The agreement between Italy and Albania violates access to the right of asylum and international law, violating the principle of non-refoulement. These innovative formulas that we are now inventing to outsource asylum and borders are, in reality, a violation of human rights and a failure already demonstrated for decades. Do you really want to innovate? Apply international law, act humanely, open up legal and safe ways for people not to risk their lives at sea: that is the only effective management of migration, consistent with the European principles and values that Mrs Meloni despises, which we seem to want to buy from her.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches ES

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Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

Mr President, when we talk about employment policies, what we are saying is that people's lives need to be improved. Do you know how Spain has managed to reach historical employment numbers? Improving working conditions, reducing the temporary rate and with a labor reform that guarantees more stable jobs, far from the uncertainty generated by precarious and temporary contracts. A reform that has put working people at the center. A reform that, for the first time, gives rights instead of reducing them. On the opposite side we have the proposal of the new Commission, which removes any reference to working people and work under the euphemism of productivity. Mrs. von der Leyen, the world does not move by the skills, moves by workers and workers. Decent work and labour rights must be at the heart of the European project. And we need to keep moving forward. We must reduce the working day to gain time and quality of life, because when we improve people's lives, when we gain in rights, we gain in democracy.

22

Oct

2024

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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2025 – all sections (debate)

Madam President, every day, 13 people lose their lives at sea trying to reach Europe to make their lives safe; in the meantime, this Parliament wants to approve EUR 1 billion for Frontex, an agency that every year multiplies its budget more and more, while it has been questioned both for the violation of human rights and for the management of its funds: €1 billion earmarked for more tragedy, more pain and more death. When will saving people's lives be prioritized over border shielding? Ladies and gentlemen, we are on time: Today I bring here an amendment on behalf of civil society, proposing that, out of that huge budget for armouring Europe, for armouring borders, EUR 120 million be earmarked for a rescue and rescue service to enable Member States to comply with their obligations under international law. A change of course is needed by humanising European migration policies, prioritising people's lives and protecting people: Our model is that defended by organisations committed to human rights, such as Open Arms, or MEP Carola Rackete, the brave captain, our colleague, who saved hundreds of people in search of a safe harbor.

22

Oct

2024

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Urgent need for a ceasefire in Lebanon and for safeguarding the UNIFIL mission in light of the recent attacks (debate)

Madam President, Lebanon has always been a host country, I myself have been able to see it working in its refugee camps and in its settlements in the capital itself. With a population of more than six million, it hosts almost two million refugees in solidarity, refugees who are again forced to flee, now accompanied by the rest of the civilian population. Israel continues to act with impunity against everyone and against everything, including us. He first demanded the withdrawal of UN forces and, when the UN rejected their blackmail, did not hesitate to attack their bases and therefore attacked international law. What it does now in Lebanon is the same as it does with UNRWA: Netanyahu wants to avoid any international witness to his genocidal policy. Commissioner, how long will the Commission allow this massacre? The calls for a ceasefire are now a dead letter and do not prevent either deaths or war crimes: stop arms sales now, immediately suspend the Association Agreement with Israel, let's put excuses aside and sanction Israel, because, if Israel were called Russia, this would have been something else.

9

Oct

2024

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Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe - encouraging investment, private property and public housing programmes (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, having a home is no longer a possibility for everyone. Having a home has unfortunately become a privilege for only a few. Having a home will be something we tell, if we continue like this, to our daughters and grandchildren as a thing of the past. If we do not stop this, Commissioner - and you have a great challenge in this matter - we will have to explain to our sons and daughters why from this Parliament we did nothing to prevent housing from being a right hijacked by hedge funds, by vulture funds and by all the large housing containers. The commodification of housing particularly affects the young people of the European Union, our young people, and it is the great black hole through which the family economy of thousands and thousands of working families is going. Half of the salaries will be paid a rent like the one mentioned here, of a flat of sixty square meters for more than 1,200 € in any neighborhood on the outskirts of Madrid. This is a social emergency. It is our moral obligation to put in place a directive, from here, to be able to shield access to decent housing as the fundamental right that it is and as a protected public service, as we do with health or education. And this measure must be accompanied by funds so that it can be carried out. This weekend, the streets of Spain - the streets of Madrid and many other cities - are going to be a clamor, because we are going to demand housing as a right and not as a business. Citizens must be listened to. Let's listen to them and do something.

7

Oct

2024

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The reintroduction of internal border controls in a number of Member States and its impact on the Schengen Area (debate)

Mr President, in the 1980s we were able to tear down the Berlin Wall and today, precisely, internal borders are being rebuilt, which are walls to detain people. And I say it like this: to people, to human beings. With a perverse discourse that links immigration with security, not only the Schengen area is threatened, but also our values, our coexistence and respect for international law, including the right to asylum, which is a sacred right that protects us all. We cannot allow borders to be places of non-rights, of infra-rights, where human beings are criminalized. And I say it again: to human beings, who need protection and who arrive in Europe as they can because there are no legal and safe routes, because we do not put in place such measures. Europe must now choose between walls that isolate and separate us, as the far right wants - and is already demonstrating today in this House - or bridges of solidarity, cohesion and coexistence.

7

Oct

2024

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One year after the 7 October terrorist attacks by Hamas (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, a year later, neither the Israeli hostages have returned nor the genocide has been stopped. Clearly, Netanyahu doesn't care about Israeli victims. And you know it as well as I do. All he cares about is staying in power and, to that end, he is trying to force a regional war that is clearly dangerous. It has already invaded Lebanon; has attacked Syria, Yemen... How far are we going to let this gentleman go? Netanyahu is today the greatest threat to peace on the planet and to international law, which he is violating with impunity. If international law falls, we all fall. War in the entire region is not irremediable if there is political will, because peace is the only way to resolve this situation. Citizens have said it loud and clear in the streets this weekend: They want us to stop this barbarism now! Ceasefire, suspension of neighbourhood agreements, durable solutions, arms embargo. We have to stop this war.

17

Sep

2024

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Global measures towards social media platforms - Strengthening the role of DSA and protecting democracy and freedom in the online sphere (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, last July the European Commission denounced the failure of platform X to comply with the DSA. Mr Elon Musk responded by insulting and denigrating the Commission. Commissioner, how long are we going to continue using a platform that does not comply with European regulations? We are seeing how social media has become a kind of "wild West" where anything goes. Under this false defense of freedom of expression, on these platforms it is allowed to vomit hatred, hoaxes, disinformation ... with impunity. Are we really going to continue to consent to all this? The promotion of xenophobia, machismo, hate speech ... is seriously affecting our social cohesion and also the mental health of many of our young people, who are the most vulnerable. Just as there is a consensus to end racism and homophobia in our workplaces, in schools, in our neighbourhoods ..., I would like to think that there is a democratic majority in this House that defends social networks free of hatred and discrimination. It is time to stop this drift, Commissioner. The Commission should take action to ensure that digital platforms comply with the law. There is an urgent need to strengthen European digital sovereignty. We need platforms with democratic and transparent functioning that are no longer at the service of private interests and the ideology of their owners.

16

Sep

2024

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Need to prevent security threats like the Solingen attack through addressing illegal migration and effective return (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, all my solidarity with the victims of terrorism and violence, from Solingen to Gaza. Unfortunately today we see again how we repeat the same mistakes as always: Continuing to link security and migration is a profound irresponsibility and the perfect seed to foment hatred and discrimination in our society. Indeed, this discrimination is aimed at people who find it increasingly difficult to seek protection, with increasingly dangerous and deadly routes - you know that the Mediterranean is full of corpses - due to the lack of legal and safe routes and the policies of externalisation of borders that we are carrying out. I'll say it very clearly: failed policies focused on border shielding have neither prevented nor will prevent people from arriving, and you know this as much as I do. Are they aware that, in addition, these speeches put our coexistence at risk? We play a lot, ladies and gentlemen, that's why it's essential...