The Diputació de TGN, in the eye of the storm due to the controversial construction of an auditorium

Noemí Llauradó, president of the Diputació de Tarragona and leader of ERC, announced last week the construction of an auditorium in the center of Reus. At first glance, it seems like good news. An investment of 5 million euros to promote culture. What more could you ask for, right?

However, Llauradó's decision has caused a significant upheaval that has put the top official of the Tarragona Diputació in the eye of the storm. The announcement of this new auditorium in Reus has raised many suspicions about the interests that might be behind the decision of the republican leader.

To begin with, Noemí Llauradó is not only the president of the Diputació de Tarragona. She is also the number 2 in the government of Reus, where ERC acts as a partner of a PSC that won the elections. Clearly, more and more people believe that something smells fishy.

First, because as Vox denounces, Reus already has a recently built auditorium that was inaugurated just over 10 years ago. Additionally, the capital of Baix Camp has two theaters, the Fortuny and the Bartrina. A third one, the Bravium, is also being remodeled. For this reason, they point out that the announcement of this new auditorium shows "the improvisation and alarming lack of planning" of the ERC leader. But there's more.

It was also surprising how Noemí Llauradó announced the 5 million euro investment by the Diputació de Tarragona in the capital of Baix Camp. She did it without the presence of the city's mayor, the socialist Sandra Guaita, and her municipal government partner. Several political sectors see this maneuver as a personal and partisan political strategy by Noemí Llauradó. At the expense, of course, of taxpayer money.

Finally, the announcement by the Diputació de Tarragona has also caused discontent in the region. The clearest example is in the second most important city of Baix Camp, Cambrils. The municipality's council criticizes Llauradó because they have been seeking funding to build an auditorium for 20 years, and so far, the Diputació has only invested 125,000 euros. The Cambrils government points out that the provincial entity shows favoritism depending on the locality it decides to promote certain projects.

Noemí Llauradó, then, has achieved something complicated. That an apparently good news ends up generating considerable controversy. As president of the Diputació de Tarragona, the ERC leader in Reus has a salary of 90,000 euros annually, while also serving as health councilor in the capital of Baix Camp. This is the third term Llauradó has led the party in this locality, having lost up to three municipal elections (despite starting with the goal of winning all three).