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A VALENCIA Vox Party councillor may be sentenced to up to 3 years in jail if convicted for posting hate messages on social media.
Cecilia Herrero is a Valencia City Councillor who was investigated by the Prosecutors.
A fine of over €7,000 is also proposed as well as a ban from holding public office and working for a public body.
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The claim is that between 2020 and the year 2024, she made offensive remarks against migrants and people with disabilities via X.
Herrero allegedly had social media accounts with thousands of followers, which prosecutors say she used to disseminate ‘massive and indiscriminate’ messages aimed at stigmatising migrants- especially those of North African or Muslim backgrounds.
She also attacked members from the LGTBI collective and racialised individuals, as well as people with disabilities.
The Prosecutor’s Office said her postings generally linked migration with crime, talked about the ‘invasion of territory’ and the deterioration of public services.
They stated she repeatedly linked the national origin, skin colour or religion of certain people to criminal behaviour, using expressions of mockery and contempt and sometimes resorting to a ‘manipulating’ a selection of news items to generate social alarm.
The migrants were called out by derogatory words, they were expelled from Spain and their identity was questioned.
It stated that her posts were aimed directly at Valencia residents, all in the context of her serving as a councillor.
In April 2024 the PSPV and the regional Compromis left-wing party filed a complaint.
That was prompted by Herrero’s suggestion that a black candidate for the European Parliament elections ‘should go back to his own country’.
Borja Sanjaun is the socialist municipal spokesperson. She said: “We can’t have a councillor who has government powers and whose messages are racists and homophobic, but whose Prosecutor’s Office wants to send her to prison for three years for that.”
Sanjuan described it as ‘shameful’ that Herrero is still in the executive.
He added: “The residents deserve to be free of councillors accused by the Prosecutor’s Office for their anti-democratic behavior. There is no place for a racist or a homophobe within the Valencia government.”
No response has come from either the Mayor or Herrero.
The Olive Press’ Valencia News is available by clicking here.
