Carlos Tarife, the first deputy mayor and councilor in charge of Public Services at the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has taken a decisive step following allegations of being branded as “sexist” by the spokesperson for the socialist municipal group, Florentino Guzmán, during the municipal plenary session that took place last Friday.
Through his lawyer, María Vera Martín, Tarife has sent a burofax to the PSOE councilor, demanding that in the upcoming plenary session of the City Council scheduled for May 24, he must “retract his statement and publicly apologise for the unpleasant and offensive remark made towards my client, as failure to do so will compel us to seek appropriate legal recourse.”
In the legal notice dated April 29, 2024, which has been reviewed by DIARIO DE AVISOS, the lawyer informs the socialist Florentino Guzmán that “during the plenary session on April 26, you referred to my client as ‘sexist,’ as evidenced in the session video, a comment that was also circulated by the media. This clearly constitutes defamation or public denigration of his personal character,” she stressed.
This legal demand, along with a certified copy, was sent to the PSOE headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, situated at 46 Viera y Clavijo street, in response to the events of the recent municipal plenary session. During that session, the socialist spokesperson, Florentino Guzmán, accused the PP’s spokesperson and head of Public Services, Carlos Tarife, of being “sexist” after he requested former mayor Patricia Hernández not to interrupt him in the middle of his speech.
This incident sparked a heated exchange of insults and commotion among the groups, prompting Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez to suspend the plenary session for approximately 15 minutes to meet with the municipal group spokespersons and urge them to speak without interruptions and refrain from personal attacks.
Declaring his stance, Tarife stated, “If the socialist councilor fails to apologise in the forthcoming plenary session, I will pursue legal action. I will not tolerate such behaviour, especially when all I did was request Patricia Hernández not to disrupt my speech, a request she frequently disregards.”
On the other hand, PSOE councilor Florentino Guzmán expressed ignorance regarding the contents of the notification from Carlos Tarife’s lawyer and remarked, “Do what you must, and I will do the same.”
Unwavering in his position, Guzmán explained, “My statement arose due to his leniency towards my party colleagues, whom he incessantly attacks with his loud outbursts. This seems to be a recurring behaviour exhibited by both Tarife and the nationalist José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez, characterised by their aggressive and dismissive attitudes towards socialist councilors.”
Moreover, he added, “If Tarife felt offended by my words, we can discuss it in the next plenary session. If he wishes, we can even organise a session on feminism, considering that the PP voted against the Equality Law.”
