Katarina Martins criticizes the “hidden numbers” of the WYD and the lack of transparency of the decision.

Bloco de Esquerda coordinator Katharina Martins criticized this Friday in Faro the “million dollar” investment of World Youth Day (WYD) and the “absolute opacity” of how it is handled.

“Could it have been avoided what is happening? Yes. And the shock you feel about the numbers is only because you have kept the numbers hidden until now,” said Katarina Martins on the sidelines of her visit to the Teatro Letes, a historic concert. hall in the center of the Algarve capital.

The Bloco de Esquerda (BE) coordinator insisted on the existence of “a double problem: the millions that are being spent and that the country is surprised, and rightly so, if they make sense, and, on the other hand, the absolute opacity of the path is solved.”

Katarina Martins stated that there was “unity between the absolute majority of the Socialist Party and the right to allow direct adjustments far beyond the limits that are much higher for this WYD”, and assured that there will be “more thorough control” from now on. Assembly of the Republic.

“What doesn’t make sense is the millions of decisions that will be made by direct adjustment in the rear of the country, and the absolute majority that supported all this is still silent,” the party leader said.

The BE leader noted that he “recorded” that three statements were made on Thursday, “completely contradictory, which created more confusion than cleared up: the church, the mayor [de Lisboa] and the President of the Republic.

“And I also register the absolute silence of the absolute majority [do PS] who supported the travel project, who supported this type of investment and who even increased the limit on direct adjustments to make it happen and then everyone would be very surprised by the numbers because they were hidden,” he added. .

Katharina Martins argued that investment in the WYD should be paid for, “as in the rest of the world, by the Church itself”, with other issues, such as those related to the re-qualification of the territory where the day will be held, to be discussed “democratically and transparently”.

Although the municipalities and the government announced estimates a few months ago, the costs of the event have caused controversy in recent days, as it was reported that the construction of a stage altar in the main wind site (Tejo Park) would cost 5.3 million euros. The work has already been awarded to Mota-Engil by the Lisbon City Council.

WYD is the largest meeting of young Catholics from all over the world with the Pope, which takes place every two to three years, from July to August.

The meeting, considered the largest event of the Catholic Church, will be held this year in Lisbon from 1 to 6 August and is expected to be attended by about 1.5 million people.

The main ceremonies of the day take place in the Tagus Park, in the northern part of the Parque das Nasuens, on the banks of the Tagus River, on the lands of the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.

The days were born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II after the success of the meeting organized in 1985 in Rome as part of the International Year of Youth.