Deputy apologizes for joke about his “meager” monthly salary
Lawmaker says it is hard to get by on only 5,100 euros a month
Popular Party deputy Guillermo Collarte has apologized for saying he found it hard to “make ends meet” on the combined salary of 5,100 euros a month he earns as a member of both Congress and Ourense city council in Galicia.
Collarte stirred up public anger with his comments in an interview with regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia in which he also said that during his time in Congress he never bothered to speak on behalf of his constituents. “The group that supports the government doesn’t bother with that kind of thing,” he said, adding that he and other deputies “do what we are told.”
The comments were soon circulating on Twitter and other social networks, prompting Collarte to give an interview to the SER radio network saying he considered himself fortunate, and that his comments were not meant to be taken literally.
