PSOE Proposes to Restore Original Name of Military Hospital in Sevilla
José Bernal and Isabel Pérez held a press conference this morning. Isabel Pérez, the spokesperson for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the Marbella City Council, announced on Friday that her municipal group will present a motion at the next regular plenary session. The motion will request the Andalusian Board to restore the name of Marbella native Rogelio Vigil de Quiñones to the Military Hospital in Sevilla.
Controversy Over Name Change
The socialist proposal also calls for disapproval of the decision made by the Andalusian president, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, to change the hospital’s name. This decision has sparked significant controversy due to the “false referendum” that was organized. Pérez recalled that the Andalusian government decided to change the name of the Military Hospital in Sevilla and conducted a survey among healthcare professionals to do so. Until then, the hospital was named after Rogelio Vigil de Quiñones, a Marbella-born doctor and soldier, who was one of ‘The Last of the Philippines’ during his confinement in the church of Baler in the late 19th century.
Discrepancy in Referendum Results
The referendum results showed that among the two most voted names, Vigil de Quiñones was included. However, the Board chose the fourth option and renamed the hospital as Doctor Muñoz Cariñanos. “Moreno Bonilla said the consultation was conducted to make the choice more democratic, but he chose the fourth most voted name,” Pérez recalled. She added that they also tried to hide the results, and it was the Council for Transparency and Data Protection of Andalusia that forced the Board to make them public.
Condemnation of Arbitrary Decision
The socialist spokesperson recalled that the healthcare community, history associations and groups, and most significantly, the family, have condemned “an arbitrary and political decision, which does not comply with the result or the promise of Moreno Bonilla himself.”
Marbella’s Stand on the Issue
Local councilor and historian, José Bernal, pointed out that the city of Marbella, where the doctor and soldier was born, “cannot allow such a significant offense against one of its distinguished residents.” He is also the namesake of the city’s oldest park, which houses over 200-year-old royal pines. Therefore, the PSOE will ask the Marbella City Council’s governing team to “firmly support as an institution” the claim being made by Vigil de Quiñones’ family and the medical community, for the Military Hospital in Sevilla to continue bearing the name of one of the heroes of Baler.
