Spanish Senator Luz Elena Sanin of the
nation's ruling Popular Party has blamed Spain's record 1.3 trillion
Euro public deficit on “the debts” caused by “subsidies for
NGOs and homosexuals.”
Sanin told reporters that the Socialist
government of former Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero had pushed the
nation into deficit with “his favors” to Spain's LGBT community.
Socialists in 2005 legalized marriage
for gay and lesbian couples.
During a press conference to promote
her party's efforts to restore financial stability, Sanin said that
her party was saddled with the debt created by Zapatero's
administration, The
Local reported.
“Otherwise we wouldn't have this
gaping economic hole,” Sanin is quoted as saying by Catalan daily
La Vanguardia.
Her comments have led to calls for her
resignation.
“Blaming NGOs and LGBT groups for the
government's public debt is shameful,” Socialist MP Patricia
Hernandez said. “It's absurd and ludicrous. All it does is denote
the PP senator's homophobia, this is what she thinks the socialists'
financial inheritance is.”