Baltar apologizes and attributes the speed of 215 km/h to "an oversight" on "a long straight without references"

The popular leader shows his "willingness to collaborate in any subsequent procedure" after paying the administrative penalty

OURENSE, 27 Apr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Provincial Council of Ourense, Manuel Baltar, has asked for a public apology after being sanctioned after being identified when he was driving at 215 kilometers per hour on a highway in Zamora, which he has attributed to "an oversight that occurred on a long straight line on the A-52, without references of any kind".

In a letter sent to the media this Thursday, the provincial leader and president of the Ourensano PP, who is being investigated for a possible criminal offense for having exceeded the speed limit by 80 km/h, has reported that the administrative sanction has already been paid and is "available to collaborate in any subsequent procedure".

Baltar, who at the time of the sanction was driving a vehicle from the official fleet of the Ourense Provincial Council, which he has governed since 2012 -when he took office replacing his father, José Luis Baltar-, has indicated that "for many years " he drives "regularly" official cars "on institutional trips".

"I am writing these lines to publicly convey my apologies for what happened on the afternoon of April 23. As I already said yesterday (Wednesday), I am the first person to regret the consequences of a painful situation for me, derived from an isolated error but that it is not, of course, adequate", added the popular 'baron'.

The president of Ourense has affirmed that the infraction occurred "at a moment of oversight that occurred in a long straight line of the A-52". "Without references of any kind, I was above the permitted speed limits. I regret, I reiterate, this error," he added in a letter that he closes with a message that his "commitment" to the province is "intact".

On Wednesday, one day after the facts became known, the Ourense Provincial Council reported that agents of the Traffic Group Investigation and Analysis Group (GIAT) of the Civil Guard notified Manuel Baltar of the opening of investigation proceedings for possible crimes against road safety.

According to sources from the Ourense Provincial Council consulted by Europa Press, the GIAT agents from the Ourense subsector notified Baltar of the opening of these proceedings in the municipality of Leiro, where the also president of the Ourense popular groups was on an institutional visit.

Also, when asked about the fact that the popular leader was driving an official vehicle when he was intercepted on Sunday, these sources detail that the president's agenda did not include any act because he was in a "shadow period" due to the proximity of the municipal elections.

In this sense, they specify that they were ordinary management meetings, common in the day-to-day life of the president. Among others, they explain that on Monday morning Manuel Baltar was at a meeting of the Democracy and Local Government Foundation, of which the Provincial Council is a patron, to address management issues.

Subsequently, in a statement issued to the media on Wednesday afternoon, the provincial institution acknowledges that the events occurred last Sunday, April 23, when the president was notified of the initiation of an administrative sanction, "which was carried out in reason for the indications received".

In addition, the same statement stresses that Baltar, "on the express recommendation of his lawyer, will not make statements on this matter while waiting for the corresponding proceedings to conclude."

The Ourense Provincial Council also points out that the president is "the first to regret" both "the public consequences that may arise from these communications received and the situation itself generated."