The Secretary General of the Andalusian Socialist Party, Juan Espadas Cejas, congratulated the party in Maracena on Tuesday for reaching an agreement with IU and Conecta, a local party, which, if nothing unusual happens in the next two weeks, will allow the socialists to regain control of the city council in the town of Granada. The new coalition in Maracena presented a motion of no confidence to remove the current Popular Party mayor, Julio Pérez, and have the socialist Carlos Porcel take over. The parties involved in the motion have a majority of 11 councilors out of 21. Espadas believes that this agreement “will allow this municipality to be governed once again by the political force that won the elections and was subjected to a shameful and dishonest manipulation of very serious events.”
Espadas refers to the events that took place in Maracena (population 22,200) three days before the elections on Sunday, May 28th of last year. A judge ordered an investigation into the Socialist mayor and candidate Berta Linares, her spokesperson Antonio García Leyva, and the former mayor of the city and now the third-ranking member of the Andalusian PSOE, Noel López, in relation to the judicial investigation of the kidnapping of a Socialist councilor by Linares’ then-partner. This caused a major political upheaval in Maracena, and despite having a majority, the PSOE only obtained seven councilors in the elections. However, they still won the most council seats, but not enough to govern. López, who was mayor of Maracena for 15 years and is now a member of the Andalusian parliament, stated on social media that “justice has been served for a town that was manipulated based on a lie.”
The no-confidence motion presented does not mention the events leading up to the elections or the subsequent agreements that led to the Popular Party taking power. Instead, it lists various negative actions by the current PP mayor and his team, including an alleged lack of efficiency, homophoic statements by a Vox representative, questionable allocation of council positions, and lack of transparency. The future governing coalition accuses Pérez of disrespect for public services by paralyzing a hundred permanent jobs and receiving more complaints for unfair dismissals in the past year than in previous terms. They argue that there is no clear project for Maracena, justifying the motion of no confidence.
The vote on the motion of no confidence is set to take place 10 working days after its submission, scheduled for Tuesday the 16th of the month. All parties involved in the new coalition agree that the initiative for the motion came from Amabel Adarve, the sole councilor from Maracena Conecta, who was part of the current government team. Adarve explains her decision to switch support from the PP and Vox to the PSOE and IU due to the inability to work with the current leaders, citing a lack of present and future projects and teamwork. She states that her party, a split from the PP, agreed to support the new team while maintaining her current position, emphasizing that she is not in politics for personal gain but to implement a project for the city.
The leader of IU in Maracena, Antonio Castillo, shared that the PP-led government was dysfunctional, especially in terms of opposition efforts due to lack of transparency and teamwork. He stressed the need for a pact to address the issues at hand. This shift in alliances and the impending change in government reflect a desire for transparency, efficiency, and collaborative governance in Maracena. The outcome of the vote on the motion of no confidence will determine the future of the city’s leadership and the potential for change in governance dynamics.
