Francisco Prados was re-elected as the socialist candidate for the Mayoralty. Paco, who is also a high-school Mathematics teacher, made an interesting acceptance speech in which he urged Almuñequeros ‘to lose their fear and recover their freedom,’ referring to a palpable reticence in the town to speak out against the Mayor – justified or not.

“I am an Almuñequero and [the situation in] Almuñécar and La Herradura pains me. I believe that their citizens do not deserve to suffer what is happening to them. Our children do not deserve the inheritance that Benavides is leaving them. Now is the moment to act, to step forward, to lose one’s fear and get back one’s freedom. Nobody is going to do it for us,” were his exact words.

He went on to say that the Town Hall needs to ‘recuperate political dialogue’, so that Almuñequeros can ‘express themselves and say what they want.’ He also said, “The Mayor and the councillors should be at the service of the townsfolk, rather than torment them. We have to start thinking about a Town Hall that in which ‘blackmail, threats and fear’ cannot be found,” he concluded.