First of all, for those who are unfamiliar with the Spanish term, Mancomunidad, it stands for a local-area council, or a group of municipalities that have banded together to promote points of common interest. The towns on the Costa Tropical, together with the villages in the Alpujarra Granadina make up one such entity.
Back in June, after the May local elections, all the opposition parties in Almuñécar, with the local PSOE amongst them, banded together to oust Juan Carlos Benavides from office. To be more accurate, as Sr. Benavides was had withdrawn his candidacy for the CA prior to the elections, he had already, technically left office as mayor, regardless of the elections results – Eva Gaitan headed the party’s list.
The end result was that the CA, even as the most voted party, lost control of the mayoralty, thanks to the opposition parties voting in favour of the PP candidate, Trinidad Herrera, as Mayoress of Almunecar. The PSOE, after having received strict instructions not to vote for the PP candidate, literally drew lots amongst their five councillors to decide which one of their number would secretly vote, for Sra. Herrera, as only one vote was needed to tip the balance in her favour.
Well, it is now clear why the provincial office of the PSOE was against the Almunecar PSOE councillors voting against the ex mayor’s party – there were succulent ‘second prizes’ to be had, one of which was getting control of the Mancomunidad, which had been firmly in the grasp of the PP, with the Motril Mayor, Carlos Rojas, as Chairman.
The New Mayor of Salobrena (PSOE), Gonzalo Fernandez Pulido, has just announced that he has reached an agreement with the CA to wrestle control away from the PP.
“The PSOE,” he explained, “in its legitimate right to make pacts with other political formations, has reached an accord with the CA which guarantees an absolute majority and [thus] stable government for the Mancomunidad during the next four years.”
Subsequently, the Mayor of Salobreña could possible take on the office as Chairman of the Mancomunidad (with the extra salary attached, naturally) For this, he needs the votes in favour of the CA councillors in Almunecar, which the pact guarantees.
So, whereas, the PSOE in Almunecar voted against the CA candidate, the CA councillors in Almunecar will vote in favour of the PSOE candidate for the Mancomunidad.
What’s in this for the Almunecar CA? There’s every chance that the pact contains the condition that Juan Carlos Benavides will occupy the Vice-Chairman’s seat on the Mancomunidad.
The Mayor of Salobrena argues that such a move is above municipal level politics and responds to the collective need of the 19 municipalities represented within the Mancomunidad; the collective need being a stable administration.
Armed with this new pact, the Mayor of Salobrena is demanding of the Mayor of Motril the convocation of a full board meeting of the Mancomunidad to elect a new chairman. He backs this demand, quoting the statutes of the body, which stipulated that a new board should be elected within 30 days of the new councillors taking office, fruit of the municipal elections (held on the 25th of May).
It is PP-controlled Almunecar that is holding things up, as they still haven’t decided which party members will be put forward to occupy their quota of posts in the Mancomunidad, which, according to the Mayor of Salobrena, is because they are still hoping that their party (the PP) will lead the Mancomunidad, as has been the case up til now.
In the last plenary meeting of the Almunecar councillor, the PP Mayoress refused to treat the Mancomunidad question as ‘urgent,’ as requested by the local PSOE councillors, lead by Francisco Prados, backed by Councillor Benavides for the CA. The Mayoress explained that her negative on the issue was because other municipalities (Salobrena/Albunol) had councillor quota issues pending, which would affect the voting within the Mancomunidad.
Whatever happens with the Mancomunidad and whoever rules over it, it does not change the fact that it is an expensive luxury that does little to improve things on the coast – most of its budget goes on salaries for its component members, in an organisation that has more department heads than departments; in other words, more bosses than workers.
Crisis, what Crisis, anybody?
(News: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)