In an Extraordinary Plenary meeting of the Almuñécar Town Council on Wednesday the 14th, the governing party pushed through a controversial motion.

To understand why it is controversial, you will have to recall that in 2006 there was a unanimous vote to counter tranfuguismo (political ‘turncoatism;’ i.e., deserting the party you were elected to serve in order to use your position to favour another.)

In Spain, you might vote for a politician presented by his party, but once he is firmly sat in his council seat, there is nothing to stop him leaving the party and taking his councillor position with him.

After a plague of politicians, either receiving bribes or juicy posts, joining the ‘enemy’ or at least voting in their favour from the neutral non-aligned ranks, our political class came to the conclusion that they were all better off without it.

So, along came 2006 and all parties in Almuñécar voted to stop politicians from doing precisely that. The Central Government also acted against this practice, forbidding it all over the country.

Now, with the Almuñécar Mayor’s latest motion, pushed through with their own votes and those of their coalition allies, the 2006 decision has been amended to include: “… in exceptional cases, taking into account the person’s political experience and the necessities of the Town Council, transfugas (turncoat) councillors can be appointed for specific tasks and/or form part of superior autonomous organisms.”

Allow us to interpret that for you: once a Mayor considers that a turncoat councillor is good for his/her position, then he/she can appoint them to posts and commissions, etc.

In other words, if you are an Animal Farm fan: No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.

So why has this cropped up now? Hitherto right-hand man (woman) in Benavides’s party, Eva Gaitán, left his party to join the independent, non-aligned ranks, from which she supports, with her votes, the governing party.

Benavides was not silent during the Plenary Meeting: “The Central Government promoted in all the country the State Antitrasfuguism Pact yet you have voted against the ratification of the pact. What’s more, you proposed that we approved the complete opposite to what your party signed on a nationwide level. Do you need to do this, as you have enjoyed a comfortable majority for the last four years?”

It’s worth remembering that some years back that Benny obtained the extra council seat he had failed to obtain in the previous elections, thanks precisely to a PP councillor that jumped ship.

Editorial comment: politicians being politicians, purposely oblivious to the fact that the electorate is sick to the back teeth of all of them.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)