Political Upheaval In Mijas

In a political coup in Malaga’s municipal politics. The PP party (Partido Popular), together with Vox and Juan Carlos Maldonado (Por mi pueblo), presented a motion of no confidence that has ousted Josele González the incumbent Mayor of Mijas, the last major seat held by the socialists in the province only 5 months after the last elections.

The new Mayor, once the motion has been signed before a notary and presented at the Town Hall, will be Ana Carmen Mata, who becomes the first woman to hold the position in the Costa del Sol constituency. The motion will be voted on in an extraordinary council session on November 2.

The last elections on May 28, left an unstable political landscape in Mijas, which has allowed this change in the municipal government. In the last elections the PP won nine councillors, Vox a total of three and with the support of Maldonado, they have an absolute majority. Josele González said ” the PSOE party has turned our town into a personal political springboard and a platform to serve their own interests”.

In a statement, in coming Mayor, Ana Mata added that, “we have to get our city out of the paralysis it has suffered in recent years and recover good management and transparency in the municipal accounts, which are on the road to ruin with a socialist government that squanders tens of millions of euros”. She, criticised on Twitter the publication on the Council’s social networks of a communiqué issued by the local government in which it regrets the motion of no confidence.

However the events have sparked a political brawl with accusations flying between the main parties. The Popular Party criticised the “partisan use” of the Town Hall’s social networks by the outgoing government, while the Socialists have said that the agreement violates the popular will and aims to place a “handpicked” mayor.

The secretary general of the PP in Málaga, José Ramón Carmona, got caught up in the crossfire and denounced, “the sectarian use of the social networks of Mijas Town Hall”, which in his words, “demonstrates and reinforces the need for urgent change in a council that has long since ceased to serve the general interest of the people of Mijas”.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Andalucian PSOE, Juan Espadas, has urged the President of the Regional Government of Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, to intervene and block the move to “steal” the mayoralty of Mijas from the socialists, which he considers an “outrage”.

Espadas, who visited the province of Malaga on Friday, told journalists in Mijas that “if he (Moreno) truly believes that politics is done with honour”, he can prove it by telling the PP in Malaga and Mijas that the institutions are not governed, “through the back door”.

Mijas awaits the result of the vote on November 2 and one thing is for sure, in the meantime, the political infighting will continue.