On the upcoming June 1, barring surprises or unexpected plot twists, the PP of Cartagena (Region of Murcia, 222,000 inhabitants) will lose the mayoralty of the city. Popular Noelia Arroyo will have to hand over the baton to Jesús Jiménez Gallo, leader of the municipal party Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), by virtue of a motion of no confidence filed late Monday by that party with the support of the PSOE, the local party Sí Cartagena (led by a former socialist), and two councilors listed as non-affiliated after leaving the ranks of Vox. The ultra party governs in coalition with the popular party, but the expulsion last February of its regional president, José Ángel Antelo, opened a crisis in all levels of the party that now brings the first real consequences at the municipal representation level.
Read more The French singer Patrick Bruel, accused of sexual assault by dozens of women
Since Antelo was removed from his positions in Vox Murcia, the trickle of departures among Santiago Abascal’s followers has been constant, both in the regional ranks (deputy Virginia Martínez followed the steps of the former provincial president in mid-April) and in numerous town councils of the community. So far, none of these departures had caused significant changes in local corporations, but the shadow of the motion of no confidence had been looming over Cartagena for months, the second most populated municipality in the Region of Murcia, with a very fragmented municipal corporation: its 27 councilors (14 for an absolute majority) were divided this legislature among five parties: PP, with 10 representatives; MC, with 8; PSOE and Vox, with 4 each, and Sí Cartagena with one. PP and Vox reached a government agreement, but the internal crisis of the ultra party ended up motivating the departure of two councilors from its ranks, leaving the pact in a complicated situation.
Thus, rumors about a possible motion of no confidence in Cartagena began to materialize a few days after Antelo’s expulsion, on March 4, when councilor Diego Salinas, who held the responsibilities for Citizen Security in the coalition government with Arroyo, announced that he was leaving the ultra party. Despite speculation about the continuity of the municipal pact, Salinas maintained his responsibilities until just a few days ago: on May 14 he announced his voluntary resignation from the position he held, increasing rumors about the possible motion of no confidence that has now materialized.
Along with Salinas, at the beginning of April the then Vox councilor Beatriz Sánchez del Álamo, who had responsibilities for New Technologies, Electronic Administration, and Transparency, also moved to the group of non-affiliated councilors. The councilor continued to be part of Arroyo’s government team; however, according to MC, PSOE, and Sí Cartagena in a joint statement, both she and Salinas support the motion of no confidence. The spokespersons of the three municipal groups have called a press conference for 9:30 this Tuesday, in which they have not clarified whether the two former Vox members will also participate. For her part, the still mayor Arroyo has a public appointment scheduled for 10:00 this Tuesday in Murcia city, where a forum on municipalism is being held.
According to the brief statement with which the opposition parties announced the motion of no confidence, its objective is “to put an end to the misgovernment and the lack of project of the current municipal Executive,” and the decision was made “after months of growing tension in the City Council, especially after the Government has been breaking down due to internal division among its members, the growing economic tension due to the disastrous situation of municipal accounts, and the lack of present and future projects.” “Political and economic instability has led the opposition groups to unite their forces to present a serious, progressive, and real alternative for the municipality,” the note adds. Once the motion was filed on May 18, the municipal regulations establish that an extraordinary plenary session must be convened within 10 working days to vote on the motion of no confidence and appoint the new mayor. The date, therefore, would be the upcoming June 1.
Read more An unexpected park
Second time in municipal government
If the motion passes, it will not be the first time that the socialists govern the municipality in coalition with the localists of MC; they did so after the May 2015 elections, when Pilar Barreiro’s PP lost the absolute majority it had held since 1995. As in the current legislature, the popular party was the most voted list and obtained 10 of the 27 councilors that make up the corporation. Since the absolute majority is 14, the three councilors obtained by Ciudadanos were not enough to reach a pact.
The municipal government was then formed by adding the six councilors of the PSOE, the five of MC, and the three of Cartagena Sí Se Puede, which did not enter the government but limited itself to supporting the pact. Socialists and cartageneristas took turns in the mayoralty: between 2015 and 2017 José López (MC) governed, and from 2017 to 2019 Ana Belén Castejón (PSOE) did. However, the coalition was marked by tensions to such an extent that the socialist leader ended up dismissing her partner from his functions, who left the Executive before the legislature ended. In the 2019 municipal elections, José López’s Movimiento Ciudadano, a politician always controversial for his outbursts and aggressive manners, was the most voted party, with eight councilors, but did not govern: in an unusual political twist, socialist Castejón allied with the current PP mayor, Noelia Arroyo, and with Ciudadanos. The two politicians again shared the mayoralty: the first two years for Castejón, who was expelled from the PSOE along with the other five councilors the party obtained as a result of that pact and who founded the party Sí Cartagena, which now supports the motion of no confidence, and the last two for Arroyo.
In the 2023 municipal elections, popular Arroyo improved the PP results, obtaining 10 councilors, but four short of the absolute majority. Those four supports had been lent by Vox which, after losing two of its councilors, leaves the local government in the minority that allows this motion of no confidence to be encouraged.
Read more A woman, hospitalized in serious condition after falling into the Manzanares River
