More political turmoil in Serranía de Ronda with new 'no confidence' motion to oust another mayor

The political scene is being stirred up once more in the Serranía de Ronda right in the middle of summer. Elected politicians from the PSOE socialist party, an independent group and even one Partido Popular councillor have presented a motion of censure against the current PP mayor of Benalauría, Cristóbal Díaz. The formal request for a vote of no-confidence was submitted late on Friday to the town hall's official registry in this village of 465 inhabitants, nestled in the Genal valley, south of Ronda.

The motion is signed by the only PSOE councillor in the current council, Cristina Márquez, who has been proposed as the mayoral candidate, both independent councillors for Benalauría's voters' association (Alejandra Orellana and Enrique Álvarez Jiménez) and Alejandro Guerrero, who was on the PP list as an independent and is currently the deputy mayor responsible for the environment, outlying districts and events and festivals, according to sources consulted.

The signatories to the motion of censure condemn the "paralysis" in municipal management and public "discontent" with the status quo, according to sources consulted. Meanwhile, within the PP party, other sources have indicated that Guerrero will be expelled from the governing team so that he cannot assume new management responsibilities or receive a public salary in the future.

The Benalauría motion is the second, no-confidence motion presented in the Serranía de Ronda area in recent weeks, following the one presented in Benaoján. However, this first one ultimately failed to pass as neither the four PSOE councillors nor the PP councillor supporting the dismissal of PP mayor Guillermo Becerra attended the extraordinary council meeting where the vote was held .

With the one in Benalauría, there have now been eight motions of no-confidence presented in Malaga province during the current term of office for municipal councils. Of these, six were successful - firstly Mijas, where the PP's Ana Mata ousted socialist Josele González. Then Humilladero, where Auxiliadora Gámez (PSOE) replaced Miguel Ángel Pérez (PP) with the support of left-wing party IU. In Carratraca, the PP's Marian Fernández replaced Antonio Sepúlveda (IU) with the support of a socialist councillor. Also Comares, where the PSOE and PP joined forces so that the socialist José Miguel Ruiz replaced Eva Aguilar. As for Manilva, independent group Compromiso Manilva and the IU joined forces to dislodge the PP mayor José Manuel Fernández and, lastly, Totalán, where the PP's Víctor Martín lost his seat after PSOE reached an agreement with an independent councillor to allow the socialist Miguel Ángel Escaño to take back the mayor's office. The seventh, in Benaoján, was unsuccessful and now Benalauría's vote is pending.

When the extraordinary council meeting to debate the motion of no-confidence is held in the coming days and Cristina Márquez's appointment as mayor of Benalauría is confirmed, there will be a new woman leading another local council in the Costa del Sol province, bringing the number to 26 female mayors.

With this move, the PP will hold 46 of the province's 103 municipal councils, the PSOE will increase its total to 40, while the remaining 17 councils will be held as follows: nine by the IU, four by Por Mi Pueblo and four with independent groups.