Carlos Rosique | València (EFE).- There are barely 12,800 square meters that make up the municipality of Llocnou de la Corona, the smallest municipality by extension in Spain and that for the 28M elections has found up to five municipal lists for leading a town of barely a hundred inhabitants.
In fact, if we divided its surface – little more than a football field – among the 109 inhabitants of this municipality located to the south of the city of Valencia, each of them could have only 117 square meters of land, just enough for a flat in a town that has a town hall, church and pharmacy as its main services.
Its mayors are looking for greater public services, the main demand before May 28, in which, despite the relative little importance of the municipality, five lists -PP, PSOE, Compromís, Vox and Pel Dret Valencià- will coexist on the ballots of the electoral college, when in 2019 it was barely PP and PSOE that made up the municipal lists.
More lists against bipartisanship and for public services
While in the last elections the PP prevailed over the PSOE by 15 votes out of a total of 73 counted, this coming 28M the count will have ballots with more political colors that will fight to govern the smallest town in Spain, of which both the PP and PSOE They defend that it must continue to be independent from Alfafar or Sedaví, with which it limits its term, however small it may be.
The mayoress of the municipality, the popular Paqui Llopis, points out that “the charm” of Llocnou is that it is a town where “you breathe peace and tranquility” a few kilometers from a large city like Valencia, but she does not think of joining at all to another population, because “it would be an insult” to the ancestors of their neighbors to renounce their roots and the coat of arms of the town.
Llopis points out that the main demands of the town are that there be at least one medical center with minimal services at least once a week and that “it prevents residents from having to go to Alfafar for things as simple as renewing prescriptions, sick leave or an analysis.
Likewise, he says that, among other claims, there is also that of the local police of Sedaví and Alfafar patrolling Llocnou through an agreement with the two city councils or, if not, “creating a more than logical joint police force that benefits everyone with a faster and more efficient service”.
“In small towns the person votes, not the party”
Finally, given the increase in candidacies in such a small town, Llopis assures that this explosion is due solely to political interest, “although they are wrong – he qualifies -, because in Llocnou the person who represents the needs and concerns is voted for” that neighbors have in common.
For her part, the socialist mayor, Lolín Alapont, agrees with Llopis that in small towns the person is voted for and stresses that “at no time” does she contemplate joining another municipality, since Llocnou “is worth it, because it is a town with a very unique charm and history”.
Thus, he sees that the increase in lists and candidates is due to the fact that political parties can predict the results they can obtain for the general elections, but he highlights that a mayor has to be there by vocation, not for anything else.
For Alapont, his main demand is also to improve the public services of the residents, “who today lack social services, waste collection, street cleaning or sewerage”, for which he intends to “promote the identity ” of Llocnou because currently “it is a deserted town, where there is no life and the streets are empty”.