Salvador Ruiz I Malaga, (EFE) color only.
This situation generally occurs with the two major political parties, the PSOE and the PP. And in the province of Malaga there are two small towns where this happens. Parauta, in which the Socialists occupy the seven plenary positions, and Júzcar, where the Populares have the five members of their corporation.
In Parauta, the town of the “Enchanted Forest”, Katrin Ortega (PSOE) is the mayoress. She has already been for the last four years with the absolute majority of 5 of the 7 components of the corporation. And now they’re all in her party. She claims to be the mayoress of Malaga with the greatest electoral support, with 88.13% of the votes.
Plenary sessions where the neighbors give their opinion
That broad support will be administered by “working”, as stated in an interview with EFE. In which, given this new situation of governing without opposition, he specifies that the plenary sessions “open to the public” will be maintained. So that the neighbors can “ask and give their opinion”.
“In my plenary sessions there is no question-and-answer protocol, there are always questions and requests, everyone can intervene whenever they want,” says Ortega. That he assures that, despite not having opposition, he will continue “counting the same with the neighbors in plenary sessions.”
He wants citizens to “speak, listen, complain, ask and request” in plenary sessions. And he summarizes the basis of his success in “listen to them, there is no more.” Although in his town (with 270 inhabitants) the situation has improved, the “biggest problem” he sees in him and in all those in Valle del Genal is depopulation.
To combat it, it is building three municipal houses. In order to rent them at “symbolic” prices (150 or 200 euros shuffle) and thus attract families with children. Last year he managed to get three families with a total of six children. And thanks to this the school -with 19 children- is not in danger of closing.
They offer help to the families that settle in the town and manage the bureaucratic procedures. In Parauta, rentals are much cheaper, around 250 euros, compared to 900 or more that can be required on the Costa del Sol, located about 40 kilometers away. To the point that some live in the town and go back and forth to work on the coast.
the smurf village
In Júzcar, known as the first “Smurf town” in the world and which has its houses painted blue, Francisco Lozano (PP) has been mayor for eight years. And now, for the first time, without opposition. In a municipality where the elections are made by the system of open lists. People are voted for, not complete candidacies, because the population did not exceed 250 inhabitants in January 2022.
On how he will govern in the new circumstances, he assures EFE that since they have been in power they have always had the principle that any decision to be adopted that affected a public domain was consulted “with the people.”
“For us it will not be gratifying, or the opposite, that we have opposition or that we do not. Because we are going to work for the people, do what is best for the whole world,” Lozano says.
neighborhood whatsapp group
In Júzcar they have a WhatsApp group for the entire town in which the neighbors communicate any incident or information. But when a decision affects public forests, the neighborhood is summoned on a Saturday and they decide.
Remember that in the previous term they brought together the citizens to propose repopulating the public forests with chaparro. But they asked that a part be awarded to neighbors so that they repopulated them with chestnut trees and obtain a benefit, and this was done.
The people will also decide on the hydroelectric plant project that Lozano had in his electoral program. In case it is determined to be viable.
opposition from outside
The PSOE candidate for mayor of Júzcar, Sergio Sánchez, whose party did not obtain representation in the last municipal elections, intends to exercise the opposition from outside: attend the plenary sessions as a neighbor and register writings with the anomalies that he can detect so that explanations can be given in public.
He asks to promote aid to retain young people and that they take advantage of the wealth of the town by uniting agriculture, livestock and tourism and thus curb depopulation, while he considers it a pity to settle for a small salary, with which some people settle.
The source of water in the town stands out, with about 650 liters per second, which ensures that it is not affected by the drought, and raises the possibility of creating a water bottling plant in the area, issues that will be transferred to the new corporation and that he had in his electoral program. EFE