Right in control
Andalucía is now under the control of a
right-wing coalition, ending almost 37
years of socialist domination. The
change follows the regional election in
early December which produced no
overall majority and prompted a
frantic six weeks of negotiations. The
election result was marked by the
arrival of a far-right party Vox which
took 12 seats in the elections giving the
group its first-ever elected
representatives. This led to
demonstrations against “facism” and
“hatred” in several cities.
On December 27, the newly-elected
Deputies met in Sevilla as required by
Andalucía’s constitution and voted
Marta Bosquet, a Ciudadanos deputy
from Almería, as the parliament’s new
Speaker.
During January, Vox, known for its
anti-immigration stance, clarified that
it wants to repeal regional laws
protecting women and the LGBTI
collective, to expel 52,000 “illegal
immigrants” and to end support for
“supremacist feminism.” It also wants
new legislation to protect bullfighting
and hunting, as well as popular culture
and traditions. In doing so, it
effectively talked itself out of a right-
wing coalition with the Partido Popular
(PP) and Ciudadanos who went on pool
their total of 47 seats to create the
biggest group in the regional
parliament.
The PP, meanwhile, while initially
describing Vox’s plans as
“unacceptable,” managed to find
enough common ground with the
newcomers to guarantee their support
in debates, giving the three parties a
total of 59 seats and a majority of four
in the 109 seat parliament.
The deal signed between the PP and
Vox on January 9 stipulates 37 goals,
led by job creation, the fight against
corruption, and respect for democracy.
Other areas of agreement include
support for bullfighting and flamenco.
However, there is no mention of
deportations or scrapping existing laws
which protect vulnerable sectors of
society.
The political upheaval ended on
January 16 when Juan Manuel Moreno
Bonilla, a PP deputy from Málaga, was
elected President of Andalucía, the first
non-socialist to hold the post since
1982 when elections were first held
after the death of the dictator Francisco
Franco. Moreno said that, “After ten
legislatures monopolized by the PSOE
in Andalucía, the door is open for a
political change of course and
government.”
The new president, known as Juanma
Moreno, is a 48-year-old who was born
in Barcelona but brought up in Málaga
from just three months old. He joined
the Partido Popular aged 19, became
councillor for youth and sport in the
city of Málaga in 1995 aged 25, and two
years later became a Deputy in the
regional government.
In 2000, he entered Congress and was
Secretary of State for Social Services
and Equality between 2011 and 2014.
He was then elected the PP’s president
in Andalucía and now lives with his
wife and three children in the Sevilla
town of Alcala de Guadaira.
The developments of the last two
months in Andalucía have rocked
Spanish politics and came as a blow to
the country’s socialist prime minister.
Pedro Sánchez of the PSOE seized
power from the PP last year with the
support of the Catalan separatists, and
is facing 13 more regional elections,
alongside nationwide European and
local elections, on May 26.
Blast victim
The Spanish woman who died in last
month’s gas explosion in Paris was on a
romantic getaway with her husband,
who was also injured. The powerful
blast took four lives, left 50 injured and
caused widespread damaged. The
Spanish victim was named as 38-year-
old Laura Sanz Nombela from Toledo
who was the mother of three children.
Voting rights
Voting rights for Britons resident in
Spain and for Spanish nationals living
in the UK will not be affected by
Brexit. An agreement signed between
Madrid and London last month means
local municipal elections will be the
only polls in which each group can
participate and stand as candidates
while in their chosen foreign country.
It is estimated the arrangement will
cover about 300,000 Britons in Spain
and 175,000 Spaniards in the UK.
See Smalltalk on
page 20
9
Eurovision choice
The singer Miguel “Miki” Núñez
(pictured above) will represent Spain in
the Eurovision Song Contest to be held
in Tel Aviv in May. “La venda” (The
Band), a Catalan rumba written by Adriá
Salas of the band La Pegatina, took over
a third of the votes in a telephone poll
on RTVE last month. Miki has a lot to
do in Israel as Spain does not have a
good record in recent years, including
coming last two years ago.
Slow down
Speed limits on Spanish roads were
reduced on January 29 in an effort to
achieve a “zero accident objective.” On
secondary roads, the maximum speed is
reduced from 100 to 90 kph with
further restrictions planned, while the
maximum on motorways remains at
120 kph, plus further limitations
applying to certain vehicles. The
maximum speed on inner-city roads
(“built up areas”) falls from 50 to 30
kph.
Plane crash
The brother-in-law of celebrity chef
Paul Hollywood was one of two Britons
killed last month when their Piper PA-
28 aircraft crashed into a mountain in
the Basque country in poor conditions.
Simon Moores and his passenger were
en route from Portugal to Hondarribia
near the French border when it struck
Mount Hernia less than 50 metres
below the summit. It was suggested that
the plane may have had a faulty altitude
indicator.
Kidnap suspects
Three Costa Rican nationals detained in
Zaragoza are thought to be the leaders
of a gang who kidnapped an American
businessman in the city of Heredia,
north of San José, last September.
Another nine suspects have been
arrested in Costa Rica. The victim is still
missing and police believe the three
suspects now held in Spain fled after
receiving a ransom of around $1 million
from his family.