Today, Saturday 17th June, is a big day in the Canary Islands as it is the day that the new councils and mayors are sworn in following the local elections on May 28th. Although the PSOE got the highest number of votes, there was a huge swing to the right meaning they didn’t get an absolute majority in many places, with pacts and tripartites formed between the CC and PP to see new leaders in key places.
As an overview, the Canary Islands will soon have a new president as Angel Victor Torres has to step aside in favour of Fernando Clavijo, and in Tenerife, Pedro Martin will be replaced by the island's first female president as Rosa Davila will take charge after a CC/PP pact.
In Lanzarote, controversial character, Maria Dolores Corujo, will be replaced by Oswaldo Betancort after the public lost faith in her after her ”We don’t want British tourists” scandal.
There’s no change in Gran Canaria as Antonio Morales achieves his third term as president, and in Fuerteventura Segio Lloret continues for another term.
LOCAL TOWN HALLS.
Closer to home in the municipalities there are also significant changes and no more so than in the south of Tenerife. Adeje and San Miguel stay as they were, but Arona sees the biggest change of all with Jose Julian Mena ousted from the Mayor's Office, thanks to a tripartite made up of the CC, PP, and Mas Arona, replaced by the first female mayor of Arona, Fatima Lemes (pictured above).
This pact, securing 14 of the 25 seats available, left the PSOE with no options to form a government, even though they won the vote on 28M, and means Mena leaves offices after a tumultuous 8 years.
Lemes has expressed his gratitude for the support received from CC and Más Arona, and has assured that her main objective is to govern with honesty, closeness, and efficiency for the benefit of all residents of Arona.
One of the notable changes in Gran Canaria, is that the former Minister of Health for Spain, Carolina Darias, who was born in Las Palmas and educated in Tenerife, will become the first female mayor of the islands capital after winning the vote and forming a pact accordingly.
In the south of the island, the CC and PP pacts continue as they will govern the town hall of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and the municipality of Mogan will be governed by Onalia Bueno.
There are still areas that are struggling to come to agreements within the pacts they want to form, including Granadilla in Tenerife, Teguise in Lanzarote. It is expected that Olivia Duque will take office in Teguise as mayor, although José Domingo Regalado (Granadilla) will have it more complicated due to a last-minute agreement last night between the PSOE and PP.
In Fuerteventura, CC has agreed a pact with the PSOE to govern four of the six municipalities: Puerto del Rosario, Pájara, La Oliva and Tuineje.
