In 12 days' time, on June 17th, all municipalities in Spain have to present their council whether they won the local elections by a majority, or if a pact (coalition) is needed to form a local government. Following the results of the vote, it is looking like seven of the 12 municipalities in the south of Tenerife will have female mayors, more than ever before.
There are already two women who continue as mayor having won an absolute majority in the 28M elections: Mari Brito in Candelaria, and Agustina Beltrán in Vilaflor de Chasna, both from the PSOE.
Two others should be added to this list as being 99% confirmed, despite being the second most voted at the polls. Ana Dorta will govern in Guía de Isora after the pact was signed between the CC and PP parties giving them 11 councilors, which will unseat Josefa Mesa (PSOE) who won the vote with 10 seats.
Secondly, Arona is set to have its first female mayor after a tripartite formed by the PP, CC, and Más Arona led by Fátima Lemes Reverón who will succeed José Julián Mena (PSOE) with 14 seats, after the former mayor lost popularity after the scandals over the last four years.
However, the ones in doubt still need agreements to be made between the parties. Granadilla, Arico, and Güímar, where the most voted candidates were Jennifer Miranda (PSOE), Olivia Delgado (PSOE), and Carmen Luisa Castro (PP), but it is possible that they will be relegated back to the opposition, where they have been this last term, even though Delgado began governing with Primero Arico until this party made a motion of no confidence, the second suffered by the PSOE senator.
The other five southern municipalities will have a male mayor governing them since they managed to maintain their absolute majority: Emilio Navarro (Santiago del Teide), José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga (Adeje), Arturo González (San Miguel de Abona), Luis Javier González Delgado (Fasnia), and Juan Ramón Martín (Arafo).
The Arona situation:
As one of the ‘Big Two’ municipalities in the south of Tenerife, Arona has been through turmoil in the last few years, most of which Mayor Mena inherited, but hasn’t been able to leave behind.
Fátima Lemes Reverón (PP) only won five seats at the elections, the same as Clari Pérez (CC), but with 74 more votes, so she will more than likely become mayor on June 17th, after gaining the support of the CC and Mas Arona, the party created by the socialist councillors who resigned from the PSOE when the party presented José Julián Mena as a repeat candidate.
Mena is the loser at these elections, even though he got the most votes, because he only retained 8 of the 14 seats that the party held after the 2019 elections. This has opened the door for the other parties to group together to govern the municipality that saw the lowest turnout of voters, only 38% of people went to the polls.
Although the pact has not been signed yet, Arona will have its first female mayor, Fátima Lemes, although it could also be Clari Pérez and Dácil León if a ‘time-sharing’ agreement is reached that someone has put on the table. Vox, with two seats, and Nueva Canarias, with one, will make up the Aronero Council.
