Mario Jiménez becomes mayor of Manilva during eventful no-confidence vote

The power in the council chamber went off at 12.30pm, in the middle of the spokespeople's interventions, but the session resumed 15 minutes later, without lights or microphones

María Albarral

Tuesday, 29 April 2025, 12:31 | Updated 17:25h.

The new mayor of Manilva, Mario Jiménez, entered his new post after an eventful vote of no-confidence. The vote coincided with the widespread power outage that took over the whole of Spain from midday yesterday. The councillor from the Compromiso Manilva political group was handed the mayor's baton through the motion presented by his party and Con Andalucía IU, which removed the Popular Party's José Manuel Fernández from office.

The session began at 12pm on the dot. However, just 30 minutes later, the electricity and the internet went out in the middle of the presentation. Confusion set in, the curtains were opened, and the secretary asked the audience to be quiet, so that the session could continue without microphones.

Voting was done by voice and in alphabetical order. The motion received nine votes in favour (Compromiso Manilva and Con Andalucía IU), five against (Partido Popular and VOX) and three abstentions (PSOE). At the end of the meeting, Jiménez took over the new post and outlined the priorities of his administration: public safety, housing access and support for the elderly.

"I previously had the honour of serving as mayor for seven years, which I now assume once again, with the same enthusiasm and desire, but with more experience and peace of mind," said Jiménez. He stated that "this new chapter has been an important decision, motivated by the need for our municipality to find a politically stable direction forward, through the projects that our town needs".

However, former mayor Fernández described the motion as "unfair". "We have proven to be a serious team that handles things through dialogue, and what is the alternative they are proposing? An accused mayor under investigation? Manilva does not deserve this," he said.

Manilva town hall has 17 councillors who form the municipal corporation. Of them, 5 are from Compromiso Manilva, 4 from Con Andalucía IU, 4 from PP, 3 from PSOE and one from VOX.

Following the municipal elections of 2023, Con Andalucía IU supported the investiture of the right-wing mayor from the Partido Popular (PP) and became part of the local governing team, which cost it expulsion from the left-wing coalition, although the councillors continue to use the group's name, as they did not detach as independent. Hard-right Vox also supported Fernández as mayor, but they did not become part of the government team. In January 2025, the then mayor integrated four councillors from Compromiso Manilva into the local government, leaving out the new mayor, Mario Jiménez.

This move has been strongly criticised by the PP bench, who deemed the motion "illogical". "We have approved budgets together, working side by side. This is incomprehensible," said Fernández.

The new local government defended this motion of no confidence on the grounds that "there is inaction on the part of Fernández's office, with no investment coming into the town and no projects being carried out".

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