Campo de Gibraltar under new management: who's what, where and what's their name

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR Below we offer a comprehensive view of the various investiture ceremonies that took place at all seven of our municipalities on Saturday. If you have been following the results of the elections, you will know that most of the Town Halls will be under new management as from Monday. You will notice that the investiture speeches have a common thread: promises, promises, promises. It remains to be seen if they are carried out over the next four years.>>>

José Ignacio Landaluce

ALGECIRAS José Ignacio Landaluce, the outspoken former spokesperson for the PP on matters involving Gibraltar, took his oath of office thanks to his party having won an overwhelming majority of 16 seats on the Council (6 went to the PSOE, 3 to Izquierda Unida, and 2 to the PA). In his speech, Landaluce said he and his team would be "working hard for Algeciras to become more competitive, better provided and more willing to be enjoyed by all the residents. A capital Algeciras."

Juan Casanova

CASTELLAR DE LA FRONTERA had been holding its communal breath to find out what the one elected PP member would do with her vote at the ceremony (See She has the key). In the end, Pilar Lobato voted for the IU and not herself. So, Izquierda Unida's five votes got another one and thus displaced the PSOE's Francisco Vaca's 16 year reign as Mayor. Although his party received the most votes at the elction, they did not have enough for an absolute majority, so the Mayorship was at stake. The new Mayor is Juan Casanova.

Guillermo Ruiz, left

JIMENA DE LA FRONTERA The end of an era is in the making. As we have been reporting, the Mayor-elect, Francisco Pineda, is in hospital, having had a brain haemorrage during the campaign. So all the Councillors-elect swore their oath of office, with the exception of Pineda. Another Council Session  was called for tomorrow, Monday, for Pineda to appear or have his place taken by the third on the electoral list, Guillermo Ruiz, who is slated to become the next Mayor, representing the PP after almost 40 years of PSOE hegemony. At the end of the ceremony, Ruiz was greeted by the former Mayor, Pascual Collado, within our earshot. "I'm here to help," said Collado. The actual Mayoral investiture will take place tomorrow.

Gemma Araujo

LA LÍNEA DE LA CONCEPCIÓN Gemma Araujo was yesterday proclaimed Mayor of La Línea, the first woman to do so in the town'a history. The PSOE managed to have its candidate heading the Council thanks to the 'undisciplined' votes of the PA, who went against its party wishes to support the PP. The two PA representatives will probably undergo disciplinary proceedings. In any case, Araujo moves aside the man who has been a thorn in the side of Gibraltar, Alejandro Sánchez. A large police presence indicated that the proceedings were expected to be tense, but in fact everything went smoothly enough.

Jorge Romero

LOS BARRIOS held few surprises. Jorge Romero became the fifth Mayor, governing in a PA minority, with 10 of the 21 Councillors that make up the corporation. His speech, thoug, was charged with small explosions, as he alluded to "those who have stained the name of Los Barrios, must pay for it," among other things. Romero also promised that the town would no longer have official cars nor mobiles, "as we have to cut back drastically because of the mess they left behind."

Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix

SAN ROQUE politics is traditionally convoluted, swinging from PSOE  to PP with apparent regularity. This time, the PSOE's Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix takes the Mayorship thanks to a three-way agreement between his party and Partido Andalucista (PA) and Partido Independiente del Valle del Guadiaro (PIVG), who together get a majority of votes on the Council - eleven, against a pact between PP and Union por San Roque (USR) with ten. The term convoluted can be illustrated by the fact that this time Rosa Macías became a Councillor for the PP, having done so four years ago as a member for the PSOE.

Juan Andrés Gil

TARIFA's Juan Andrés Gil (PP) took possession of his Mayorship thanks to the resignation of the PA candidate, Teresa Vaca. He returns to the chair, one of the few Mayors in the province to do so this time around. Although in this case, the ELAs (Autonomous Local Entities) of Facinas and Tahivilla are presided by PSOE people, Andrés Trujillo and Diego España, respectively.