GAUCÍN’S POLITICAL FARCE

Those of you who are old enough to remember Brian Rix’s famous farces where the participants rushed in one door and out another or exited by the window or hid under the bed will appreciate fully the political shenanigans taking place in Gaucín.

Gaucín, a small village inland from the Costa del Sol, has been in political crisis for many a month but now it has descended in to farce.

To start at the beginning the mayor up till the last local elections was the Partido Andalucista’s Francisco Corbacho. He then faced court proceedings alleging that he had misappropriated town hall funds. His three fellow PA councillors also have question marks hanging over their involvement in town planning deals.

After the local elections left wing PSOE and right wing Partido Popular formed an unlikely coalition to keep Corbacho and the PA from power. Corbacho was then found guilty, barred from office, but as he is appealing the decision remains a councillor and PA leader.

This year the PP split from the coalition but indicated that it would continue to support the PSOE mayor Teodoro de Molina and his minority administration. That was till August when one of the PP councillors broke ranks. A vote of confidence followed, De Molina was ousted, with PP rebel Francisco Ruiz taking power with the votes of the four PA councillors.

So now Ruiz is mayor, Corbacho and his fellow PA councillors are in power - then comes the final twist, at least for now.

Step forward the PSOE spokesperson on the council, Felisa Carrasco. She announces that she is to become the mayor’s secretary and announces her resignation from the socialist party although she would have been pushed if she hadn’t jumped. This has left the socialists, and many other observers, wondering how the former PSOE spokesperson can become the right-hand woman of the right of centre Partido Popular mayor. In Gaucín all things are possible.

José María de Loma writes in his El Palique column in La Opinion de Málaga: “Cambios de chaqueta han existido toda la vida en este país, con larga tradición de rojos con camisas de Falange bien guardadas de antaño y por si acaso; de fascistas oportunistas afiliados a la UCD o al PSOE de la primera hora de la transición.”

This is a theme I have touched on before in this blog and we all have to accept that to a politician power is everything and political parties are merely a route to achieving that goal. So if one party fails to provide then there are always plenty of others. It’s only us, the poor old voter, who stays loyal to our convictions and beliefs.

(For my previous blogs on this subject click on – Corruption a Real Threat to Spanish Democracy – and – Party, Party, Party at: http://combatiendomolinosdeviento.blogspot.com/ ).