The provincial president of the PP of Cádiz, Bruno García León, has been on a political tour of the province for days. Photo in front of the lectern one day in San Fernando, another in Rota, another in Tarifa. It was time to introduce the various candidates that the lineup is running for the local elections on May 28th. By this Thursday he was back on the scene, albeit as the popular mayor of the capital, the last Andalusian province yet to be unveiled. With José María González Kichi (of Adelante Cádiz) retired from the game and options as varied as former big brother Ismael Beiro in battle (of the Cádiz party, yes), the city is about to most open and uncertain election scenario in recent years.
In this ecosystem, Andalusian President Juan Manuel Moreno has chosen Cádiz to have the friendliest, most measured face possible, and without shrewdness. Bruno García León, a doctor of law and Andalusian parliamentarian, was born 43 years ago in Jerez de la Frontera. But that fact, important in a capital with such colloquial and historical rivalries with Jerez, is not so important for someone who made his debut in politics, precisely as a PP councilor in Cádiz City Council in 2007. Up to three terms ( 12 years ) he was mayor of the city hall of Cádiz, two of them with duties as delegate for tourism, development and deputy mayor. During this period, García acquired the profile of a moderate, unaware of the harsh debates and controversies that became more frequent in the wake of the demise of the thunderous majorities of Teófila Martínez, mayor of Cadiz from 1995 to 2005.
“We will trade sectarianism and laziness for moderation and determination,” García said at a press conference on the street with the famous La Caleta beach as a backdrop. Once there, enveloped by Martínez himself – who accompanied him on his way to the lectern and accompanied him in his performance – the local and provincial PP staff arrived after holding an extraordinary meeting of the party’s provincial executive at the nearby Parador de Cadiz. The already candidate has excused himself by waiting for his nomination as “it was an important decision and that he had to mature”. “I never said no. Deep down I’ve always wanted to. What I didn’t do is do it, I did my job,” García justified.
García has asserted himself in the internal and external debate against Martínez, who has also been a strong candidate for the 2023 elections in recent weeks. Jose Manuel Cossi, current City Council member and author of Carnival, was also shortlisted. But Kichi’s announcement that he would not appear in May, keeping the word he made when he entered politics, shook the Cadiz PP. There, the formation of the right realized that any decision would be the key to moving closer to regaining the long-awaited office in the Plaza de San Juan de Dios. “The city does not sleep, but its rulers have. I want the left to vote for me, for all the people of Cadiz to vote for me,” García explained.
There were weeks of polls and internal rumors that first pointed to Martínez as the safest option to take the baton. She was patiently silent while her entourage assured her that she was comfortable in her current role as President of the Port Authority. But the tables changed with other internal voices suggesting that the reinstatement of the mayor of Spain’s provincial capitals with the most votes – in 2003 and 2007 – did not say much in favor of the Andalusian PP’s alleged desire of Moreno to see the rejuvenate party. And then García won whole numbers until he became the chosen option. This was defended by Mercedes Colombo, the formation’s local president in Cádiz, in her presentation of the candidate: “It is the best example of Juanma Moreno’s new way of governing.”
Before Bruno García opens the most open and uncertain scenario of the last municipal elections in Cadiz. The journalist and writer David de la Cruz has already been identified as Kichi’s successor in Adelante Cádiz. The young, articulate and enthusiastic candidate prides himself – for better or for worse – on leading the greenest and most social city from which his party draws. On the center left, Óscar Torres is also confirmed as mayor of the PSOE, current councilor in the opposition and the most predictable of the possible in a party mired in speaker changes and internal crises in its local branch for years. García has made it clear that the struggle has already begun by declaring himself the “most social mayor” possible, a flag particularly raised by the González consistory.
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The most bizarre candidate to appear on the 28 million ballots is former big brother Ismael Beiro. The businessman also runs under the initials of Cadiz, yes, a local formation that, like Andalusia itself, was born under the auspices of an Andalusian-style party. From the interviews he has already given, the candidate assures that he has no preference for any political formation, but defines Pedro Sánchez as “a hacendado brand Napoleon”, Alberto Núñez Feijóo as “honest” and Moreno as “hard worker “. Another local brand will be Ahora Cádiz, led by businessman Eugenio Belgrano, who also defines himself as a stranger to traditional politics, although he is particularly aggressive in his criticism of the Kichi government. Vox, which did not add enough votes to enter the Chamber in the 2019 elections, presents architect Francisco Miguel Martín as a candidate.
With this wickerwork, the candidates will have to fight to reach the 14 councilors that will allow them an absolute majority in the Cadiz City Council. Or get a sufficient number of councilors so they can make government pacts. and