He was on the ropes, about to fall less than a year ago. In his party, the PSOE, they moved heaven and earth to expel him, and in the Arona City Council, half of his government and the rest of the municipal groups sharpened their knives to remove him from the Mayor’s Office via a motion of censure. He had everything against him, practically lost and nobody gave a penny for him as head of the municipality with the largest population in the south of Tenerife.
But José Julián Mena (43 years old) has not only survived the siege, activated as a result of the dismissal of Luis García as mayor of Urbanism in June 2020, but is now contemplating how the planets begin to align in his favor. His political revival coincides with a kind of curse that spreads among all his political opponents.
After sheltering in Justice against the offensive launched by his own political formation by land (insular direction), sea (regional) and air (federal), Mena won the battle in court (first with precautionary measures and then estimating the judge fully his demand), avoiding his expulsion and thus deactivating the motion of censure that sought to blow up his mandate after achieving an absolute majority in 2019 that barely lasted a year, when the government group split into two halves, divided between the councilors in favor of the mayor and councilors favorable to Luis García.
Canarian Coalition
One of his main political opponents, CC, who governed the municipality with an absolute majority until 2015, is going through a delicate moment. In the last two months, two of the four councilors that the municipal group has resigned. Dácil García and Eduardo Santos presented their resignation to the act of councilor at the City Hall entry register on January 28 and February 25, respectively. The latter after not voting in the same sense as that of the substitute spokesperson, Yaiza Arteaga, in the last plenary session.
His casualties join that of the head of the list and current secretary general in Arona, Antonio García Marichal, who left the City Council after the elections. CC faces the electoral appointment of 2023 in full restructuring in a decisive political square that, in addition, can be key for the Cabildo.
In the Popular Party it is taken for granted that Águeda Fumero, candidate for Mayor in several electoral calls, will not lead the plate this time. It’s time to move the bench and Emilio Navarro, new president of the Tenerife PP, in favor of a replacement, has been in those. The decision is made, although the designated person will face the challenge knowing that time is upon him. The national situation of the party does not help either, after the earthquake that has shaken Genoa and that has led to an extraordinary congress in April to elect the new leadership.
In free fall Ciudadanos throughout the country -in Arona it obtained an act three years ago-, with Sí Podemos Arona, which has shown signs of divisions between its only mayor and the party leadership, and CxA (two mayors) with one more brand weakened than in the last two elections, the future of the socialist mayors critical of Mena remains to be seen, some of whom are still in government.
Socialist Party
With this panorama, and the polls on the table, sectors of the regional and insular direction of the PSOE are in favor of rebuilding bridges and rescuing soldier Mena in 2023.
But the operation does not end up taking shape due to the reluctance of a sector “with power” in the party, assure the sources consulted by this newspaper. Be that as it may, the mayor of Arona faces an electoral horizon that he did not imagine months ago. He is clear that he will present himself “yes or yes” in the next elections and he does not tire of repeating to his circle of trust that he trusts to do so under the acronym of the only party in which he has militated so far.
