Only in eight of the 15 municipalities in the North was a majority achieved on Sunday that would allow them to govern with relative calm for the next four years; In the rest, all the political formations are obliged to reach an understanding in order to form a government before June 17, the date on which the new corporations will be constituted, a not easy task, due to the multiple possibilities that the fragmentation of the vote has left. For this reason, since yesterday they began to move the tab.
In this sense, one of the local corporations in which it will not be easy is Tacoronte, where there was a technical draw between PSOE (majority party in terms of number of votes) and CC, both with five councillors. But the Plenary will also be made up of four from Nueva Canarias (NC), the party of the current mayor, José Daniel Díaz; another three from the PP; two from Somos Tacoronte, led by non-attached Carlos Medina and Sandra Ramos (expelled from the PSOE); one from Sí se puede, and one from Cs. It is clear that the only possible formula to govern two is to reissue the pact that existed in the 2011-2015 mandate between CC and PSOE. The rest of the possibilities that open point again to a tripartite.
When asked about their preferences and red lines, they all stress the same thing: working so that Tacoronte grows. The approach is not to distribute departments, but projects and that these have deadlines to be met. Sandra Izquierdo, winner of the elections, is open to speaking with all the parties and yesterday she herself began to work to try the best possible government. However, she does not hide that it would be complex with Somos Tacoronte, especially since there is an open legal process with the two elected councilors that has not yet been resolved.
Carlos Medina, for his part, does not rule it out. Of course, it makes it clear that the context and conditions are not the same with all the parties, “because a situation similar to the past could occur with NC, which did not comply with the agreement”, which was a shared Mayor’s Office with the PSOE. The other town in which an agreement seems difficult is Icod de los Vinos. Alternativa Icodense (AI) has obtained eight councilors, followed by CC with seven, four from the PP and two from the PSOE. If it is about giving the city a change of course, the most logical agreement would be between AI and PP. Although more complex due to the divergences between their candidates, it is not ruled out that CC and PP agree again and, why not, AI with the PSOE and the independent councilor of CC.
“We are in a position to open channels of dialogue with all political options. The people have given us the opportunity to steer the course of the municipality and we want to do it by agreeing with the rest of the parties on the type of government that has to be formed as of June”, declares the SI candidate, Javier Sierra. He promises that his party “will establish the lines of collaboration that are necessary and the best formula will be determined based on the best project for Icod and its neighbors.”
Coromoto Yanes (former CC), who has presented himself as an independent on the PP list and has managed to quadruple the results of 2019, pronounces himself along the same lines. “Now we have to look for the best for the municipality and I am not focused on one party determined, but in the best programmatic agreement. The PP has the responsibility of guaranteeing governability and that is what we are going to do, understanding that the people come first,” he said.
In the neighboring municipality of Garachico, the alternatives are not so broad as there are three parties: CC, which loses the absolute majority and is left with five councilors; A’Gara, with four, and the PSOE, with two. In addition, the nationalist candidate and current mayor, José Heriberto González, has made it clear that he “is only going to call the PSOE to try to talk and discard the other party due to the level of disqualifications received.”
In San Juan de la Rambla it will also be complex. The most natural pact is to reissue the current one, between PSOE (four) and AIS-CC (three) and this is how the mayor and head of the socialist list, Ezequiel Domínguez, sees it, although he is open to dialogue with all political forces. There are also other alternatives, since this mandate is also part of the local political game AUP-Sí se puede (two), NC-FAC (one) and PP (one).
In La Guancha, the socialist representative will be the key to the Government as there is a technical tie between PP (five) and CC (five), while in Los Silos CC (three) and PP (two) it will be difficult for them to govern together again. Everything indicates that the PSOE (four) will do it with Unidos se puede (two), which gets municipal representation.
In Puerto de la Cruz, Marco González (PSOE) has fallen just 11 votes short of an absolute majority to continue facing a city model that he has opted for since the beginning of his term. Despite the fact that he is willing to govern in a minority, he said, “I will open that door to dialogue, talks and negotiation with who has been my partner in government for these four years, the Asamblea Ciudadana Portuense.”
