It is a classic that, after the municipal elections, a few days after the town councils were constituted and the mayors elected, there is talk of the fee of these and those councilors who accompany him in government groups. The law of the jungle ended a long time ago, when a maximum cap was placed on the salaries of the councilors and the number of advisers (trusted staff), depending on the number of inhabitants of each municipality, with sections that in Tenerife go from less than 5,000 inhabitants to those that exceed 100,000, being the Councilor of La Laguna (77,500 euros) the one who earns the most of all, while the young lawyer Luis Javier Gonzalezin Fasnia, with 75% partial dedication, is the one that charges the least on the island, with €29,000 gross per year
González’s example is almost unique in Tenerife and specifically in the twelve municipalities of the southern region, from Candelaria to Santiago del Teide. None of the other mayors or mayors lower than 42,000 euros per year (Agustina Beltrán) in Vilaflor, the least populated town on the island. It is true that there are also cases that do not cost a euro to his council, as is the case of Juan Ramón Martín, in Arafo, who this year will be able to collect from the Ministry of Education by having a permanent position as a high school teacher, as in his José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga did it that day, the eternal mayor of Adeje -he is going for 40 years- who has already been retired for several terms and has no salary assigned in his municipality, although he will receive 700 euros for each government meeting.
Only two councilors will not charge from the consistory: Fraga, in his tenth term in Adeje, and Juan Ramón Martín, in Arafo
Reviewing the remunerations approved in the first plenary session of the new local corporations -although some, such as Guía de Isora, will do so this Tuesday- in the town halls of the south of Tenerife we find examples of all kinds, but mostly the containment of salaries is imposed, even some significantly, such as Granadilla and Arona, despite the large population increase, compared to those that have decided to rise above the CPI, such as the cases of Güímar (+27%), San Miguel de Abona (15%) or Candelaria (7%, if we count only the reference with the current year and not with 2019).
The most notorious increase and the one that has drawn the most ink in the press, even at the national level, has been that of Güímar, with the linear increase of 10,000 euros gross per year for the mayor Gustavo Pérez and eight of his councilors, including two who will be Partial dedication of 75%, Airam Puerta and Juan Delgado, who will earn 46,500 euros per year, thanks to an additional supplement of 830 euros to match the rest of their fellow deputy mayors, such as Nayra Caraballero, who in the plenary session where the salaries were approved , had no qualms about acknowledging that “approving these salaries is a contradiction, because Unidas Sí Podemos was betting on 2.5 times the SMI and the rest of the Government on three times that amount”, lamenting that “we are a minority in the government pact and In some things we have to give in”, he explained himself in that way. Caraballero will donate the amount that exceeds 2.5 of the Minimum Interprofessional Salary, to charitable associations of the municipality, “not to my party, as some have wanted to imply.”
The biggest increase occurs in Güímar (+27%), with an additional 10,000 euros per year for the mayor and eight councilors
The municipal spokesperson of the PP in Güímar, Carmen Luisa Castro, dismisses as “unjustified and immoral” the increase in spending on salaries by the municipal government and its trusted personnel, and for which the Güímarera population will have to pay their taxes to the least half a million euros more in the next 4 years. The mayor will earn 58,080 gross euros and the rest of the councilors between 46,000 and 46,500 gross euros per year.
Luisi Castro did not question the legality of raising his salary, but he did disapprove that he did not have a minimum motivation or justification in the file, beyond the mere “effrontery” of the new tripartite government to take advantage of the fact that, when Güímar passed 20,000 inhabitants (it has 21,200 ), now the wage limit allowed by law is higher. “Not everything that is legal is moral,” emphasizes the former mayor of the PP. In contrast to this “wide hand” of the CC, PSOE and USP to raise their salaries, the PP complained in the plenary session about the “ridiculous” economic allocations to the opposition: 40 euros per plenary session (about 7 euros more than in the past mandate) and 17 euros per board of spokespersons (same amount as before), amounts much lower than those of other town halls, but which the tripartite government refused to increase, although it did do so with 200 euros for the government boards, so that so they can collect the two councilors not released, Javier Eloy Campos and Blanca Alicia Lorenzo.
In Candelaria there was also an increase, but more moderate, around 7%, although it reaches up to 14% if we have the beginning of the 2019 term as a reference. Mari Brito goes from charging 57,000 euros to 62,000, surprising that the Councilor for Social Services Olivia Pérez collects 60,000 euros, much more than the rest of her nine government colleagues -Reinaldo Triviño is not released-, and all because she insists that that salary would be what would correspond to her as a nurse for more than 30 years. Mari Brito, a mathematician herself, does not hesitate to satisfy her demand, because she knows that she is a mainstay in her management.
And significant, even more than in Candelaria, what was approved in San Miguel de Abona, a municipality that is opening -like Güímar- in the section that exceeds 20,001 inhabitants. For this reason and because they had been frozen for four years, Arturo González increases his salary by 15%, while the councilors will charge 12% more. Of course, in San Miguel only three positions of the seven that are entitled to trusted personnel will be occupied.
Containment
In the rest of the municipalities, the containment of wages has been the predominant note. Yesterday, in Santiago del Teide, the delegations and remunerations were approved. Mayor Emilio Navarro, who won again by an absolute majority, will once again earn 58,000 euros during this term, the maximum allowed for a municipality between 10,000 and 20,001 inhabitants, although it is very likely that the consistory will save that salary if Navarro is elected. next July 23 senator for the island of Tenerife, representing the PP. The first three deputy mayors will receive 43,000 euros and the rest released, 34,000 euros gross per year in 14 installments.
Nor will there be any changes in Guía de Isora, despite the political turnaround, with the CC-PP pact ousting the PSOE after 28 years. Ana Dorta (CC) will charge the same as the former mayor Josefa Mesa, almost the maximum allowed for a council with more than 20,000 inhabitants, 62,222 euros per year. The first deputy mayor, the popular Carlos Álvarez will receive 56,668.71 euros. These salaries will have to be approved in plenary session on Tuesday.
There are three municipalities where it is surprising that their mayors have decided to maintain salaries and even, in the case of Arico, even lower it. In Arona, the most populous municipality in the south – it is close to 100,000, although the INE still collects it – the young mayor Fátima Lemes (PP) will charge exactly the same as her predecessor, the socialist José Julián Mena, 70,000 euros, while His two partners in the agreement, Clari Pérez (CC) and Dácil León (Más por Arona), will receive 60,000 gross euros per year. The rest of councilors with exclusive dedication will have a salary of 55,000 and 45,000 euros. The amount of the Government group does not exceed 750,000 euros per year, waiting to add the high number of ‘advisors’.
Where the containment of spending is pleasantly surprising, especially in the case of a pact that had to overcome many trips (PSOE-PP), is in Granadilla de Abona, where the young socialist lawyer Jennifer Miranda will only earn 54,642 euros per year, the same amount as her predecessor, José Domingo Regalado (CC). And it is surprising because Granadilla, with about 60,000 inhabitants, has gone from 21 to 25 councilors and those salaries are surpassed by councilors from municipalities that have triple or double less than that population.
Similarly, it is noteworthy that in Arico, the socialist mayor Olivia Delgado has earned a salary of 42,000 euros per year, almost half of what she earned as a senator for Tenerife, the same as her first deputy mayor and her entire minority government. -for now- it only costs the municipal coffers 150,000 euros, when the previous one exceeded 206,000 euros. These remunerations will have to be approved in plenary session on Tuesday, and the PSOE does not have a majority, although given the figures it is normal for them to go ahead, with the support of the PP and/or Arico Somos Todos.
