Cracks emerging within the Coalition Canaria of Guía de Isora are undermining the municipal Government just one year after the nationalists, who obtained seven councillors in the municipal elections of last May, reached an agreement with the PP (four councillors) and ended 28 consecutive years of socialist leadership. Everything unravelled last Wednesday when David Reyes left the Isora municipal government in the minority.
The CC councillor formally informed the City Council of his transition to a non-attached councillor status. The number two of the nationalist Isora candidacy led by Ana Dorta, who eventually became mayor thanks to the CC-PP pact, is not only the second deputy mayor but also the councillor for Municipal Services, Health, Concessionaire Companies, Services, Works, Transport, and Human Resources. And he remains in these roles because his departure from the government team had not been formalised until yesterday.
Ana Dorta’s cabinet enters a complex phase but despite its fragility, at least for now it will be able to maintain the leadership. It goes from having 11 to 10 councillors, exactly the same number as the PSOE, but the Socialists cannot table a vote of no confidence. They would need the support of David Reyes and one more councillor to be able to carry it out. And for now, it seems impossible for any CC or PP councillor to make that move. There are no other parties represented in the City Council of Guía de Isora besides the nationalists, populares, and socialists. There are no pieces for a checkmate.
Ana Dorta. / El Día
Ana Dorta remains silent following David Reyes’ sudden departure which caught her government’s partner in Isora, the PP, off guard. The leader of the Tenerife nationalists, Francisco Linares, who is also the mayor of La Orotava, did speak out. Linares acknowledged that David Reyes’ exit was due to irreconcilable differences with Ana Dorta. “We are doing everything possible, in coordination with the mayor, to ensure stability in Guía de Isora,” stated the General Secretary of Coalition Canaria in Tenerife.
Now that the Popular Party has confirmed its commitment to the pact with CC – preferring to stay out of the internal rifts within its partner despite the fact that they affect the stability of the municipal government – and any possibility of David Reyes reconsidering and reversing his decision is ruled out, a long road lies ahead that will always depend on what David Reyes himself as an unattached councillor, meaning without a party, does. If Reyes continues to support the CC-PP Government, despite his departure, the casting vote of Ana Dorta as mayor will allow the Isora government team to push through the measures brought to the plenary session. But if Reyes rebels and votes against, the Isora Government will face a serious problem: it will not be able to advance its initiatives. A de facto blockade.
David Reyes. / El Día
Francisco Linares hopes that David Reyes will be “consistent” and “maintain the seriousness and loyalty that he and his family have shown to Coalition Canaria and to Guía de Isora over so many years.” It is worth noting that Pedro Reyes, David’s father, was the mayor of Guía de Isora representing the Tenerife Independent Group (ATI), the foundation from which Coalition Canaria emerged, between 1989 and 1995. Before that, he was mayor under the Union of Democratic Centre (UCD, 1979-1983) and People’s Coalition (1983-1987). It was just after his last term that a succession of Socialist mayors began (Pedro Martín, between 1995 and 2019, and Josefa Mesa, between 2019 and 2023) which narrowly the nationalists and populares ended last May.
With the municipality immersed in the Chío festivities yesterday, the mayor is already working to address the situation. While she has initiated the procedures to remove David Reyes from his positions, she is considering how to restructure her government team, mainly the areas under her party’s control. Ana Dorta herself, in addition to being mayor, oversees Security and Civil Protection; Ana Victoria Pérez handles Education and Civic Participation; Eulalia María Vargas, Urban Planning and Environment; Oliver Afonso, Sports; and Carmen González, Welfare, Employment, Internal Regime and Institutional Relations. In addition, Guillermo Guzmán is in charge of Economy, Finance, and Heritage, although he is currently on leave due to personal reasons.
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The PSOE is keeping an eye on the situation, aware that despite the crisis, the circumstances are not yet right to bring forward a motion of no confidence that could return power in Guía de Isora… for now. In a statement sent last weekend, the Socialists stated that Reyes’ departure was expected: “What we were hearing is now out in the open.” They speak of “constant confrontations of the mayor with several of her councillors and, above all, Ana Dorta’s obvious lack of leadership to guide her Government group and also the municipality of Guía de Isora.” “Respect is not earned by shouting or imposing one’s views, without listening to colleagues,” concludes the PSOE regarding Ana Dorta.
