Jennifer Miranda (PSOE) describes a “pawn” of Clavijo and associates the change in administration with the interest in local land.
Granadilla (Tenerife), 26 (Europa Press)
On Wednesday, José Domingo Regalado (CC) regained the Mayor’s Office of Granadilla by successfully passing the motion of no confidence against the socialist Jennifer Miranda, with the backing of two Vox councillors and the PP’s mayor, Marco Antonio Rodríguez.
This agreement also results in two CC councillors relinquishing their positions to satisfy the demands of the popular party, making Granadilla the third municipality in the Canary Islands, along with Arona and Teguise, where all three factions have entered into a government accord.
Regalado embarks on his third term leading the council after a tense meeting during which he condemned the “uncouth” behaviour of the Socialists for interrupting the debate once they had appointed him mayor to take photographs with Miranda and for not handing over their authority.
Lacking support from the main figures within her party, Miranda was accompanied by Insular General Secretary Tamara Raya and the president of the Socialist Group, Pedro Martín, among others. She emphasised that no confidence is a “democratic tool” and a “legitimate act”, asserting that the socialists “must yield” when they lose support.
She recalled how Pedro Martín once held the Cabildo presidency by ousting Carlos Alonso (CC), and even Pedro Sánchez in 2018. Miranda reproached Regalado for having “lost the mayoralty”, pointing out that the majority of the council is “centre-right”.
“You are the reason for this downfall,” he said, while proposing a future characterised by “dialogue over discord” and “focusing on what matters to the citizens.”
Miranda remarked that the motion of no confidence had been “planned and orchestrated since the government presidency”, highlighting her belief that it was initiated by “Fernando Clavijo himself using a pawn” and backed by Vox. “Today, the masks fall; CC shows their true colours,” she stated.
She indicated that the objective in Granadilla is to “add another piece to their power chessboard” and labelled the situation as being “an executor of external orders.”
She has reiterated that “Granadilla is not for sale, and the town will not be traded for favours”, citing her group’s opposition to the OA engine circuit and the construction of the Hotel de la Tejita. “Some view our land as a business opportunity,” she remarked.
Miranda expressed her appreciation for the loyalty of Bianca Cerdán, the council member from PP who did not support the motion, and defended the “hope” her government had generated following the “decline” of the previous seven-year mandate.
Marco Antonio Rodríguez: A “very tough” decision
Marco Antonio Rodríguez (PP) admitted to feeling “exhausted” from waiting on the mayor’s promises and stated he could not be “complicit” in an administration that had not provided him with the necessary resources.
He reprimanded the socialists for forgetting that they were “partners” and not merely “subordinates,” noting that time will reveal whether the no-confidence motion proves successful or otherwise. “It is the hardest step I have ever had to take in my life,” he explained.
José Sanabria, spokesperson for Vox, condemned the “aggressive campaign of slander and intimidation” by the PSOE in recent days aimed at discrediting the motion, using terms like “Nazis and fascists” in an effort to scare the populace.
He questioned the “inactivity” of the Miranda administration and insisted that the “popular mandate” is centre-right, with up to 14 councillors—three of whom supported the no-confidence motion—and pledged to concentrate “on what is important”: enhancing public services and the well-being of citizens.
