Last week’s motion of censure in Granadilla de Abona has reinstated José Domingo Regalado (CC) as Mayor, facilitated by an alliance with Vox and a council member from the PP. This development has excluded the PSOE from governance in one of Tenerife’s most desirable municipalities, which has seen the most significant population growth in the Canary Islands in recent years and boasts vital economic infrastructure, including an airport, a vast industrial estate, and a port. It also highlights a noticeable shift: the red hue that dominated the municipal landscape of the south following the electoral appointments nearly two years ago has been diluted through these alliances and the censure in Granadilla.
In the 2023 local elections, the PSOE secured victory in eight out of twelve municipalities within the Southern Region—half of which were won by an absolute majority (Adeje, Candelaria, Vilaflor de Chasna, and Fasnia). Meanwhile, the Canarian Coalition attained the most votes in San Miguel and Arafo (with no prospects for alternative agreements), and the Popular Party triumphed in Santiago del Teide with an absolute majority.
PROFITABILITY
Now, nearing the midway point of the municipal terms, CC and PP have formed a comprehensive alliance that originated in the Canary Islands government and has extended into the Cabildo de Tenerife and the City of Santa Cruz, thereby enhancing their influence in numerous councils across the southern region. Curiously, this collaboration includes an unexpected partner, as the nationalist leaders had previously dismissed any potential alliance with the far-right party, both actively and passively.
Consequently, among the five municipalities in the south without absolute majorities—where the PSOE emerged as the leading party in four— the socialists have only succeeded in retaining Arico, the most populous municipality in the south and the third largest on Tenerife, alongside its significant tourist impact.
Beyond the leadership of these councils, the benefits of alliances between nationalists, conservatives, and far-right factions are even more pronounced in the count of shared local governments: CC participates in six (San Miguel de Abona, Arafo, Güímar, Arona, Granadilla de Abona, and Guía de Isora); the PP is involved in five (Santiago del Teide, Arona, Granadilla, Arico, and Guía de Isora), while Vox holds influence in two (Arona and Granadilla de Abona).
Shifts in Arona and Granadilla
Recent months have witnessed two political upheavals in the southern region: the decision by Arona’s mayor, Fatima Lemes (PP), to oust four council members from the government to accommodate Vox, effectively changing the local executive (PP, CC, and Vox) to one with an absolute majority. Additionally, the political transition in Granadilla de Abona, where two far-right representatives and one popular councillor, Marco Antonio Rodríguez (who in 2023 forged an agreement with socialist Jennifer Miranda, only to relegate her to opposition 22 months later), has led to a dramatic political shift during an extraordinary plenary session held last Wednesday.
A third municipality in the south, Guía de Isora, is also precariously balanced regarding majority control, with a tenuous CC-PP government coalition emerging after David Reyes’s departure from the local administration, as well as from the nationalist group due to ‘disagreements’ with Mayor Ana Dortha (CC). His new status as an independent councillor creates a technical tie in the council: 10 seats for the governing coalition (CC and PP) and 10 for the PSOE, in addition to Reyes’s seat.
Regaining Influence
As they await the leadership transition in Arico, as per the agreement forged in 2023 by Olivia Delgado (PSOE) and Andrés Martínez (PP), and with potential adjustments anticipated in Güímar (where CC, PSOE, and USP formed a coalition), the Socialist Party, a dominant force in the south for several decades, is poised to enter the second half of the municipal terms in a position requiring significant reassessment. This will compel public representatives, party officials, and organisational leaders to undergo a thorough re-evaluation aimed at reclaiming their lost local authority in a region deemed ‘a priority and strategic’—as sources within this political entity describe—’for Tenerife and the Canary Islands.’
