Amidst the impact of national politics, local politics continue to exist, and in some cases, progress slowly after surprising turns, such as the one last Tuesday with the shift in the government of La Guancha, a municipality in the north of Tenerife with about 5,600 residents. The new and keen mayor, Alejandro Herrera (CC), has already decided the distribution of areas with his five nationalist colleagues in the council and has preferred to govern in the minority until 2027, while seeking stability through occasional support that he may negotiate and gather from María Auxiliadora Marrero, the PP councillor who broke party voting discipline in the historic meeting to replace the resigned Antonio Hernández, who had governed the municipality since 2015 thanks to the PSOE’s support.
According to Herrera himself, who confirmed this morning to Canarias Ahora, at no time has he considered including Marrero in his government, and although he hopes to achieve reasonable stability in the remaining two years of the term, he does not even rule out seeking support from other parties, especially from the only PSOE councillor, María José García, who now finds herself in opposition after being the first deputy mayor and with the smallest, almost skeletal representation of the socialist group in this democratic period. Moreover, even for structural or key issues, the new CC government trusts to achieve unanimity or the backing of the PP, given they share management in administrations like the regional government or the Tenerife Council, where the now-former mayor Hernández was not entirely well-regarded, even by his own party members.
Thus, this Friday morning, the new government of La Guancha announced the distribution of council posts in this second phase of the current term, with four councillors holding deputy mayoralties and general delegations by departments, in addition to those assumed by Herrera and a councillor with a special area delegation. The mayor oversees Human Resources, Press and Communication, Protocol, Civil Protection and Emergency Security, Traffic and Road Safety, Planning and Administrative Relations. Meanwhile, Alejandro Hernández becomes the first deputy mayor and will manage Economy and Finance, Contracts, Culture and Cultural Promotion, Festivals, Citizen Participation, Internal Regime, Handicrafts, besides coordinating the administrative areas and the councils.
The competences of Public Works and Urban Planning, Municipal Services, Housing, Sports and Sports Facilities will be managed by Diego González Herrera, while Elena Hernández Gil will serve as the third deputy mayor and will be in charge of the delegation in the areas of Social Welfare, Seniors, Minors and Family, Youth, Education, Employment and Local Development, Equality and Gender Violence Policies, Diversity and LGBTIQA+, Commerce and Consumption.
Meanwhile, Vanesa Delgado becomes the fourth deputy mayor and will be the councillor for Environment, Health, Animal Welfare, Primary Sector, Heritage, Telecommunications and New Technologies, Tourism and Municipal Warehouse. The CC government of Guanche, which regains power ten years later, is completed by Jésica González with the councillorships of Housing, Cemeteries, Citizen Participation, Youth, Library and Toy Library, Sports and Sports Facilities and Animal Welfare.
“I don’t want to remain in the position forever”
The new mayor stated last Tuesday to this newspaper that he is not considering this new phase of leadership in his municipality to perpetuate himself in power and, in fact, at most he will stand for the next elections and serve another term. Prior to the turn last Tuesday, which may have surprised many outsiders but not so many within the municipality after the mayor removed Marrero’s responsibilities at the end of February, the option that Herrera might not be CC’s candidate in 2027 because he preferred to focus on his profession as a nurse gained momentum, an option the new mayor hinted at in his speech and confirmed to Canarias Ahora, though everything changed that Tuesday, 10th June 2025, a date he will never forget.
