- Title: SPAIN-MADRID/MAYOR Spanish leftist mayor ends 24 years of PP rule in Madrid
- Date: 12th June 2015
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR SHOP OWNED BY CARMENA VARIOUS OF CHILDREN'S CLOTHES MADE BY EX-CONVICTS MOBILE OF CLOUDS
- Embargoed: 27th June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA97FTJWFD1096DYUFR72X71NDQ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A left-wing former judge, backed by anti-austerity party Podemos, was named mayor of Spain's capital on Friday (June 12), ending 24 years of centre-right People's Party (PP) rule in Madrid and delivering a setback to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
The PP's loss of the symbolic seat of power in the country's capital comes after its rout in municipal and local elections last month, a reflection of Spaniards' anger at spending cuts and corruption scandals before November's general election.
Manuela Carmena, 71, cut a deal with the opposition Socialists to form a coalition administration. Her electoral campaign centred on blocking the privatisation of public services and preventing household evictions.
Although the PP candidate, party veteran Esperanza Aguirre, won most votes and seats in the May 24 city council election she was not able to secure the 29-seat absolute majority needed to take office.
"This agreement has a clear goal which is to approve my investiture so that there can be real change in the way politics is done and in the policies we will carry out. We have a certain excitement over the fact that, after 25 years of the People's Party rule at City Hall, we are before that possibility of change which the majority of people in Madrid have supported," Carmena said at a joint news conference of Friday with Antonio Carmona, the Socialist mayoral candidate for Madrid.
Although representative of the change in the Spanish political landscape after more than 40 years dominated by the two main parties, Carmena says she is not affiliated to any political party and that Ahora Madrid is made up of different groups, parties and independent members, like herself, not just members of Podemos.
"I am tired of insisting and explaining that this is a citizens' group, that it's a very interesting citizens' group because there are people from different groups, some from Podemos," she said. "What is really interesting and new about this group is that, people, regardless of their party or group or whether they are independent, like I am, nobody is representing something but representing themselves."
Carmena's alliance of community activists, Ahora Madrid ('Madrid Now') is mirrored by a similar left-wing coalition in Barcelona, which is led by anti-eviction campaigner Ada Colau, who was elected mayor of Spain's second-biggest city on May 24.
The appointment of the two women reflects a broader trend of splintering political allegiances in Spain. After six years of economic crisis and a series of corruption scandals, voters are abandoning the PP and opposition Socialists for new parties.
For Carmena the gains made by Ahora Madrid and Colau's Barcelona en Comu are a sign that voters want politics to be done differently.
"We think it's very important and moreover very telling of this new way of doing politics - of looking for fraternity, of looking to be on the same wavelength- in these two great Spanish cities," she said. "We want to break the trend of confrontation. If we find a city hall that takes similar or parallel steps, although each candidate may be particular, naturally we are looking for alternatives for participation and collaboration."
Retired from the legal profession since 2010, Carmena had set up a shop selling baby clothes sewn by ex-convicts. She turned down initial approaches from Podemos ("We Can") leader Pablo Iglesias to lead the campaign for Ahora Madrid, then relented in March. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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