The ordinary October council meeting, put back from Thursday 1 to Monday 5 with the mayor’s casting vote, ended without a single answer from the governing team, which will reply in writing to the barrage of questions from PSOE, PP and Vox.
Manilva Town Hall held its ordinary October council meeting on Monday. It should have taken place last Thursday, 1 October, as set out in the calendar fixed at the start of the term: the first Thursday of every even-numbered month. The change of date was put to a vote as the first item on the agenda and ended in an eight-all tie, which was broken by the casting vote of the mayor, Mario Jiménez. Vox and PSOE criticised the postponement. Antonio Marín (Vox) said he did not understand «what the motivation was» and regretted that the agenda had arrived «practically empty». Alba Jiménez (PSOE) reminded the meeting that opposition councillors «work, we have our jobs» and have to reorganise and request leave every time a council meeting is changed.
«Around the World in 80 Days»
The most talked-about moment of the session came during the questions and requests slot, from Socialist councillor Diego José Jiménez. Jiménez turned to Around the World in 80 Days to refer to the trips taken by members of the government over recent months: «a story in which Willy Fog, Rigodón and Tico go on a journey». He finished by addressing the mayor: «I begin by asking the mayor, and since you are the mayor, you can choose which character you want to be: Willy Fog, Rigodón or Tico».
Jiménez said a media outlet had told him there was no council meeting on Thursday because the mayor «was on a cruise in Norway», and that this information had come «from the Town Hall itself». «Do you trust your coalition partners?», he asked. The Socialist insisted that the mayor «is entitled to take holidays», but that there are six days a year on which he must not, those of the ordinary council meetings: «You disrespect the people when you disrespect the council meeting». He also reproached him for not having used that time to travel to Seville to demand the second secondary school or to the Diputación to recover the fire brigade detachment. «Aren’t you ashamed to turn up here two months later, and two pay cheques collected, with this council meeting?», he snapped, before concluding that «with you the ship is adrift, with no course, no direction».
A post with a 2 when another candidate scored a 5
The Socialist councillor devoted a good part of his speech to the decree on the job stabilisation process, which he described as a «clear example of political cronyism». According to his accusation, «one of your councillors gets a plum job, and her time in politics will mean a job for life». Jiménez explained that the mayor has overturned a decree by his predecessor, José Manuel Fernández, which prevented anyone who had scored a 2 in the exam from passing. He asked what legal mechanism allows a decree to be «overturned» and why the courts were not left to decide. «Don’t you think that passing an exam with a 2 goes against the constitutional principles of equality, merit and ability?», he asked, adding: «And the last straw: giving a post to someone who scored a 2 when another candidate scored a 5».
He also wondered what «the young people with degrees and several master’s» must be thinking, and the families who pay «400 euros for a room in Málaga, in Granada» so their children can study. He asked for the minutes of the selection panel and a copy of the out-of-court agreement which, according to the mayor, has been reached with the candidates. He also asked why municipal payroll costs now exceed a million euros a month, after rising «more than 20% in a few months».
PSOE also pointed at the first deputy mayor, Juan Carlos Morejón, who acted as mayor during the mayor’s holiday. He was asked whether he was the one who leaked the cruise story to the media and was attributed with spending of 1,072,119 euros with objections from the council’s financial controller between 3 August and 14 September. Within that spending he included an invoice for 17,000 euros for the «creation of content for social media» for RTV Manilva and the opening of a TikTok profile which, according to Jiménez, has «six videos and 145 followers». There were also questions for the Public Works councillor, Marcos Ruiz, about the state of the schools and the door of the Tenencia de Alcaldía, and for Agustín Vargas, about the departure from the Commerce department. Jiménez closed by describing the governing team as «the blackout government, specialists in being there but not in doing», and concluded: «The town deserves more, and soon it will tell you to your face».
Fernández (PP): «Governing is not announcing»
Former mayor and Partido Popular councillor José Manuel Fernández opened his turn with a reproach to PSOE: he accused it of bringing to the council meeting complaints that, in his view, «none have been yours, all have been the Partido Popular’s». He then focused his speech on asking the government for dates and figures: «Governing is not announcing. Governing is budgeting, processing, tendering, executing and finishing». He asked what has happened to the underground car park at the Corredor Verde, which, he recalled, had a project for 1,072 spaces in August 2024 and is now being announced with a little over 600: «Why have we lost 17 months?». He asked the same question about the one at Plaza Ginebra. On the 108 protected-price homes announced in Cotorreal, he wanted to know how much municipal money will actually be invested. And he asked for an investment plan for the nearly 9 million euros which, by his calculations, is the sum of the surplus funds, asset sales and income from the water price increase.
He also questioned why the 300 metres of the second phase of the Manilva–Sabinillas path cost more than 1,258,000 euros, more than the 1,060 metres of the first. He asked about the RPT (job positions list), whose announced deadline ended in September, and challenged the mayor to commit before the council meeting to «three major projects» completed before the next elections: «Three. Not twenty. Not studies».
Marín (Vox): from euros per hour to the financial controller’s objections
Antonio Marín (Vox) had already led the first debate of the afternoon. To criticise the postponement, he broke down what municipal office-holders earn per hour: 17.47 euros for the mayor, 16.42 for a deputy mayor and 15.72 for a councillor with a delegated area. He illustrated each figure with a «at the end of the month, chacachá», alluding to what he considered hours spent on «photo shoots». Morejón replied that «none of us here work eight hours. We are available 24 hours».
In the questions and requests slot, Marín presented a long series on cleaning, water supply, the Local Police, beach bars and residential estates, and closed with finances. According to the financial controller’s reports he cited, there are 661,000 euros paid into the municipal accounts «that are not backed by any document»; among them, 97,682 euros from beach bars for which the Treasury says it knows of no legal title. He also pointed to 29 grants from 2024 and 2025 with objections totalling 215,116 euros. And he recalled that the 10,375,000 euros paid in payroll in 2025 carried objections from the financial controller in every item.
No answers until the next council meeting
In the decision-making part, the council meeting elected José García Luque as titular Justice of the Peace of Manilva and María Ángeles Bocanegra Montero as substitute, both for a four-year term. No urgent motions were presented. At the close, the mayor thanked members for their contributions and announced that the government would not answer during the session: «Given the magnitude of the questions and requests, the governing team has decided to answer in writing before the next ordinary council meeting». He asked the groups to submit their questions in writing to the Secretary’s Office, «because it has been a lot of information in very little time», and with that he closed the session.
