PP sacrifices Ángel Nozal to save pact with Ciudadanos in Mijas
Ángel Nozal has been the pawn sacrificed by the provincial heads of the Partido Popular in the party’s attempts to save the coalition running Mijas town hall.
Last week the Ciudadanos mayor, Juan Carlos Maldonado, told the party that either Nozal, and fellow councillor Lourdes Burgos, leave his government or he would break the pact. The ultimatum came after elleged irregularities were revealed in the accounts of municipal firms during the time when Nozal was mayor of Mijas.
After a week of crisis talks between Maldonado and the provincial heads of the PP, it was announced on Monday that Nozal would give up his post as deputy mayor running several town hall departments, although he will retain his council seat.
“The president of the PP in Mijas [Nozal] has stepped to one side to guarantee a stable government,” said the PP in a statement.
In exchange for stepping down, Nozal has been given a new job within the Mancomunidad de Municipios, authority comprising several municipalities on the Western Costa del Sol. He will become the fifth vice-president and take over the coordination of the water company Acosol, a job that was held by former mayor of Marbella Ángeles Muñoz before she moved to the Senado in Madrid.
Nozal’s departments will be shared among five of the ten remaining PP councillors in Mijas. Despite being included in the mayor’s initial demands, Lourdes Burgos will still remain in the local government. Her workload will even increase, taking over Nozal’s Beaches department on top of her responsibilities for parks and gardens, nurseries, residential developments and communication.source surinenglish