One minute exceeded the stipulated time, when Francisco de la Torre walked the few meters that separated him from the Plenary Hall. In front of him, a wall of photographers and television cameras; and to your right, the wall on which hang the portraits of all the mayors of Malaga. In it there is a hole that seems reserved for her figure. Together with the last socialist councilor of the city, Pedro Aparicio (1979-1995), and under his replacement in office, Celia Villalobos (1995-2000). A painting that, at least, will have to wait another four years to be painted. Because the veteran leader of the PP, twenty-three years in charge of the city's management, a key figure in its transformation, began his seventh and “probable” last term this Saturday. A 'ultimate ball' that starts with rocanrol because this week it will be unveiled if the capital of Malaga will host Expo 2027.
This designation would mean the satisfaction of a desire of the record mayor of the PP. Malaga “is in a successful present,” said the councilor in his investiture speech, in which he avoided falling into complacency and stated that they will work to make it “one of the most attractive centers in the country, in an area whose economic dynamism will generate quality employment”.
“We have hatched and now we are heading towards an even more promising future” which the government team thinks involves continuing to promote the international projection of the city. Expo 2027, which is aspired to with a sustainability project in the urban era, is key to this strategy. And next Wednesday the organization of an event that Bloomington, Bariloche, Belgrade and Phuket will also aspire to will be decided in Paris. The choice of the Spanish candidacy would not only be a transforming factor for Malaga, but also the farewell dreamed of by the councilor to his long political career.
But, although expectations are high, it would not be the first time that the city has been disappointed in its desire to project itself through a great event. Attempts to achieve the European Cultural Capital, the European Medicines Agency or the Sailing America's Cup failed, so Francisco de la Torre protected himself from a possible new setback and compromised the development of the projects announced in education, public housing, entrepreneurship and innovation.
“With Expo or without it, the Malaga brand already transcends Andalusia and Spain, sounds at a European level and has global repercussions. In the coming years, this importance will be even more intense”, insisted the mayor, who stressed that the city “is experiencing the beginning of a new stage that will be splendid”.
De la Torre drew a city far from the problems that the opposition leaders exposed, highlighting the achievements that “would have seemed absolutely impossible to us 25 years ago and glossing the initiatives of a program “without coups, decoys or shortcuts”, for a term in which he announced that he will continue to claim the “pending financing” and “compensation for the loss of capital gains”. “Whoever governs governs,” he said.
The mayor, in a corporation with a presence of ideological extremes, wanted to lay the foundations for relations between acronyms and encouraged disagreement, “but as rivals, not as enemies”. “Let's set an example for our constituents, who have put us here to work for them, not so that we can throw more wood on the bonfire of polarization,” he told the councilors of the PSOE, Con Málaga and Vox and after appealing to the spirit of the Transition quoting some words from the columnist of El Confidencial Ignacio Varela: “Its meaning will increase with the passing of the decades because its dimension is extraordinary. It was the Spanish peace treaty”.
The spokespersons of the different formations, as a general rule, seemed to sense the desire of the councilor and developed institutional discourses. Although the reproaches and warnings were not lacking. Toni Morillas, from Con Málaga, who was asked by the municipal secretary on several occasions during the oath if she complied with the Constitution, challenged the two Vox councilors with her eyes on several occasions when she said that they would fight against “hate politics”; while the candidate of the green formation, Antonio Alcázar, responded that “many have tried to label us and stigmatize us to exclude us from the political spectrum, but now we are in the institutions”. The socialist leader Daniel Pérez, about whom there were great expectations in the regional and national executives of his party, and who was one of the great disappointments in the past municipal elections, rescued the campaign 'claim' about the supposed “housing drama” that lives in the city and asked the mayor “not to fall into the temptation of trying to use the 49% of the votes he has had to govern against the other half of the citizens of Malaga who have not voted for him”.
Elisa Pérez de Siles, popular spokesperson, and person who has gained more weight within the government team compared to the previous term, was in charge of answering the reproaches. With good manners, and even a smile, he asked the opposition if they wanted Ada Colau's model for Malaga and censured his “apocalyptic image” of the city. And he allowed himself to challenge the left to work as Francisco de la Torre does: “Do you want to beat him? Well, they have to earn it by working. I challenge them to do it and I wish them luck.”.