José Luis Sanz, mayor-elect of Seville: "The wave against Sánchez is not only about Bildu, it is about punishing Seville without investments to give them to Catalonia"

Few PP politicians can carry on their personal service sheet having snatched from the PSOE not one, but two mayoralties. In 2007 he won the socialist Antonia Hierro by 102 votes and took over the government of Tomares. And in 2023 he did the same with Antonio Muñoz, after a hard-fought campaign for control of the Seville City Council. The Andalusian capital was one of the strategic squares of the 28M and has ended up being a symbol of the resounding loss of territorial power of the PSOE. José Luis Sanz (Seville, 1968) grew up politically under the influence of Javier Arenas and was about to be appointed in 2014 to lead the Andalusian PP, but Mariano Rajoy chose Juanma Moreno at the last minute. He was a candidate for mayor of the Andalusian capital by decision of Pablo Casado, although Moreno endorsed the election thus avoiding a confrontation with the PP of Seville. The arrival of Feijóo in Genoa and, above all, the electoral successes have ended up healing the wounds. That's what they say at least.

What has had the most influence on your electoral triumph, your project for Seville or the campaign against the sanchismo of the PP? Well, a bit of a mixture of everything. Despite the sentiment that exists against Pedro Sánchez, there are socialist mayors who have resisted very well. The wave against Pedro Sánchez has had an influence, as has the Juanma Moreno effect and, without a doubt, the work we have done for 600 days, which has highlighted the deficits that the city has but has also excited many Sevillians with the change, to that this city is beginning to function in a different way. And have you felt comfortable in this campaign that is so harsh? I have not run a particularly harsh campaign. It is true that national noise has inevitably gotten into the campaign. Look, I remember when in 2003 those of the PP were called “murderers” on the street, but that rejection always came from the radical left. But the wave against Pedro Sánchez is perceived even in neighborhoods with a socialist vote, because they have felt abandoned. Are you worried about having to agree with Vox to approve the budgets, for example? I am going to govern alone because, as the list with the most votes, I have investiture guaranteed. But it is true that we will have to be open to many pacts. And to negotiate with Vox, with the PSOE or with anyone who wants to put the interests of the city before yours or those of your party. Do you intend to continue in the Senate? No. Seville requires 100% dedication: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Do you consider yourself a redoubt of casadism in Spain? Look, I've been in the party since 1990 and I started traveling thousands of kilometers through Andalusia together to Javier Arenas. Therefore, I was a sandmaker and after Rajoy and Zoido and Casado. And, if Juanma Moreno had not wanted it, I would not have been a candidate. So I am not a stronghold of the Casado era or anyone else. Are you not going to become a counterpower within the Andalusian PP then? I am 54 years old and I have gone through many places in politics. My dream today is to be mayor of Seville with a long-term project to put it in the place it deserves. And when this project is over, I probably won't feel like getting into any more adventures anymore.. What I like is municipal politics, which, by the way, is the most self-sacrificing. So, won't we see him in Juanma Moreno's succession career? Juanma Moreno still has a long way to go in Andalusia. Look, I've been working hard for 600 days and arriving home very late so that, now, I can't think of anything other than Seville and how to turn this city around. Are you afraid of Zoido syndrome? You know, it rose in a flash and achieved a historic absolute majority, but the fall was even faster. Well, it was a very difficult time for him, in the middle of the economic crisis. A debt of more than 800 million euros was found and then Minister Montoro arrived with the cuts. And to that was added the fragmentation of the political landscape. It was the perfect storm. Even so, I remind you that Zoido has been a candidate for mayor of Seville three times and has won the elections three times. The government was taken from them by a losers' pact. What city are you going to find when you take office as mayor? Well, a city that doesn't work, with a lack of security and cleanliness, and with parks that have no life because there is no activity in them. they. We are one step away from losing position in the ranking in favor of Zaragoza, and Málaga has taken away our cultural capital status, despite the fact that Seville has infinite possibilities. Look, we come from a government that has thought about designing a city for 20 years from now that has neglected the present, the day to day. And those who do not know how to manage the day to day will not know how to manage the future either. You say that Seville is dirty and that Lipasam does not work. Are you considering privatizing it? What I am going to do is look for a good professional who knows how to organize, manage, direct and plan in Lipasam. And I hope that within a year we can begin to see results. But, do you rule out privatization then? Lipasam worked with Soledad Becerril, when the city was even receiving recognition for its cleanliness. And it began to work with Zoido, although it even had to face a strike. Today we are one of the three dirtiest cities in Spain. I know that I can get it to work again, choosing the best professionals and negotiating a lot with their workers.. In this legislature I have no intention of privatizing. I am convinced that Lipasam can be fixed as a public company. Seville has six neighborhoods among the poorest in Spain and the oldest shanty town in Europe. This city has no future either as a tourist power or as a cultural or aeronautical capital if we do not solve the problem of those neighborhoods. Someone needs to coordinate all the investment that comes in for it to bear fruit. Now there are administrations, brotherhoods, NGOs, associations…. that each move on their own. We need employment plans, education policies and urban transformation, because we have turned many of these nuclei into ghettos. Are you going to meet with Endesa to solve the blackout problem? You have to sit down with the company to plan all the electrical investments that are missing in those areas. You know that in those neighborhoods there is also a problem with marijuana plantations and illegal hookups.. And where are the judges, where are the prosecutors? All you have to do is walk around the area to find out where these plantations are. This reality generates many coexistence problems and there are magnificent people who are having a very bad time. Are you in favor of a tourist tax? Yes, but by agreement with the sector and as long as it is a finalist. The city has, for example, a huge municipal heritage pending rehabilitation that could be undertaken with that extra income. And what do we do with the tourist apartments? In the historic center there is no room for one more tourist apartment. In the last 8 years, 45,000 places in apartments and houses for tourist purposes have been licensed. But the Government of the Junta, in the hands of the PP, has appealed the rule that the City Council has approved precisely to restrict tourist apartments in Seville One of the first meetings that I will have as mayor will be with the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports, to start working on the decree that the Board prepares for tourist housing. And that is what the mayor of Seville should have already done, because we are late. Are you going to stop any of the projects that are underway and with which you expressed your disagreement? I am referring to the Seville East tram or the extension of the tram. Look, mayors cannot be revisionists. Otherwise, the cities do not advance. And that I do not see any sense in the extension that is being made of the tram. I would not have taken it to Santa Justa but to Cerro del Águila, for example. As for the tram, I think that for the neighbors it is much more practical if it reaches the San Bernardo meadow. We'll see how advanced the tender is. And are you going to ask that the construction of the SE-40 bridge be stopped? I think that this bridge is a big lie, a kick to the ball forward. Because you will never receive a positive declaration of the environment, in the middle of the Doñana pre-marsh. I will try to resume the project for the construction of the tunnels. But, while we resolve this issue, what has happened to the rest of the sections of the SE40? It's never been as paralyzed as now. A new section has not been tendered since 2018. The wave against Pedro Sánchez is not only from Bildu, but has to do with the fact that he has punished Seville without investments. But the PSOE has been denying investments to Seville for eight years to take them mainly to Catalonia. What do you think that we are back in the electoral campaign in a month from now? A disaster, a terrible irresponsibility. But, the sooner we get rid of this character so disastrous for Spain and for Seville, the better.he fears a high abstention among his voters?on the one hand yes. But, notice that I am meeting many people who tell me that they are not going to vote by mail, but that they are going to return expressly from the beach to vote in person. It is as if this attempt to demobilize has made many people even more eager to vote on 23-J.