The PP takes control of the Federation of Municipalities: Natalia Chueca, favorite to close the Abel Caballero era
The Popular Party was the party with the most votes in the July 23 elections, but it fell short of what was important: gaining the majority of Congress deputies. Four seats, specifically. However, in the rest of the institutions the popular ones accumulate the greatest share of power in their history. The PP presides over 11 of the 17 autonomous communities and vice president of the Canary Islands. And governs in the two autonomous cities. It has the mayorships of Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Málaga or Albacete, among others.. And, furthermore, it has the absolute majority in the Senate.
Tomorrow the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) will be added to that enormous share of power, which will no longer be led by the socialist Abel Caballero to make way for a president of the PP.. The popular parties already have the necessary endorsements to achieve an absolute majority in the plenary session of the federation, and are only waiting for Alberto Núñez Feijóo to decide the balance between the possible candidates.
The favorite for the position, according to the PP leaders consulted, is the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, but María José Catalá, first mayor of Valencia, cannot yet be ruled out.. And neither does Gema Igual, third option on the shortlist and mayor of Santander.
The final decision, as always happens in Feijóo's PP, will be announced by the party leader at the last minute. The fact that both Jorge Azcón, president of Aragón, and Carlos Mazón, Valencian baron, have proposed candidates, has brought up the name of Gema Igual, who was already vice president of the FEMP. But Santander already led the federation when the mayor was Íñigo de la Serna, and that reduces its options. However, all those consulted agree that Feijóo has expressed his good opinion of the mayor of Zaragoza on several occasions.
The FEMP is the icing on the power cake of Feijóo's PP. The popular ones have achieved sufficient numbers to preside over it after reaching an understanding with Vox and small regional parties.
The unappealable victory of the center-right in the municipal elections of May 28 left the PSOE with no options to repeat. The PP tripled its power in the Spanish provincial capitals, going from the 10 it achieved in 2019 to 30 in 2023 (24 of them, alone), and governs in 3,193 municipalities, 40% of the total in Spain. This represents a population of 22.3 million inhabitants, 46.5% of the total population of Spain.
With these data – passed through the representativeness filters of the FEMP – the PP candidacy had the presidency and control of the majority within reach, both in the Governing Board and in the Territorial Council of the federation.
With the motto “The future is local”, the XIII Plenary Session of the FEMP will be held on Saturday. It will set out the work objectives for the 2023-2027 mandate.. In addition to electing the governing bodies and the new leadership, the federation wants to “signal the lines of work” for four years. These objectives become commitments for the supra-municipal entity from day one.