The leader of the Andalusian PSOE, María Jesús Montero, has failed in her attempt to avoid the primaries to choose the candidates who will run as the main candidates in the municipal elections next May 2027. Finally, there will be primaries in four Andalusian capitals –Almería, Córdoba, Huelva, and Jaén– and in seven other municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, according to what was approved this Monday by the PSOE-A Ethics Commission.
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As EL MUNDO has been reporting, the regional leadership of the Andalusian PSOE has been working for two months with one goal, that there be no primaries for the selection of candidates for mayoralties in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants. And if there are, that they be something exceptional. The leadership of the Andalusian PSOE, with Montero at the head, has spent the entire summer seeking consensus and trying to defuse conflicts in the most important municipalities of the community.
“The fewer, the better.” That was the directive given on July 3 by the general secretary of the Andalusian PSOE to her party regarding the primaries to designate mayoral candidates in the municipal elections. Finally, she has achieved this in four Andalusian capitals: Seville, Granada, Cádiz, and Málaga, but she has not succeeded in four others, with the notable case of Jaén, where the current mayor, Julio Millán, will face a member of his government team: Carlos Alberca Martínez.
The case of Jaén is significant because the PSOE statutes establish that primaries are not mandatory in places where the socialists already govern. Therefore, in the capital of Jaén, the only one of the eight Andalusian capitals governed by the socialists, they could have been avoided. But this will not be the case finally.
Three candidates in Córdoba
In Almería, the membership will have to choose between Fátima Herrera Amate and Antonio Jesús Ruano Tapia; while in Córdoba there are three candidates: María Victoria Fernández Domínguez, José Antonio Romero Pérez, and Ángel Ortiz Rodríguez. In Huelva, the contenders are Enrique Gaviño Pazó and Javier Mendo Rascado.
In the other four Andalusian capitals where there will be no primaries, the heads of the lists have already been provisionally proclaimed: Óscar Torres León in Cádiz; Raquel Ruz Peis in Granada; Mariano Ruiz Araujo in Málaga; and Antonio Muñoz Martín in Seville.
The Andalusian PSOE Regional Ethics Commission held this Monday has unanimously approved all the proposals submitted after verifying that they meet the requirements established in the bases of the call previously approved by the party, according to the PSOE.
In total, 48 mayoral candidates have been provisionally proclaimed as heads of the lists, as only one pre-candidacy was registered in their respective municipalities, which rules out primaries. Eleven other municipalities will hold primaries, as more than one person has run.
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The Organization Secretariat of the Andalusian PSOE has highlighted the “normality, transparency, and participation” with which a process is being developed that will allow presenting in 2027 “solid, recognizable, and deeply linked to their municipalities” teams.
Besides Cádiz, Granada, Málaga, and Seville capitals, unique candidacies have been provisionally proclaimed in localities of Almería such as Adra, Níjar, or Vera. In the province of Cádiz, there will be no primaries in Jerez de la Frontera, Algeciras, El Puerto de Santa María, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Arcos de la Frontera, Puerto Real, Barbate, Los Barrios, Conil, and Chipiona.
Mayoral candidates without primaries have also been proclaimed in Lucena, Palma del Río, and Puente Genil, all three in the province of Córdoba, and in municipalities in Granada such as Almuñécar, Las Gabias, and Loja. In the province of Huelva, there are already candidates in Aljaraque, Almonte, Ayamonte, Cartaya, and Isla Cristina.
Micaela Navarro
In the Jaén locality of Andújar, the historic PSOE leader Micaela Navarro will be the main candidate in the municipal elections, while there will also be no primaries in municipalities in Málaga such as Alhaurín de la Torre, Alhaurín el Grande, Antequera, Coín, Estepona, Marbella, or Ronda. And finally, in the province of Seville, there are already candidates in Utrera, Écija, Coria del Río, or Tomares, among other municipalities.
Among the municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants where primaries will be held are Roquetas de Mar, Baza, Motril, Linares, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, and Vélez-Málaga.
The Andalusian PSOE has emphasized that this process combines “experience, renewal, and democratic participation, and will allow building useful projects for each municipality, capable of listening to citizens and offering local governments that are close, solvent, and committed to defending public services, equality, and opportunities.”
Although the goal set by Montero to avoid primaries has not been met, the Andalusian PSOE has stated that it faces this new stage with the “ambition” to recover mayoralties, expand its municipal presence, and once again make town halls the “first space of response to the daily problems of Andalusian men and women”.
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