Rodrigo Romero, councilor for Podemos in the Palma City Council, has announced that he will present his resignation after the mayor of the city, José Hila, announced on Thursday his dismissal as councilor for Economic Promotion of the Balearic capital. Romero's resignation comes less than a week after another Podemos councilor, Sonia Vivas, resigned after being removed from her post.
In the background of both resignations, which have been about to leave the left-wing municipal government in the minority, is the celebration of Palma's Pride Week. Vivas contracted the services of an external company to organize the festivities outside the LGTBI collective of Palma, which rebelled against the councillor. Vivas' dismissal came after she issued a harsh statement in which she disqualified fellow party members and government partners.
The communiqué in question was signed in the first instance by Romero, who shortly afterwards distanced himself. However, this week some audios of the councilor were released in which he confirmed that he agreed with the controversial statement and made harsh criticism against party colleagues and the Palma City Council.
Yesterday we can ask for the dismissal of the councilor as he felt betrayed by the harsh accusations launched by Romero and the mayor of Palma has decided to remove him from his responsibilities. The crisis will not go any further because the councilor has announced his intention to resign and let the next one on the Podemos list enter.
The municipal crisis has led to the resignation of two of the three councilors that Podemos has in Palma. The government is in the hands of the socialist José Hila, who governs in coalition with Podemos and Més. Hila secures the majority until the end of the mandate or until a new crisis with his coalition partners. Among the issues pending approval is the new General Plan for Urban Planning, which has more options to move forward with the announced resignation of Romero.
The Pride Week that has motivated the two resignations did not take place because the mayor decided to cancel the hiring made by Vivas hours before leaving his position in the city council. The organizer of the event, Kristin Hansen, was heavily criticized after some controversial statements in which she claimed that this event was a good opportunity for people from the countryside, "who have never seen a lesbian", to come to Palma and see that it was normal people.
