They will look for new ways to carry out a popular consultation with the people of Linares on their possible conversion into an Autonomous Community. This was announced today by the mayor of La Línea de la Concepción, Juan Franco, after announcing the “setback” of the Supreme Court ruling that ruined this possibility by considering that this change the current legal-administrative formula “ “transcends” the municipal sphere.
It was yesterday when the High Court rejected the request of the local government, as the central Executive had previously done, a resolution that is being “studied” by the legal team of the City Council of the city of Cadiz to determine what steps can be taken to fulfill this promise electoral launched already in 2019.
“We will have to study other courses of action,” commented Franco, “there are issues – about the sentence – that we do not share, and I hope that next week we can carry out a calm opinion of it.”
The question: Do you think it is appropriate for the City Council of La Línea de la Concepción to submit a petition to the National Government and the Cortes Generales to urge the conversion of the municipality into an autonomous community in accordance with art. 144 a) of the Spanish Constitution?” remains in the air. The neighbors, at least for the moment, will not have the opportunity to comment on the matter given that the Supreme Court has considered that the issue clashes head-on with “the territorial organization of the State, altering the territorial composition of the Autonomous Community, in this case that of Andalusia. and, therefore, to its Statute of Autonomy, and is outside the municipal jurisdiction".
Andalusia, continued the ruling consulted by La Vanguardia, according to its Statute “includes that of the municipalities of the provinces of Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville. Therefore, converting the municipality of La Línea de la Concepción into an Autonomous Community deprives the Autonomous Community of a part of its territory.”
The Supreme Court thus reaffirmed the 'no' to this consultation given previously in the Council of Ministers, a position also endorsed by the Junta of Andalusia and by the Government delegation of Cádiz, but which had the majority support of the Plenary of The line. It was in March 2022 when 22 of the 25 councilors that make up the council gave their approval to submit this proposal to the corresponding institutions. The other two remaining, belonging to the PSOE, voted against.
Franco, leader of the La Línea 100x100 party, considers that this change in the legal-administrative formula is the only way to solve the chronic problems in the city, a place besieged by unemployment, where drug trafficking is a big problem to fight against, with a high rate of school failure, a “deficient” health system and significant infrastructure problems. Added to all this is the border with Gibraltar, something that, economically, has a negative impact on this point of Andalusian geography and makes life considerably more expensive.
It is “a devilish situation that only happens here”, a municipality with more than 50,000 inhabitants but that has the lowest income in the area and a series of particularities that “are ignored by the rest of the administrations,” the first mayor
