The Burgos town of Trespaderne, halfway between Bilbao and Burgos, with 809 inhabitants, will not hold municipal elections on May 28. The reason? Nobody wants to be mayor. Its current mayoress, Isabel López, from the Merindades Initiative - a name that alludes to the Las Merindades region - has governed since 2011, and in the last four years she has done so alone because no one else presented lists. López is already very tired of the position and does not feel strong enough to repeat four more years.
What is happening in Trespaderne is similar to what is happening in 43 other Spanish municipalities, the majority located in Navarra, in which no political formation has presented a candidacy. This is stated in the dossier of the municipal and regional elections of May 28 released yesterday by the Presidency of the Government.
These are 38 municipalities in Navarra, four municipalities in Burgos, one in Segovia and another in Teruel, which have a total of 9,870 inhabitants and have an electoral census of 8,213 voters. Depending on their population, they would have had to elect 228 councilors at 45 polling stations.
The localities in Navarre are Zubieta, Aranarache, Arantza, Areso, Aribe, Atez, Auritz, Bargota, Barásoain, Beire, Belascoáin, Burgui, Dicastillo, Eratsun, Eslava, Etayo, Ezcároz, Garde, Garralda, Hiriberri, Isaba, Iturmendi, Izalzu, Legaria, Lezaun, Muruzábal, Navascués, Orbaizeta, Oroz-Betelu, Orísoain, Sada, Sarriés, Tirapu, Urroz, Urzainqui, Uterga, Uztárroz and Vidángoz.
The municipalities of Burgos are Peral de Arlanza, Quintanilla de la Mata, Trespaderne and Zael, while that of Segovia is Cabezuela and that of Teruel is Monroyo.
But what will happen in these municipalities? According to article 181 of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (Loreg), in these 44 municipalities elections must be held within a period of six months and if in this new call no candidacies are not presented either, a management commission will be constituted (article 182) made up of all the members of the corporation that continue and the citizens that had been designated to fill the vacancies.
When it is impossible to form the management commission, the Provincial Council or, where appropriate, the competent body of the Autonomous Community will directly assume the ordinary management of the Local Entity, not being able to adopt agreements for which a qualified majority is required.
