Marbella City Council dissolution
Encyclopedia
The dissolution of the Marbella
City Council on April 7, 2006, was an unprecedented movement of the Spanish Government
to put an end to the long-standing corruption
in the city, which had taken the council near to its bankruptcy
while many mayors and their collaborators had "earned" large amounts of unknown sourced-luxury.
, elected in 1991 with 65% of the vote and a 19-6 majority for his GIL party. His government promoted heavy urbanistic
development throughout Marbella, revitalizing its hype amongst the world jet set
and bringing an era of prosperity to the city. However, his open disregard for the Andalusia
n regulations and the still standing former urban plan made the Junta de Andalucía start rejecting all his new plans. Moreover, he was soon accused of diverting public funds to his soccer club, Atlético Madrid, while international mafia
s greatly increased their activities in Marbella.
In the meantime, national parties PP
and PSOE
seemed unable to convince voters of Gil's corruption, for he was returned in the 1995 election with the same result as in 1991; and even in the 1999 election, when the scandals had already started surfacing, he retained a 15-10 majority with 52% of the vote.
In 2002, Gil was jailed for public fund diversion to Atlético Madrid, and after his inhabilitation for public service, some proposed dissolving the whole council in response to the claims of deeply-rooted corruption in Marbella, but José María Aznar
's PP government was unwilling to use such a drastic reserve power
for the first time in Spanish democracy against a council which would only serve one more year. On date needed, Deputy Mayor Julián Muñoz, already with some trials pending, replaced his boss as the city first officer.
The corruption charges continued taking down many GIL politicians and collaborators, but the Marbellians seemed adamant of this, and they backed the GIL new head Julián Muñoz with 47% of the vote in the 2003 election, still a majority of 15-12 due to the use of the D'Hondt method
and the opposition fragmentation. However, the party was in turmoil and Muñoz proved unable to control the council: a severe floor crossing
created more than four independent groups springing not only from the GIL but also from the PSOE and the Andalucist Party, and a vote of no confidence
sacked the Mayor on August 13, 2003, putting Marisol Yagüe in his office barely three months after the election. Again, the PP government decided not to invoke the power of council dismissal to avoid PSOE and IU
critics of authoritarianism
.
Scandals were getting louder by the day, and on March 29 and 30, 2006, both Mayor Yagüe and Deputy Mayor Isabel García, along with urban development advisor Juan Antonio Roca and many councillors, were arrested on charges of public funds malversation, prevarication, bribery
and traffic of influence. Second Deputy Mayor Tomás Reñones took office on April 1, but he already knew that the council was going to be dissolved. He tried to ease the situation putting all councillors' offices "at the disposition of superior institutions", but Manuel Chaves
, the socialist president of Andalusia, declared that "the Andalusian Government was not a superior instance to the Marbellian Council", so they had no means to intervene but to advise the Spanish Government to dissolve
the council.
was unanimously granted the next day, doubt remained about who would take care of the city until the next election, scheduled for May 27, 2007. The normal outcome would have been to call fresh elections that would create a council serving less than a full term (because, unlike that of the general election, the date of local elections is fixed at the same for all Spanish municipalities), but the Electoral Regime Organic Act explicitly states, in its 183rd article, that
repeatedly requested the Government to invoke article 50 of the Public Administrations Juridic Regime and Common Administrative Procedure Act 1992, which allows, under special circumstances, to cut most of the terms involved in the election process in half. Such an action would place the new Council constitution date before the May 27 deadline imposed by the electoral law, so an election could have been held. He based his calls on the grounds that:
On April 6, the Council of State
decided against calling an election citing the time pressure as the determinant factor. The PP, nevertheless, proposed to modify the current election law
to ease such restrains, citing this as "the most democratic path of action, consulting the people" and criticizing the PSOE government for its "lack of will to solve the problem" and its "focus on partisan interests above the people's". The same day, demonstrations
demanding elections took place in Marbella.
In response to Rajoy's declarations, Public Administrations Minister Jordi Sevilla
has announced that, as mandated by Royal Decree 707/1982, the Committee members' political affiliation will be the same as the substituted councillors', that is, the balance of power will mimic the 2003 election excluding the GIL, which had the majority
with 15 councillors but has since then ceased to exist. Since the PSOE got 5 councillors in the election, the PP 4 and the PA 3, no party should hold a majority in the committee. The agreement reached by the parties with representation in the Málaga provincial legislature finally did change the 2003 power balance: the socialists appointed 6 members (amongst them the President), the same as the PP, while the PA and IU were represented by 2 members each, for a total of 16.
----
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
City Council on April 7, 2006, was an unprecedented movement of the Spanish Government
Spanish Government
Spain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...
to put an end to the long-standing corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
in the city, which had taken the council near to its bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
while many mayors and their collaborators had "earned" large amounts of unknown sourced-luxury.
Causes
Many sources track the start of widespread corruption to the first term of Mayor Jesús GilJesús Gil
Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella, between 1996 and 2002, and was also known for his 16-year stint as president of Spanish football club Atlético Madrid....
, elected in 1991 with 65% of the vote and a 19-6 majority for his GIL party. His government promoted heavy urbanistic
Urbanism
Broadly, urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment.-Philosophy:...
development throughout Marbella, revitalizing its hype amongst the world jet set
Jet set
"Jet set" is a journalistic term that was used to describe an international social group of wealthy people, organizing and participating all around the world in social activities that are unreachable to ordinary people...
and bringing an era of prosperity to the city. However, his open disregard for the Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n regulations and the still standing former urban plan made the Junta de Andalucía start rejecting all his new plans. Moreover, he was soon accused of diverting public funds to his soccer club, Atlético Madrid, while international mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
s greatly increased their activities in Marbella.
In the meantime, national parties PP
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
and PSOE
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
seemed unable to convince voters of Gil's corruption, for he was returned in the 1995 election with the same result as in 1991; and even in the 1999 election, when the scandals had already started surfacing, he retained a 15-10 majority with 52% of the vote.
In 2002, Gil was jailed for public fund diversion to Atlético Madrid, and after his inhabilitation for public service, some proposed dissolving the whole council in response to the claims of deeply-rooted corruption in Marbella, but José María Aznar
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
's PP government was unwilling to use such a drastic reserve power
Reserve power
In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch of the government. Unlike a presidential system of government, the head of state is generally constrained by the cabinet or the...
for the first time in Spanish democracy against a council which would only serve one more year. On date needed, Deputy Mayor Julián Muñoz, already with some trials pending, replaced his boss as the city first officer.
The corruption charges continued taking down many GIL politicians and collaborators, but the Marbellians seemed adamant of this, and they backed the GIL new head Julián Muñoz with 47% of the vote in the 2003 election, still a majority of 15-12 due to the use of the D'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
and the opposition fragmentation. However, the party was in turmoil and Muñoz proved unable to control the council: a severe floor crossing
Party switching
Party-switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.In many countries, party-switching takes the form of politicians refusing to support their political parties in coalition governments...
created more than four independent groups springing not only from the GIL but also from the PSOE and the Andalucist Party, and a vote of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
sacked the Mayor on August 13, 2003, putting Marisol Yagüe in his office barely three months after the election. Again, the PP government decided not to invoke the power of council dismissal to avoid PSOE and IU
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
critics of authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
.
Scandals were getting louder by the day, and on March 29 and 30, 2006, both Mayor Yagüe and Deputy Mayor Isabel García, along with urban development advisor Juan Antonio Roca and many councillors, were arrested on charges of public funds malversation, prevarication, bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
and traffic of influence. Second Deputy Mayor Tomás Reñones took office on April 1, but he already knew that the council was going to be dissolved. He tried to ease the situation putting all councillors' offices "at the disposition of superior institutions", but Manuel Chaves
Manuel Chaves
Manuel Chaves may refer to:* Manuel Antonio Chaves , figure in U.S.-Navajo and U.S. Civil War history* Manuel Chaves González , Second Vice President of the Spanish Government* Manuel Chaves Nogales, Spanish journalist...
, the socialist president of Andalusia, declared that "the Andalusian Government was not a superior instance to the Marbellian Council", so they had no means to intervene but to advise the Spanish Government to dissolve
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
the council.
Legal background
Both the Andalusian and the Spanish governments based their actions on the Local Regime Framework Act, which defines the powers of not only the cities, but also many Constitution-created institutions, such as the provincial governments. The act clearly specifies, on its article 61.1, that- The Council of MinistersSpanish GovernmentSpain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...
, on its own initiative and having informed the Government Council of the correspondent Autonomous CommunityAutonomous communities of SpainAn autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
, or on advise of the latter, will be able to, with the approval of the Senate, issue a Royal Decree dissolving the local Corporations when their management actions represent a heavy prejudice to the general interestPublic interestThe public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
or a failure to fulfill their constitutional duties.
The dissolution
Under this provision, the Junta de Andalucía advised the Spanish Government on April 4, 2006, to dissolve the Marbellian council. However, after the required approval of the SenateSpanish Senate
The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...
was unanimously granted the next day, doubt remained about who would take care of the city until the next election, scheduled for May 27, 2007. The normal outcome would have been to call fresh elections that would create a council serving less than a full term (because, unlike that of the general election, the date of local elections is fixed at the same for all Spanish municipalities), but the Electoral Regime Organic Act explicitly states, in its 183rd article, that
- In the case of Local CorporationMunicipalityA municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
dissolution by agreement of the Council of Ministers, as outlined in the basic legislation of local regime, elections shall be called for the constitution of a new Corporation in at most three months, except when its term would extend less than a year from the date it would convene for the first time. While the new Corporation is assembled or the term of the dissolved one expires, the ordinary management of its duties will be assigned to a Management Committee appointed by the Provincial Legislature or, instead, the competent institution of the correspondent Autonomous Community. {...}
Calls for elections
PP leader Mariano RajoyMariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey is a Spanish People's Party politician and is the Prime Minister-elect since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011....
repeatedly requested the Government to invoke article 50 of the Public Administrations Juridic Regime and Common Administrative Procedure Act 1992, which allows, under special circumstances, to cut most of the terms involved in the election process in half. Such an action would place the new Council constitution date before the May 27 deadline imposed by the electoral law, so an election could have been held. He based his calls on the grounds that:
- The provincial assembly of MálagaMálagaMálaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, which would appoint the committee, is dominated by PSOE and IU, so the impartiality of the new committee is not guaranteed. - Many PSOE councillors, including the one that ran for mayor in the last election, are in prison, while none of the PP councillors are known to be involved in the corruption. Polls suggest that, if elections were held now, the PP would win a majority in the Council, up from its previous 3rd force status after the (now defunct) GIL and the PSOE, so the new Corporation would be dominated by a party that is thought, as of today, corruption-free in Marbella.
On April 6, the Council of State
Spanish Council of State
The Spanish Council of State is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, understood as supreme consultative council of the...
decided against calling an election citing the time pressure as the determinant factor. The PP, nevertheless, proposed to modify the current election law
Election law
Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. It researches "the politics of law and the law of politics"...
to ease such restrains, citing this as "the most democratic path of action, consulting the people" and criticizing the PSOE government for its "lack of will to solve the problem" and its "focus on partisan interests above the people's". The same day, demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
demanding elections took place in Marbella.
Management committee formation
The next day, after a surprising government crisis caused by Defence Minister José Bono removal on his own request, the Council of Ministers agreed to issue Royal Decree 421/2006, dissolving the City Council of Marbella and commanding the Málaga provincial legislature to appoint the management committee.In response to Rajoy's declarations, Public Administrations Minister Jordi Sevilla
Jordi Sevilla
Jordi Sevilla Segura , is a Spanish politician, Economist and former Minister for Public Administration who belongs to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party....
has announced that, as mandated by Royal Decree 707/1982, the Committee members' political affiliation will be the same as the substituted councillors', that is, the balance of power will mimic the 2003 election excluding the GIL, which had the majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
with 15 councillors but has since then ceased to exist. Since the PSOE got 5 councillors in the election, the PP 4 and the PA 3, no party should hold a majority in the committee. The agreement reached by the parties with representation in the Málaga provincial legislature finally did change the 2003 power balance: the socialists appointed 6 members (amongst them the President), the same as the PP, while the PA and IU were represented by 2 members each, for a total of 16.
Normalization
The appointed management committee ruled the city since early April 2006, its powers formally ending when the new Council elected in May 2007 was sworn in on June 16, so the citizens of Marbella were governed by unelected politicians for about one year and one month. In the 2007 election, the People's Party won a majority share of both the popular vote (50.5%) and the Council (16 councilors of 27), and has ruled the city since. The next elections are scheduled for May 2011.----