
Ibiza and Formentera’s election day proved to be definitive as the centre right Partido Popular (PP) swept aside all in front of them as they took control of all 5 Ibiza municipalities and the Island Councils of both Ibiza and Formentera.
The biggest surprise of the night was Rafa Triguero’s convincing win in Ibiza Town, winning with a crushing 15 seats on the 25 seat council. The capital city’s voters with a resounding rejection of outgoing mayor Rafa Ruiz whose socialist PSOE party returned a disappointing 7 seats.
In San Antonio, Marcos Serra returned an absolute majority with 12 seats on the 21 seat council, only missing out on a 13th seat by a handful of votes. It was a firm approval by the electorate of his dynamic leadership over the last 4 years, his youthful team celebrated long into the night knowing that the hard work must continue to consistently improve Ibiza’s second largest town.
In San Jose, Vicent Roig gained an impressive victory with 10 seats, just falling short of a majority however with Vox winning 2 seats a right wing coalition is highly likely. This is the first time in a decade that San Jose had turned blue and once again signals that the electorate were voting for change.
Sant Joan has seen much political controversy over the last few weeks as the PP publicly aired their dirty washing and this was reflected at the polls. Ex councillor Santi Mari formed his own party after failing to obtain the PP mayoral ticket and returned a respectable 2 seats but split the centre right vote meaning that the PP came away with 8 seats (down from 10) which was still good enough to claim a majority in the 13 seat chamber.Tania Mari will be the new Mayor.
The least surprising result of the night was in Santa Eulalia where Carmen Ferrer was voted back in to office increasing her foothold in the council from 13 to 14 seats. The conservative municipality rubber stamping her dynamic leadership once again for another 4 year term.
Vicent Mari, Sra Ferrer’s predecesor in the Santa Eulalia hot seat, was re-elected as president of the Consell de Ibiza (Island council) with a majority of 8 seats, an increase of 2 from 4 years ago. The 13 seat chamber now has an absolute majority for the first time in 8 years.
The biggest surprise of the night was the rise of the far right Vox party, who gained representation in all town halls except Sant Joan, and the downfall of the PSOE socialists who had a very poor day at the voting stations.
In Formentera the municipal and island council shifted to the centre right for the first time in 15 years with a win for the Sa Unió party which is made up of an alliance of the PP and the local Compromis party.
An historic night for Ibiza and Formentera and a big endorsement for the PP will have far reaching consequences for the islands over the next 4 years. With a big mandate and all councils pulling in the same direction expect big changes….but it won’t happen overnight.