A COSTA del Sol mayor has resigned amid growing political pressure over an unpopular rubbish collection tax.
Jesus Lupiañez, who had led Velez-Malaga council for three years, made the announcement on Wednesday, calling it a ‘painful decision’.
The shock development came as Lupiañez faced mounting criticism over a nationally-mandated waste collection tax set to cost local households up to €135 a year.
Pressure had been growing on Lupiañez since around 1,000 protesters took to the streets in Velez-Malaga on October 7, calling on the council to review the charge.
READ MORE: PSOE demands Andalucia act against Estepona PP mayor
The former mayor, of the conservative Partido Popular (PP), eventually stepped down amid the mounting pressure, though he publicly defended his administration’s tax policies on Wednesday.
Lupiañez was the third Andalucian mayor to come under fire this week after his counterparts in Algeciras and Estepona also faced calls to resign amid mounting political scandals.
Former PP member Jose Ignacio Landaluce, who has led Algeciras since 2011, was urged to resign by the party’s Cadiz branch this week after two women accused him of separate sexual assaults dating back to 2020 and 2021.
Both women held roles in the PP at the time of the alleged attacks, with Landaluce suspending his own party membership in December last year as allegations of sexual misconduct began to surface.
Landaluce denies the allegations, but now faces being ousted after 16 councillors tabled a motion of no confidence against him, with a vote scheduled for October 28.
READ MORE: Algeciras PP mayor faces two new sexual assault allegations
Meanwhile, Estepona mayor Jose Garcia Urbano is also facing calls to step down amid a criminal case involving allegations of embezzlement and administrative misconduct.
Urbano, also of the PP, is accused of hiring a woman with whom he had an ‘intimate’ relationship at Estepona town hall.
Prosecutors allege the woman received public money without carrying out the work for which she was employed.
The local branch of the left-wing PSOE has called for political action against the mayor, arguing that the case raises serious questions about the use of public money and accountability in local government.
However, sources at Estepona town hall rejected the latest criticism, accusing the socialists of using the case to attack Urbano.
PSOE officials have also called on Andalucian president Juanma Moreno to intervene and bring Urbano’s time as mayor of Estepona to an end.
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