San Fulgencio is experiencing its fourth vote of no confidence this century

This Thursday’s vote of no confidence in San Fulgencio, an Alicante town known for having twice as many British citizens as Spanish-born residents, will remove the People’s Party (PP) mayor in favour of the PSPV-PSOE (Socialist Party of Spain), marking the fourth such vote in this quiet, touristic town this century.

Following those of 2003, 2004, and 2007, this week’s vote of no confidence in San Fulgencio is the result of a faction change within the governing Popular Party (PP). It will also be the ninth such vote in the Valencian Community since the previous municipal elections and the first in the province of Alicante.

On Thursday, June 19th, at 12 noon, the Popular Party Mayor, José María Ballester, will hand over the baton to the Socialist Party mayor, José Sempere. Sempere served as Mayor from 2019 to 2023 with the support of an independent councillor who was previously a partner in the PP government team, Belgian Alain Franz Vandenbergen, who was in charge of Parks, Gardens, Waste, Finance, and Drinking Water Fraud.

The PSPV-PSOE candidate will gain seven of the city’s 13 council seats, while the opposition will keep five from the PP and the Belgian councillor’s present colleague in the Independent Party for Nationalities (PIPN).

This is not the first motion of censure in San Fulgencio this century, particularly during the contentious 2003-07 period, when there were two. On November 28th, Josefa Mora of the PP tabled a motion to remove Mariano Martí from the local APSFU group, with support from independents and a councillor from the PSPV-PSOE (Socialist Party of Catalonia).

Martí proposed a second resolution on February 16th, 2004, with the support of the Socialists and a PP defector, to return to the chair of the corporation, ending the Popular Party’s 80-day tenure.

In his second tenure, from 2007 to 2011, San Fulgencio led the first vote of no confidence in the Valencian Community, less than six months after the municipal elections. In October, Socialist Trinidad Martínez was elected mayor with assistance from independent parties, defeating Popular Party candidate Josefa Mora.

No-confidence votes were held in Vilafamés (Acord Per Guanyar against the PP), Monserrat (PP against the PSPV), and Vinaròs (PVI against the PSPV) in 2023, Albaida (PP against Acord Per Guanyar), Sueca (SxD against the PSPV), Requena (PSPV against the PP), and Chiva (PSPV against the PP) in 2024, and Barxeta (PP against the EUPV: Endavant) this year.

San Fulgencio, located just a few kilometres from the Mediterranean between Guardamar and Torrevieja, is widely regarded as the ‘most English’ Spanish town, with a population of approximately 9,500 people. The British population outnumbers those born in Spain (4,000 to approximately 2,000), according to a census of 71 different nationalities, including Belgians and Germans.