The Violence Against Women Court of Algeciras has summoned the mayor of the Cádiz locality, José Ignacio Landaluce, to testify on October 23, in the capacity of investigated, for an alleged sexual assault. The judicial citation, reported by El País this Friday, comes after two women have filed complaints against the mayor, one of them linked to Nuevas Generaciones of the Popular Party.
The investigation arrives amid a political crisis in the Algeciras City Council, after the PP of Cádiz demanded Landaluce's immediate resignation upon learning of the existence of a new complaint. The mayor has refused to leave office, a decision that has led to the breakup of his government team.
The first complaint was filed with the Supreme Court, due to Landaluce's status as a senator at that time. Subsequently, another woman filed a second complaint for an alleged sexual assault, which precipitated the withdrawal of political support from his former colleagues.
The PP withdraws its support and twelve councilors resign
Last Monday, twelve of the fifteen popular councilors who made up the municipal government team signed a document demanding the mayor's resignation. The document was registered at the City Council and, in light of Landaluce's refusal to leave office, the councilors submitted their resignation from their government responsibilities.
The provincial leadership of the PP supported the resignation request and declared its confidence in the mayor exhausted. Landaluce, who has governed Algeciras since 2011, had announced days earlier his intention to run again in the upcoming municipal elections, although outside the Popular Party and without specifying under which candidacy.
The situation has opened an institutional crisis in one of the main city councils of the province of Cádiz. The rupture between the mayor and a good part of his councilors has led to movements to replace him at the head of the council.
A motion of censure to relieve Landaluce
After the departure of the councilors, the PP of Cádiz announced the formalization of a motion of censure supported by the twelve councilors who broke with Landaluce and the representatives of Vox.
The proposed candidate to assume the mayoralty is Jacinto Muñoz, until then the first deputy mayor. The initiative aims to end the municipal crisis and allow the formation of a new local government.