The president of the PP and candidate for the Presidency of the Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has incorporated several regional councilors into his lists for the general elections on November 29, which will force the leaders of Galicia, Castilla y León, Cantabria, Comunidad Valenciana, and Murcia to make changes in their executives.
Feijóo has chosen to surround himself with officials with a solid track record in public management in anticipation of a possible landing in the Palacio de la Moncloa and, with that idea, has decided to add to his candidacies both councilors from different communities and numerous active mayors.
Although the PP has not yet made all its lists for the elections public, it is already known that Alfonso Rueda (Galicia), Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (Castilla y León), María José Sáenz de Buruaga (Cantabria), Juanfran Pérez Llorca (Comunidad Valenciana), and Fernando López Miras (Murcia) will have to face government crises due to the departure of some of their councilors to occupy seats in the new Cortes of the XVI legislature, whose constitution is scheduled for December 23.
The Organic Law of General Electoral Regime (LOREG) establishes that it is incompatible to be a regional councilor and run as a candidate for Congress at the same time, so those who appear on the lists must leave their positions in the regional governments.
The Social Policy Councilor of Rueda, to Congress
In Galicia, the councilor of Social Policy and Equality, Fabiola García, will be number two on the list for Congress for A Coruña, headed by Miguel Tellado, general secretary of the PP. In addition, the PPdeG has confirmed that the until now president of the Galician Parliament, Miguel Santalices, will run for the Senate for Ourense.
Thus, the configuration of candidacies promoted by Feijóo has a direct effect on Galician politics, causing adjustments both in Rueda's Government and in the regional Chamber itself. In the general elections of 2023, Feijóo already included in his lists people he trusts the most in the Xunta, such as Francisco Conde, who had been his first vice president and councilor of Economy, as well as Pedro Puy, Álvaro Pérez, and his collaborators Marta Varela and Mar Sánchez.
Changes in Castilla y León and in the Murcian Government
In Castilla y León, the regional president will have to restructure his cabinet after the PP of Valladolid has proposed the councilor of Education, María Pardo, as head of the list for Congress for that constituency.
Mañueco has advanced this very Friday that María del Valle Ares, current general secretary of the Ministry of Education, will be the new head of the department in replacement of Pardo, "a magnificent Minister of Education during these months, with capacity, commitment, and a lot of work," according to what he has written on 'X'.
In Murcia, Feijóo has placed the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sports, Carmen Conesa, as number three on the candidacy for the Congress of the Murcian PP. Her leap to national politics forces her to leave the regional Executive before October 26, leaving it uncertain who will assume her functions.
It is yet to be defined whether the Murcian president, Fernando López Miras, opts to appoint a new person responsible for this portfolio or distributes her competencies among other ministries, in a community that plans to return to the polls in May 2028.
Two Cantabrian ministers and one Valencian consellera make the leap to Madrid
In Cantabria, the Minister of Presidency, Justice, Security, and Administrative Simplification, Isabel Urrutia, will lead the PP list to Congress. Her position in the Executive headed by Buruaga will be occupied by Juan Ignacio Sáez Bereciartu, until now the general director of Justice and Victims of Terrorism.
Additionally, Luis Martínez Abad leaves the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports to be number 2 on the candidacy of the Cantabrian PP for the Senate. His replacement at the head of the department will be Tamara González, current general director of Social Inclusion, Families, and Equality of the Government of Cantabria.
In the Valencian Community, the president of the Generalitat and leader of the PPCV, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, confirmed that his consellera of Social Services, Family, and Childhood, Elena Albalat, will head the PP list to Congress for Castellón, a position that in the general elections of 2023 was held by the former president of the Generalitat Alberto Fabra.
Fabra, who will also have to remodel his regional Executive, described Albalat's appointment as "magnificent news." "I am very happy about that news," he stated before the media in Castellón de la Plana.
In the Balearic Islands, in the candidacy for Congress led by the president of the PP of Eivissa, José Vicente Marí Bosó, the 'number two' will be Antònia Roca, current first vice president of the Mallorca Council and insular consellera of Culture and Heritage, which will also force changes in that insular institution.
Feijóo also incorporates numerous mayors
In addition to regional advisors, Feijóo has decided to add several current mayors to his lists. The first name that emerged last weekend was that of Xavier García Albiol, mayor of Badalona (Barcelona), who will be the 'number one' of the PP for Congress in Barcelona.
The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, the mayor of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, and the mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez, will also be included in the candidacies, all of them at the head of the lists for Congress for their respective provinces.
Likewise, several councilors are joining the candidacies for the Senate. Among them is the mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero, who returns to lead the PP list for his province in the Upper House for the general elections in November.