PSOE Allegedly Strikes Deal to Seize Cartagena

Movimiento Ciudadano, the PSOE and Sí Cartagena moved this week to take Cartagena’s city hall from the Partido Popular after two former Vox councillors left the governing bloc and gave the opposition the numbers for a no-confidence vote. The motion was registered on May 18 against mayor Noelia Arroyo of the PP, according to multiple Spanish media reports. The filing was backed by 14 councillors in the 27-seat council — the minimum needed for an absolute majority. If the motion succeeds, MC leader Jesús Giménez Gallo is due to become mayor. ### Which votes made the motion possible? The number that changed the equation was 14. La Opinión de Murcia and EFE reported that the motion carries the signatures of seven MC councillors, four PSOE councillors, one from Sí Cartagena and two non-attached councillors who had recently left Vox. The two former Vox councillors are Beatriz Sánchez del Álamo and Diego Salinas. Their departures from Vox in recent weeks left the PP-led municipal government without the majority it had relied on with Vox support, according to El Mundo, Murcia Plaza and RTVE. ### Who are the former Vox councillors at the center of the switch? Beatriz Sánchez del Álamo announced on April 1 that she was leaving Vox, saying party members in Cartagena had received “indigno” treatment after upheaval inside the party in Murcia, RTVE reported. (laopiniondemurcia.es) Diego Salinas later also left the party while keeping his council seat, according to Murcia Plaza and other local reports. (elmundo.es) Murcia Plaza reported on May 13 that both councillors had remained in positions that were helping sustain Arroyo’s administration even after leaving Vox. That arrangement became politically untenable once the opposition decided to use their votes to register the no-confidence motion. ### What have the parties said about the deal? (rtve.es) Carmina Fernández, the Socialist spokesperson in the Murcia regional assembly, said on May 19 that the motion sought to “desalojar al Partido Popular” from a city hall she said was “en manos de Vox,” according to Europa Press. Noelia Arroyo said on May 19 that she was “apenada y sorprendida” by the move and argued it responded not to municipal management but to “intereses partidistas y personales,” La Opinión de Murcia reported. (murciaplaza.com) The PP’s Joaquín Segado separately called it an “acuerdo bochornoso” and said internal disputes in Vox were handing power to the left. (europapress.es) Jesús Giménez Gallo said at a joint news conference that the coalition backing the motion had the 14 signatures required and asked for “respeto a las reglas del juego democrático,” according to La Opinión de Murcia. EFE reported that he is the candidate to take over the mayor’s office if the motion passes. ### Why did Cartagena become vulnerable to a no-confidence motion now? (laopiniondemurcia.es) Cartagena’s government had been operating on a PP-Vox alliance. Europa Press reported in February that the city’s 2026 budget and the initial approval of the urban plan passed with support from PP and Vox, showing the coalition still functioned at that point. (laopiniondemurcia.es) By mid-May, that alliance no longer guaranteed a majority. El Mundo reported that the exits of Salinas and Sánchez del Álamo left Arroyo in a parliamentary minority, while EFE and La Opinión said the opposition’s combined 14 signatures exactly matched the threshold for an absolute majority in the 27-member corporation. ### When is the vote and what happens next? (europapress.es) June 1 is the date set for the plenary session on the motion, according to La Opinión de Murcia. Murciadiario reported that the filing started the formal timetable for the debate and vote, while EFE said the motion would remove Arroyo if the same 14-vote bloc holds. Jesús Giménez Gallo is the named replacement in the motion, and the next public test is whether the two former Vox councillors maintain their support through the plenary session. (elmundo.es) The vote is due to take place at Cartagena city hall, where the opposition has already presented the signed document showing the 14 councillors behind it. (laopiniondemurcia.es)