Right-Hand to the Mayor
Ana Belén Juárez, the new PSPV-PSOE deputy in the Valencian Courts, has an upcoming oral trial set for April 26. She will be joined by the socialist mayor of Los Montesinos, José Manuel Butrón, and two officials. Prosecutors request one year in prison for the accused on charges of workplace harassment and 40,000 euros in civil liability for damages to the complainant’s psychological well-being, excluding prevarication or bribery. The private prosecution seeks eight years in prison and 25 years of disqualification from public office. Juárez recently took the seat of regional deputy after David López, a water science professor from UMH in Orihuela who backed Ximo Puig, resigned on the 5th of the month.
Juárez serves as the deputy mayor of Los Montesinos in the Vega Baja region and is considered the close ally of Mayor Butrón, who has governed the town since 1991 and is eyed by many as a future successor. She leads the Economic Development, Economic Dynamization and Productive Sectors, Commerce, Tourism, Training, Local Development, Agenda 2030, and Sports portfolios. Juárez previously served as provincial deputy for the socialist group from 2011 to 2015 and was placed thirteenth on the PSPV list for the Alicante province in the May 28 regional elections, enabling her to succeed López after his resignation. She has also held the post of provincial secretary for Equality within the PSPV.
Juárez has just begun her parliamentary work in the Cortes, a period marked by intense activity in the Vega Baja. The Socialist and People’s Party have clashed repeatedly. The spark behind this new conflict is the rejection by Orihuela’s popular mayor, Pepe Vegara, of a plea deal with the Prosecutor to avoid a judgment hearing on two counts of public treasury fraud and a continuing offense of falsification in a commercial document. The accusation requests seven years of imprisonment. This development prompted socialist leaders to call for Vegara’s resignation, from the municipal spokesperson in Orihuela, through to the PSPV’s organizing secretary. The opposition PP has defended Vegara and his right to presumed innocence.
Confrontation
The Orihuela mayor’s trial places the regional president, Carlos Mazón of Alicante, in his first direct clash with the judiciary this legislative term. It recalls a series of long-running scandals involving the PP that contributed to the party losing the regional government to the left in 2015. The eight years of the Botànic era were not free from controversy either, including cases related to the imbalance surrounding vice president Mónica Oltra and the abuse allegations involving her ex-husband, which led to Oltra’s resignation as leader of Compromís. There was also debate over subsidies received by the brother of Puig.
Back to the present, Juárez has taken López’s seat, who left the Cortes abruptly due to personal circumstances since his cerebral palsy makes travel between Vega Baja and Valencia lengthy. In the first ten months of the current legislature, eight of the PSPV’s 31 deputies left the Cortes. Notable departures include Puig, Arcadi España, Rebeca Torró, Carlos Laguna, Carmen Martínez, Miguel Mínguez, and Josefina Bueno. The former Innovation minister left her seat in early September and was replaced by José Díaz, number twelve on Alicante’s regional list.