The dispute unfolding in Sant Joan d’Alacant’s city council centers on a pivotal move: the Liberal party has chosen to align with the People’s Party for the upcoming municipal elections. This shift could ripple beyond a simple rift between two parties. It exposes the underlying collaboration patterns that the two groups maintain in six other towns in the region, including Castalla, Benejúzar and Granja de Rocamora where local leadership has leaned toward the orange party, and Orihuela, Xixona and Daya Nueva where they supported socialist mayors. The political tension is currently circling, with potential consequences that could stretch well beyond Sant Joan itself.
The atmosphere inside Sant Joan d’Alacant’s town hall feels almost stifling. The sitting mayor, Santiago Román, has drawn complaints from PSOE ranks after the revelation that the People’s Party and Ciudadanos were negotiating a joint slate for the next elections. Critics have demanded his resignation or for him to cede the mayoralty. At the same time, Liberal figures accuse the Socialists of beginning their campaign too early and losing focus on governing, which allegedly pushed them to accept the PP’s proposal to cooperate with the electoral effort in mind.
In this climate, the current San Juan administration could crumble, and the ripple effects might touch Ciudadanos and six other municipalities where the PSOE maintains government settlements with mayors from the orange party. Castalla illustrates the dynamic: Antonio Bernabeu has just completed a second term as speaker and has been re-nominated for a May vote, maintaining the same party labeling as before.
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In Benejúzar, Ciudadanos has held the mayoral office for more than a year. Rosa García leads the town, a result of a power-sharing agreement that split the chair for two years. Granja de Rocamora presents another case, where Javier Mora led the council after a 2019 victory, and the PP has also backed him for the next elections.
Apart from these towns, several more municipalities feature Ciudadanos aligned with PSOE mayors as part of broader governing coalitions. Orihuela stands out as a prominent recent example. In Vega Baja’s capital, PP and Ciudadanos began governing side by side, but internal disagreements in the coalition led the Orange party to withdraw support from Emilio Bascuñana and pivot to backing socialist Carolina Gracia as mayor, following a no-confidence motion supported by Cambiemos Orihuela.
In Xixona, Socialist Isabel López governs with the active backing of a Ciudadanos municipal group led by Javier Gutiérrez, a deputy and former provincial coordinator. In Daya Nueva, PSOE’s Pablo Girona led with significant support from liberal ally María Teresa Martínez during the first two years.
Discussion around these shifts continues, as the political landscape reveals how local coalitions can adapt to changing alignments and still sustain governance across municipalities.
PSOE and Ciudadanos tighten in Sant Joan: Right intensifies rapprochement and socialists apply pressure on Román
The crisis in Sant Joan d’Alacant has clouded relations between the two sides and has triggered tensions that now influence governance in other towns that rely on similar cross-party agreements. Socialists express confidence that these events will not derail local management and reiterate commitments to maintain stability. In this climate, the party emphasizes adherence to its current governance pledges while acknowledging the evolving dynamics within the coalition landscape.
Antonio Bernabeu, the Castalla mayor and a member of the regional committee of the orange party, also believes there will be no significant backlash. He notes that relations with PSOE on the Municipal Council remain constructive and that cooperation with the municipality continues. Local politics, he argues, operate independently from higher-level tensions, underscoring a pragmatic approach to municipal governance.