Politically speaking, a lot has happened in San Fulgencio recently, Carlos Ramírez (PP), the former mayor was sentenced to 18 months in prison; he was also disqualified from holding public office for 7 years, following which his party was absolutely routed in the Local Elections, losing 5 of its 7 seats and with it control of the Municipality.
The party that won the victory and subsequent government leadership was the PSOE, albeit in coalition with Ciudadanos, with 6 council seats, increasing its share from 2 seats just four years earlier.
Of course those who know the area will appreciate that, in the Municipality of San Fulgencio, Urbanisation La Marina, enjoys a large expatriate population, so the inclusion of 2 expats in the party list would have gone a very long way to turn the PSOE fortunes around.
Both of the new councillors are fluent Spanish speakers and both have also been involved in local politics and in the local community for very many years. I was delighted to meet up with the pair, Samantha Hull and Darren Parmenter, earlier this week.
Darren, who is now responsible for Tourism, Markets, International Relations and the Press, explained how he has had to hit the ground running. Despite the steep learning curve, he is quickly finding his way around, thoroughly enjoying the experience, and hopefully beginning, at last, to do some good.
As the councillor for Works & Services (URB), Youth, Fiestas (URB), Parks & Gardens (URB) and Social Services (URB), Samantha certainly has her hands full, but while Sam has enjoyed her involvement in organising the recent fiestas she said that the Social Care responsibilities lately assumed have very much opened her eyes, particularly the needs of those many residents who have lost a partner and are now living alone. She said that it is an area where the circumstances of many need to “be substantially improved.”
But both councillors are looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and with their imminent move into new office accommodation the proximity they will have to their constituents will be greatly enhanced.
They also said how delighted they are to have the opportunity to work in the future alongside the Leader Newspaper in which they will regularly feature local news and events from across the municipality.
Sam said “We need to start telling people about activities and events well in advance of their scheduled dates, and the Leader will give us the opportunity to do just that. I look forward to getting it underway.”
