The decision of the Orihuela mayor, Emilio Bascuñana, to withdraw some of the duties from the Ciudadanos councillor of Human Resources, Luisa Boné, has created yet another rift in the already difficult relationship enjoyed by the two coalition parties that govern the Orihuela municipality

On Tuesday the mayor removed the powers that Boné had in the Governing Board, specifically those of appointing interview panels. The decision was announced in the Board meeting held on Tuesday in which one member said the tension could be cut with a knife.

The withdrawal of these powers from Boné is one more division in the government coalition signed by PP and Cs, but according to the Oriolano mayor “it does not affect the pact”.

This is not the first time that Bascuñana has undermined Boné and diluted her powers within government.  The most recent occasion was in July with the mayor’s decision to countermand a decree passed by the councillor on teleworking, a competence that Human Resources supported quite vociferously. At the time the Ciudadanos leader, José Aix said that “we are not going to allow the mayor to overturn our decisions.”