San Fulgencio councillor Alain Franz Vandenbergen has launched a new independent political party following his departure from the International Party for Nationalities (PIPN).
Unidos por San Fulgencio, or UpSF, was formally registered as a municipal party on May 14, 2026. Vandenbergen is listed as president, with María Concepción García Baeza serving as secretary-general.
The party will focus heavily on the residential developments of La Marina, Oasis and La Escuera, where most of San Fulgencio’s population lives. However, its founders insist they want to unite the entire municipality rather than deepen divisions between the urbanisations and the traditional town centre.
UpSF emerged following a breakdown in relations within the PIPN, which has long represented foreign residents and homeowners living in San Fulgencio’s extensive residential areas.
In the May 2023 municipal elections, José María Ballester’s Partido Popular won five council seats, one fewer than the PSOE. However, the PP retained the mayoralty by forming a governing agreement with the PIPN’s two councillors, including Vandenbergen.
Almost two years into the term, Vandenbergen left the party and became a non-affiliated councillor. He later joined the PSOE’s six councillors, led by José Sampere, in supporting an unsuccessful vote of no confidence intended to remove Ballester and install Sampere as mayor.
Against that background, Vandenbergen has established UpSF as a new vehicle for contesting the political territory previously occupied by the PIPN.
The dispute remains before the courts, although time is running out for any ruling to produce a meaningful change of government before the next municipal elections. It is considered increasingly unlikely that the legal proceedings will be resolved during the current term.
The party says its “absolute priority” is restoring the attractiveness and vitality of La Marina, Oasis and La Escuera. It argues that the developments have suffered from prolonged municipal neglect and require improvements to maintenance, security, public services, businesses, housing and employment opportunities.
San Fulgencio has almost 10,000 registered residents, more than 65 per cent of whom are foreign nationals. Only around 2,000 people live in the traditional town centre, while the surrounding residential developments cover approximately ten times its area.
UpSF argues that more than 90 per cent of the municipality’s available resources are generated by the urbanisations and should be distributed more fairly, with greater investment directed towards the areas producing that income.
The party also wants to challenge San Fulgencio’s reputation as principally a retirement destination.
“We do not want to be ‘God’s waiting room’ or an ‘elephants’ graveyard’,” it said, calling for a municipality with greater economic activity, improved services and more opportunities to attract and retain younger residents.
Despite its emphasis on the urbanisations, UpSF says the traditional town centre and local young people will also form an important part of its plans.
The party has not yet published a complete manifesto but says detailed proposals will be announced in the coming weeks. Residents are being invited to contribute suggestions as UpSF prepares to turn the urbanisations’ demographic and economic weight into greater influence over municipal decisions.
