MARBELLA – Barely a month after the autonomous and municipal elections of May 28, many mayors in Spain have decided to give themselves more salaries. The record belongs to Angeles Muñoz, the mayor of Marbella.
In the year when inflation rose to unprecedented heights and with it the cost of living, houses and electricity, some mayors, both on the left and right, decided to raise their salaries.
The absolute record was set by the mayor of Marbella (PP). She decided last week and after reaching an absolute majority to increase her salary to €93,928.03. That´s €7,744 per month and was supported by the city council. That means that Muñoz earns more than Francisco de la Torre, mayor of Málaga. After 23 years at the helm of a city with nearly 580,000 inhabitants, he had an annual salary of €87,325.14.
The mayor of Marbella (population 150,725) also earns €22.000 more than the president of the Andalucian government and €3,000 more than Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who earned €86,542 last year and will earn €90,010 this year.
Twice as much in Cadiz
Close to Marbella and from the same party, the new mayor of Cádiz will receive twice the salary of his predecessor. Bruno García of the People’s Party has decided that he will earn €30,000 more than his predecessor in office, Jose María González ‘Kichi’. Moreover, he goes from a gross annual salary of €38,826.76 to €68,888, according to the document that will be brought to the city council on Friday.
A Coruna
On the left, especially in the PSOE, the new mayor of A Coruña will also earn more. Inés Rey, who is repeating this term, has increased her salary to €75,200 per year, an increase of 2%. She now earns almost €2,000 more than her previous salary of €73,432.
Guimar (Tenerife)
It is clear that one of the first decisions of many politicians has been to change their salaries in their favour. In Güímar, Tenerife, the mayor of Coalición Canaria will earn €10,000 more, while seven of his councillors will also receive a salary increase. Gustavo Pérez will earn €58,080 and seven deputy mayors and councillors €46,500. Furthermore, Pérez has defended the salary increase based on the population growth of the municipality (which has exceeded 21,000 inhabitants) and the growing evolution of the municipal budget and human resources within the city council.
Plasencia
The list goes on. The city council of Plasencia (Cáceres) has approved the new salary of the mayor, Fernando Pizarro (PP). He will earn just over €56,000 gross per year. Six council members of the Partido Popular will also receive a salary increase of approximately €7,000. The PP voted in favour, the PSOE abstained and only Vox voted against.
Torrelodones
In Torrelodones, Madrid, the coalitions did not escape salary increases either. The PP and Vox have decided to receive 137% more salary than the previous city council. They both promised during the election campaign to reduce “unnecessary spending”. However, in a controversial council meeting last week, they agreed that this expenditure will increase from €484,509 to €1.15 million.
Durango
In Durango, Biscay, EH Bildu announced that Mireia Elkoroiribe, the city’s new mayor from the PNV, plans to raise her salary by 66% to €77,929 per year. If this is implemented, it means that she will earn €30,929 more than her predecessor.
Alaior (Menorca), Náquera (Valencia), Yebes (Guadalajara), Granada, Llucmajor (Mallorca) and Ferrol are other places where mayors have increased their salaries.
Marbella
The salary of the mayor of Marbella of €92,928.03 gross divided into 12 benefits is the maximum that the law allows a mayor in a municipality with a population between 150,001 and 300,000 inhabitants, as is the case in Marbella with 150,725 inhabitants. This makes Angeles Muñoz one of the highest-paid councillors in Spain.
It is striking that Muñoz draws attention to herself in this way after she has been frequently associated with corruption cases in the past year, in which her husband, who died in March, and stepson, were also said to have been closely involved. On May 20, just before the local elections, ElDiario.es wrote that all signs of corruption surrounding the mayor of Marbella were buried in a drawer of the National Court.
Also read: Dark shadow of corruption haunts Marbella mayor
The judge and the anti-drug prosecutor allegedly ignored the request of the police UDEF to open a line of inquiry for bribery, deception and influence Nor did they investigate a tip, nor did they value the confession of a former bodyguard. That former council officer is accused of selling information to the stepson that he extracted from council databases. According to him with the permission of the mayor.
