The mayor scheduled the meeting to coincide with the anticipated absence of socialist councilor and regional deputy, Macarena Robles, who is required to attend a session at the Parliament of Andalusia. Bella, governing with a minority, hopes this move will break the opposition's majority that has thus far blocked his flagship parking project.
The opposition, comprising Almonte 100x100, Mesa de Convergencia, PSOE, and Vox, has already rejected the proposal twice. The Junta de Andalucía also declared its implementation by decree illegal. The initial plan was for the contracted company to start collecting fees from the beach parking areas by May 15th.
“"If you had any doubt, of course we are going to do it; our insistence will be to bring this up again and again until it passes."
Adding to the political deadlock is a judicial inquiry. The Civil and Instruction Section of the Court of Instance of La Palma del Condado has opened preliminary proceedings to clarify potential irregularities in the awarding of the 'blue zone' contract, valued at 47.12 million euros for a 30-year period. The local government remains silent on these criminal investigations.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez, a non-attached councilor from Almonte 100x100, criticized the council meeting's timing as "an impressive political low" and "cheating with the calendar." He denounces the local government's lack of transparency, with 52 information requests unanswered, and labels the execution of the contract without legal backing as "a real recklessness."
Meanwhile, José Miguel Espina, municipal spokesperson for the PSOE, views the maneuver as the mayor's "last play" and warns that reintroducing the same rejected ordinances is "illegal." He noted that his party had formally notified the City Council about the Andalusian Parliament's schedule to prevent such interference.
Espina recounted a previous council meeting, also held on a Thursday during the Feria, where he had to cut short a family cruise to attend. The mayor remains determined to "bring this up again and again until it passes," even if it means coinciding with the town's fair.
