Luis Barcala

Luis José Barcala Sierra (born in 1962) is a lawyer and the current mayor of Alicante, Spain since 19 April 2018.[1][2]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Barcala and the second or maternal family name is Sierra.
Luis Barcala
Mayor of Alicante
Assumed office
19 April 2018
Preceded byGabriel Echávarri
Member of the City Council of Alicante
Assumed office
9 September 2011
Personal details
Born (1962-03-19) 19 March 1962
Sant Joan d'Alacant
CitizenshipSpanish
Political partyPeople's Party
Profession
  • lawyer
  • politician

Biography

Luis Barcala was born in Sant Joan d'Alicante.[3] His father, Luis Barcala Muñoz, captain in the Spanish Air Force, died in a plane crash in Los Llanos, Albacete on November 19, 1974.[4]

In his childhood, he was an athlete and in 1975 he won the Alicante provincial youth championship in 80 meters and 300 meter sprint.[5]

He has been heavily involved in festivities of the Hogueras de San Juan. Since 1995 he has been a member of the "barraca" Els Chuanos[6] (a social group that organizes activities during the event).[7] In 1998 he became vice-secretary[8] and in 2001 he became president of the barraca.[9][10]

Political career

In 2005, Luis Barcala joined the executive committee of the People's Party (PP) of Alicante as secretary of Study and Programs.[11] In 2011, he became city councilor of Alicante after José Joaquín Ripoll resigned after being appointed president of the Port of Alicante.

In December 2013, he became councilor for Health and Environment in the administration of mayor Sonia Castedo. He resigned after the election of May 24th, 2015 when the Valencian Socialist Party (PSPV-PSOE), Guanyar Alacant (consisting of the United Left, Podemos, Green Party and the Socialist Alternative) and Compromis formed an alliance (holding 15 of 29 council seats) to remove the PP from the city government and made Gabriel Echávarri mayor.[12]

Mayor of Alicante

On March 23, 2018, Gabriel Echávarri resigned after being indicted in several criminal cases, include allegations that he had fired the sister-in-law of Barcala in retaliation for the PP filing a criminal complain against him.[13] PSPV-PSOE councilor Eva Montesinos became interim mayor, but city councilor Nerea Belmonte (who had previously been expelled from Podemos) abstained in the vote to confirm her.[14] Since there was now no majority supporting an alternative candidate, Luis Barcala became mayor on April 19, 2018, as he had received the most seats in the 2015 election.[15] There was an investigation into a possible attempt to bribe Nerea Belmonte to vote for Eva Montesinos,[16] but the prosecutor closed the case due there being no evidence of a crime.[17]

In the local elections of May 26, 2019, Barcala's People's Party won the most seats in Alicante, but did not achieve an absolute majority. With the help of Citizens, he received 14 of 29 council votes and was re-elected, as none of the other parties were able to form an alternative majority coalition and voted for their own candidates.[18][19]

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References
  1. "Luis Barcala (PP), nuevo alcalde de Alicante tras el voto en blanco de la ex de Podemos, Nerea Belmonte". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  2. "Luis Barcala Sierra". Ayuntamiento de Alicante (in Spanish). 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  3. Press, Europa (2019-05-27). "Barcala, un abogado con tres másteres y alma de pintor se consolida tras un año al frente de Alicante". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  4. "ABC (Madrid) - 26/11/1974, p. 100 - ABC.es Hemeroteca". hemeroteca.abc.es. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  5. "Cantidad y calidad de participantes en la primera jornada de los sábados atléticos". Diario Información (in Spanish). 13 November 1975.
  6. "Ramón Marco pasa a formar parte de la popular barraca Els Chuanos". Diario Información (in Spanish). December 31, 1995.
  7. INFORMACION. "Conoce las 47 barracas de las Hogueras de Alicante 2018, Hogueras de Alicante 2018, INFORMACION". www.diarioinformacion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  8. "Els Chuanos presenta a su directiva a bordo de un barco". Diario Información (in Spanish). 2 August 1998.
  9. "Cena de Els Chuanos". Diario Información (in Spanish). 16 June 2001.
  10. S.L, EDICIONES PLAZA. "Podem culpa a Echávarri, al PSPV, a Cs y a la tránsfuga Belmonte del retorno del PP a Alicante". Alicanteplaza (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  11. "De España asume el control del PP en Alicante con un apoyo superior al 70%". Diario Información (in Spanish). 19 April 2005.
  12. "Luis Barcala descarta dimitir como presidente local y se postula para liderar la regeneración del PP". www.diarioinformacion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  13. "La juez imputa al alcalde de Alicante por un presunto fraccionamiento de contratos". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  14. Sánchez, Manrique C. (2018-04-20). "Luis Barcala: "Espero que la Generalitat no dé la espalda a Alicante por el cambio político"". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  15. "El PP recupera Alicante al fracasar el pacto del PSOE con la tránsfuga de Podemos. Noticias de Comunidad Valenciana". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  16. Press, Europa (2018-05-16). "Fiscalía llamará a declarar a Nerea Belmonte en la investigación por la supuesta compra de su voto". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  17. "Nerea Belmonte, ¿caso cerrado?". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  18. A.P, AlicantePress EFE /. "Luis Barcala es elegido alcalde de Alicante con el apoyo de Cs". Alicante Press | Información sobre la actualidad de Alicante (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  19. INFORMACION. "Barcala, reelegido alcalde de Alicante con el único apoyo de Ciudadanos". www.diarioinformacion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-06-24.
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