Yesterday, Tuesday, September 2, Els Poblets held its ordinary September plenary session amidst the controversy surrounding the vote of no confidence faced by its mayor, José Luis Mas, which had left him and his team, Cristina Bisquert, Joan Orpi, Natalia Carrió and Miguel Ángel Moncho, the latter of the independent party Vivim Els Poblets, out of the local government.
The event proceeded normally, except for the crowd of people who turned out in support of the executive. Residents of Els Poblets gathered near the town hall to show their support. During the plenary session, the room where it was taking place was packed to the rafters, as the regional executives of both Compromís and the PSPV-PSOE (Socialist Workers' Party) wanted to appear. Among them were the regional secretary of the PSPV, José Ramiro; the regional secretary of Compromís, Alberto Robles; and the Valencian regional deputy, Gerard Fullana.
It was at the end of the plenary session that Mas took the floor to address the situation. The mayor opined that the arguments put forward by the signatories of the motion of censure were "ridiculous." A motion that, in his words, "the people here present did not want, much less in the manner in which it was presented."
Mas asserted that he had never suspected that Francisco Pérez had had any problems working with the governing team. Pérez, a PRE councilor, signed the governing pact in 2023 with Compromís and Vivim Els Poblets to form the local executive, but he was also the one who presented the motion of censure to the city council during the last week of August, signed in coalition with three PSPV councilors and two from the PP. The mayor directly accused Pérez and the Socialist councilor Carolina Vives: "People come together for love and money, and we know the relationship between you, Fran, and Carolina. We know there is no love, because there has always been continued disrespect."
Finally, the Valencian mayor expressed his gratitude, above all, for the support received from his colleagues in Compromís Els Poblets and the regional executive committee of his party, as well as from the PSPV-PSOE (Socialist Workers' Party). "I have never felt abandoned." He also had words of recognition for his family, his teammate from Vivim Els Poblets, and finally for the new councilor, Eva Candel, of the PSPV-PSOE (Socialist Workers' Party), for withdrawing her support for the motion and preventing it from being carried out. "An exceptional person, who entered City Hall on August 21st, got her to sign a motion while withholding information from her. She realized this; she wanted to listen to the people. For me, you are more from Els Poblets than some of those sitting at this table. You have dignified politics, and for once, the good guys have won," Mas explained, referring to Candel.
The signatories of the motion of censure will not vote on it.
For their part, the councilors who registered the motion of censure announced yesterday that they would not attend the extraordinary plenary session called for next Wednesday, September 10, where the debate was scheduled. According to the newspaper Canfali, the councilors argue that their resignation is due to a lack of support following the Socialist councilor's decision to disassociate herself from the initiative and join the governing team alongside Compromís and Vivim Els Poblets.
The motion was signed by PSPV councilors Carolina Vives and Candi Vives, PP councilors Maria José Fernández and José Luis Ribes, and the mayoral candidate for Proyecto Residentes Els Poblets, Francisco Pérez. In their joint statements, they stated that, since there were no guarantees of success, they had chosen not to participate in the plenary session "in order to avoid further social tensions."
The councilors also rejected criticism that the initiative was a "moció de la vergonya" (motion of shame) and insisted that a vote of no confidence is a legitimate mechanism provided for in local legislation. They stated that their proposal responded to a shared municipal management project, but that, in this case, it could no longer be implemented.
