In the municipal elections of May 28, EH Bildu obtained an absolute majority – from 11 seats the Abertzale coalition obtained six, the PNV three and two candidates from Isuskitza neighbors – and Aitor Garagarza was appointed mayor of the villa on June 27.
Since then, the first economic decisions taken by the new government team have lowered the Mayor’s salary, and Garagarza will go from the almost 59,000 euros a year received by former nationalist Mayor Elixabete Uribarri to 35,000 euros a year. In addition, unlike the former councillor, the sovereign mayor will not have compatibility, that is, he will not be able to receive wages for other jobs.
The EUR 23,500 that the Mayor will no longer receive will be used to release Deputy Mayor Mercedes Etxegarai, who will remain active for two thirds. Garagarza has argued that "for a long time we have defended the need for another liberated person, today, because we consider that it is necessary to be another person, and we understand that this is how the wages of the mayor of Plentzia should be".
In addition to Deputy Mayor, Etxegarai will be Councilor for Culture, Holidays, Education, Finance and Youth. Izaro Gorostidi will also be responsible for the areas of Feminism and Participation; Izotz Amundarain, Ecological Transition and Heritage; Rosa Iturricastillo, Local Development and Social Justice; and Gregorio Aldama, Deportes y Occidente.
Lack of consistency
Opposition national party spokesman Iñaki Saenz de la Fuente said that EH Bildu's decision was not "consistent": "Now that it's possible, it hasn't cut public office spending, as they asked before they got to the Mayor."
