The recent division in the Santiago de Compostela City Council has been met with a rapid response. A mere few hours after six rebellious councillors defied the local executive and voted in support of a motion concerning the regulation of tourist apartments in the Galician capital, the municipal PSOE party began the necessary procedures to penalise them. The debate surrounding tourist apartments has caused a rift within the already strained Santiago socialist party.
Mercedes Rosón, Milagros Castro, Gumersindo Guinarte, Marta Abal, Gonzalo Muíños, and Marta Álvarez disregarded the municipal leader of the PSdeG, Aitor Bouza, and chose to vote in favour of a motion to regulate the communication to the local government of tourist and room-rental apartments at the council meeting on Monday. The municipal socialist group wasted no time in responding.
In a statement released shortly after the rift registered at the council meeting, the municipal PSOE announced that «in light of the failure to comply with party rules», the local group would inform the provincial, their immediately higher body, so that the «appropriate measures according to the PSOE statutes» could be adopted. In plain language: the way was paved for the six rebellious councillors to be penalised.
Conflict Over Tourist Apartments
For the umpteenth time in recent days, the local PSOE attempted to justify why it ordered its councillors to abstain: they believed that the motion approved on Monday, with votes from the BNG, Compostela Aberta and PSdeG, «had no impact on either the prohibition or the legalisation of VUTs», that is, tourist use apartments.
The executive headed by Aitor Bouza recalled, in the same press release, that tourist-use apartments in the historic city centre have been prohibited since 2023 thanks, precisely, to the Socialist Party. Therefore, «what was approved today in the plenary session does not modify the previous one, it merely approved the form for prior communications», they added in that communique.
The municipal PSOE believes that this latest ordinance approved on Monday is nothing more than a «smokescreen» by the nationalist mayor, Goretti Sanmartín, «due to the inability to fulfil the electoral promises to which they committed during the campaign».
However, not all councillors agreed with this stance. The six aforementioned councillors chose to defy the party line, instead supporting the motion to regulate tourist apartments. This act of rebellion has been met with swift action from the party, which is now in the process of penalising the councillors for their defiance.
Regardless of the internal divisions within the PSOE, the fact remains that this ongoing debate over the regulation of tourist apartments in Santiago de Compostela is a significant issue. With the city’s status as a key tourist destination, the question of how to manage and regulate tourist apartments will continue to be a central topic of discussion within the city council. The rebel councillors’ actions have brought this issue to the forefront, and while they may face penalties for their defiance, they have certainly sparked a broader discussion about the future of tourism and housing in the city.
The story of Santiago de Compostela’s council’s latest meeting is not just a story of political infighting or party discipline. It’s a story about the future of the city, and how it will navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by its status as a tourist hotspot. As the debate continues, all eyes will be on the council and its handling of this critical issue.