It looks like the current mayor of Ronda is on his way out! Although the socialist party, PSOE, led by Antonio María Marín Lara, nickname Toti, polled more votes than any other party in last Sunday’s local election, the seven seats allocated are insufficient to govern in the 21 seat council.Oh, and he's also a cheapskate!

And nobody is prepared to enter into a coalition with Lara, who famously abandoned the party that elected him in 2007, the Partido Andalucista (PA), and defected with eight other PA councillors to PSOE in 2010.

Officially branded a traitor it was unlikely that he would ever be trusted again, either by the citizens of Ronda or by other politicians. And so it has turned out. It looks 99% certain that the Partido Popular (PP) led by Maripaz Fernández, who also have seven seats, will form the new council with the PA, which has five seats.

Interestingly, on Friday evening Sr Lara was taking coffee with two colleagues in the hotel where I was having a pre-dinner beer. The waiter indicated to me that they were talking politics – no doubt plotting Lara’s escape from public life with as few repercussions as possible. Rumour has it he’s doing a "Neil Kinnock", ie he’s off to a well-paid job at the Diputación Provincial – a bit like the ex-Labour Party leader heading off to Brussels to be a highly paid European Commissioner.

Oh, and when Lara paid the bill, he left no tip! Enough said?

© Paul Whitelock

Tags:  mayor of Ronda, Local election, socialist party, PSOE, Antonio María Marín Lara, Toti, cheapskate, PP, PA, Ronda, Partido Andalucista, Partido Popular, Maripaz Fernández, paul whitelock, www.a1-solutions-spain.com