In the streets of Albudeite the law of silence reigns. The day after the outbreak of the electoral fraud case for the alleged purchase of votes by mail, nobody wants to say one word higher than another, or give their name, or appear in a photo. “It’s a small town, we all know each other. Who am I talking about? You leave, but I stay here », says Lola, a woman who has gone out for a walk with her dog and prefers not to get into trouble, lowering her voice. “Then it takes its toll,” she says before getting lost in one of the narrow streets of the town.
Jesús Casales, one of the 15 arrested in the operation in which the mayoral candidate, Isabel Peñalver, the general secretary of the Albudeite PSOE, Héctor Antonio Martínez, and the number 6 on the municipal list, Lorena Navarro, are implicated. one of the few locals who doesn’t seem intimidated by the presence of the media. «The Civil Guard came and told me that I am accused of buying votes, but that is a lie. We have not bought anything -he defends-. If I earn 480 euros a month, how am I going to offer anything? If Isabel works in the hospital with a salary of a thousand euros, what votes is she going to buy herself? ».
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However, when Jesus is asked if he has ever heard of attempts to buy votes in exchange for drugs, he snorts. “If I told you,” he closes with a smile. Jesús was arrested for his relationship with the son of Isabel Peñalver, for whom he has carried out sporadic work, and that he was also arrested in the operation as a result of wiretapping. «Sometimes he calls me to work for the wages, because he has land and I am friends with him. This morning I was at his house and he is affected. He has nothing to do with politics », he reveals.
José González, a history of the PP in the town, who became deputy mayor, has also heard rumors about these vote purchases. «It has always been said that there was some vote buying here. Above all to people who lack means, to young people, or to those who are hooked », he asserts.
Another neighbor is more forceful: «Here there are several parties that have bought votes with grams of cocaine. In these elections and in past ones. Camels have been buying votes », he sentences.
For González, given the situation, “the easiest thing is to annul the vote by mail.” For him, it is strange that some inhabitants who reside in the town, with a register of less than 1,400 people, can choose to exercise their right to vote by post when they can do it in person. “Someone tell me what’s the point of voting by mail for an 18-year-old guy who’s going to be here smoking a joint on Sunday.”
“They are not bands, they are tribes”
In a nearby bar, a group of young people share a table and discuss the situation. «There is the dangerous thing. There is a lot of tension”, says one of them. Another, dressed in a white cap, says that this will be the first year that he will be able to vote, but shows his disappointment with the situation. «It is easy that on Sunday I do not even come down from my house. Politics is a disaster, here politics only causes fights, very strong fights and division in families. The comment is widespread in the town: the campaign makes the tension grow every four years and brings out “the worst” in each one, although never at the level of this year. “I had never seen so much aggressiveness,” says the mayor of the municipality, the popular Jesús García, who is jaded: “It is difficult to manage this. It doesn’t compensate. There is too much tension.” Although another customer, in the Tinfana bar, warns: «Then a week passes and everyone talks to each other again. But now, as a friend once told me, they are not factions, they are tribes.
Isabel Peñalver: “They have gone after us and I know who it was”
The PSOE candidate for mayor of Albudeite, Isabel Peñalver, told LA VERDAD that “nobody can say that I have approached him to offer him money for his vote.” “They have gone for us and I know who it was,” said the number one on the socialist list, who assures that she has “a very clear conscience”, although she confessed to being “sad” because “my name is being stained and I do not deserve it ».
“I have never bought a vote, no one can say that I have gone around saying ‘So-and-so, take this money in exchange for your vote,'” said the mayoral candidate, who also denies having anything to do with drug trafficking.
For his part, the current mayor of the municipality and candidate for re-election for the PP, Jesús García, confirmed yesterday that he has asked the party to ask the Electoral Board “to annul all voting by mail”, although he is aware that the measure will affect neighbors who have nothing to do with the alleged plot. “It is clear that we are going to annoy many people who will not be able to come to vote,” he pointed out at the gates of the Consistory. “I myself have two friends of mine who are in Madrid and who have already voted, who will not be able to come to vote on Sunday, but given the situation, it is the most logical thing,” he explained together with Antonio Cortés, number 5 on the list. of the PP.
García Martínez defended that ruling out voting by mail would also benefit the PSOE, “so that if a mayor or woman comes out, although I imagine that Isabel Peñalver would not take the minutes, there are no doubts about the cleanliness of her election.”
For the mayor, the image of Albudeite “cannot be stained”, and more so with the media attention aroused.
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