In the volatile political landscape of San Bartolomé de Tirajana , alliances are forged with the same coldness with which investment funds divide up hotel land . The electoral machine of the Canary Coalition (CC) has begun fine-tuning its strategy for the upcoming municipal elections in the main economic engine of southern Gran Canaria , through a convergence agreement with Primero Canarias (Prica) , the brand promoted by the critical sector that broke organically with the traditional leadership of Nueva Canarias . The move, designed to shield the nationalist flank from the dominant bloc, contains one of the most bitter paradoxes of local politics, forcing the traditional party to coexist with the faction responsible for its previous ousting from power. Controlling the mayoralty of the Canary Islands' economic capital could be easy for CC without having to rely on Prica, and it's not out of the question that each will run independently and, if the opportunity arises, join forces. In CC they fear one thing: being devoured by Prica if a cascading pact is applied throughout the island, that is, if CC in Tenerife does not remember that the weight that the nationalist formation has in the south of Gran Canaria has been worked centimeter by centimeter “without sectarianism” with the stability of the current agreements with AV-PP.
For the mid-level members of the Canary Coalition (CC), the group photo with the representatives of First Canaries (PRICA) has a bitter aftertaste. Political memory in the offices of Maspalomas is long, and no one has forgotten the schism of the 2019 term , when the councilors who now make up PRICA unilaterally broke the governing pact. That maneuver was carried out behind the backs of, and without the explicit mandate of, the island councils of Las Palmas, leading to CC's expulsion from the governing alliance it maintained with the PSOE and sending the nationalists directly to the opposition benches for four years.
The placement of Samuel Henríquez in the number three spot on the alternating list aims to guarantee social peace within a sector of the local civil service, taxi drivers, and businesses where the municipalist platform retains specific electoral bases after its split from the historic Nueva Canarias party. The design of the shared candidacy dilutes Prica's influence from the fifth position onward, ensuring that Coalición Canaria retains absolute control of the municipal group and key management areas should it regain control of the tourist town hall. CC's grassroots members are watching with suspicion as the quota system grants a privileged position to those who fractured the discipline of the southern bloc, a move that will test Marichal's authority to maintain cohesion while digesting a pact dictated by the sheer necessity of power.
The future electoral list will be rigidly constrained by gender parity legislation, forcing a strict alternating pattern (man, woman, man, or vice versa) that already defines the starting positions in order to disrupt the balance of power in the Tirajana council. The current CC leader and key figure in the municipal government, Alejandro Marichal , will head the mayoral candidacy. The second spot is legally reserved for a woman, a profile expected to be provided by CC members to consolidate the candidate's inner circle. The third position will mark the return of Samuel Henríquez, the local leader of Primero Canarias, leaving the fourth spot for another female representative of the nationalist party in a mathematical alternation that will continue until the list is complete.
The urgency to consolidate a unified nationalist front is a direct response to the extreme fragmentation reflected in the latest local election results, where the mobilization of 20.501 voters (57,68% turnout compared to 42,31% abstention) resulted in a 25-member municipal council without clear hegemonies. The election results placed the PP-AV in the lead with 7 councilors and 5.363 votes (26,42%), tied with the Canarian Coalition, which burst onto the scene with another 7 councilors thanks to its 4.828 votes (23,79%). The PSOE fell to third place with 6 councilors and 4.045 votes (19,93%), while New Canaries (NC-FAC) held onto 5 seats and 3.390 votes (16,7%), leaving forces like Vox (4,18%) and Let's Talk Now (4,05%) out of the council. This scenario, with an absolute majority threshold of 13 councilors, forces blocs to seek mergers before the elections to guarantee the governability of Maspalomas.
The island leadership is now forced to bear the political cost of reintegrating the architects of that municipal coup in an exercise of pragmatism that many within the party openly describe as karmic retribution. The imperative to consolidate the Canarian nationalist movement in the south and prevent votes from being lost to conservative forces has outweighed past grievances, forcing Alejandro Marichal to coordinate his future team with the very people who destabilized his executive position in the past.
