The secretary general of the PSOE in Santander and socialist candidate for mayor, Daniel Fernández, has asserted that "Santander cannot have a part-time mayor" after Gema Igual announced her candidacy for the Senate. He questioned how she would manage her duties as mayor while serving in the Senate, stating, "If she is here seven days a week now and has Santander as it is, how will it be when she spends three days a week in the Senate?"
Fernández has called on Igual to explain how she intends to juggle her responsibilities as mayor with her candidacy for the Senate representing the Partido Popular (PP). He expressed concern that if conditions in Santander are already poor under her leadership, they would only worsen with her in the Senate. He described her candidacy as an indication that she is seeking an escape route from what he termed an "announced defeat" in the municipal elections scheduled for May 2027.
He further claimed that Igual's proposal to lead the Senate candidacy is a "desperate move" in light of her anticipated electoral loss. Fernández remarked, "Gema Igual knows she will not return as mayor of Santander after ten years, during which she has left the city in a worse state than she found it in 2016. Public services are deteriorating while taxes are at an all-time high, streets are dirtier, and there are more rats than ever. Everything functions, but it never works properly."
According to Fernández, the word "never" encapsulates Gema Igual's impact on Santander, suggesting she should never have been mayor and that no one in their right mind would consider replicating her failed model elsewhere. He also noted that the PP seems to have learned nothing from her failures, pointing to her lack of engagement as a deputy in the Cantabria Parliament.
Fernández stated, "If the PP presents Gema Igual for the Senate after her record in the Cantabria Parliament, it only tells Cantabrians one thing: their model is one of inaction, as she has already demonstrated in Cantabria. Cantabrians deserve senators who will work to defend their interests in Madrid, and Gema Igual exemplifies the opposite."
He further criticised that as Gema Igual accumulates more positions, Santander is increasingly neglected. He highlighted that she is not only a regional deputy but also the vice president of the Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). "She has as many roles and responsibilities as she does incompetence and lack of effective work in all of them," he stated.
Fernández questioned what merits Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP leader, sees in Gema Igual's management to propose her as a senator, arguing that the state of Santander after years of PP governance does not warrant any recognition. He posed the pressing question for Santander's residents: with so many roles, when will she dedicate the necessary time to address the city's issues?
He reminded that Santander continues to face significant challenges, including housing access difficulties, cleanliness issues in various neighbourhoods, unplanned mobility, a General Urban Planning Plan pending for a decade, and a long list of delayed projects. "While thousands of Santander residents struggle to find housing, while neighbours continue to demand improvements in their areas, and while major city projects stagnate, the PP is focused on finding a new political role for Gema Igual," he concluded.
Ultimately, Fernández emphasised that Santander needs governance that listens to its residents, addresses their problems, and advances projects that have been waiting for years. "Santander cannot afford to wait for its mayor to return from Madrid to resolve its issues," he stated.
