The Brighton-born first British mayor in the Balearics is sworn in

Richard, who was born in Brighton and is a geography fieldwork professional and teacher, will not only become the first British mayor ever in the Balearics but also the only current serving British mayor in Spain, as things stand.

He is extremely excited about being able to work for a better future for Sant Joan but also feels very humbled that he has been entrusted by the local community to lead a team to take the municipality of some 3,000 people forward. Richard, who ran for Més per Mallorca, will lead a left-wing pact in Sant Joan after ousting El Pi as the most voted force on May 28.

Més per Mallorca and the PSOE reached an agreement last Sunday to govern the municipality for the next four years. The sum of these two parties gives them an absolute majority, which also guarantees stability.

First three years
According to the agreement between the Eco-nationalists and Socialists, the leader of Més, Richard, will hold the mayor’s office for the first three years. The PSOE candidate, Catalina Perelló, with whom he has a very close and good relationship, will occupy the post for the last year of the period of administration.

But how did this all come about?
“I have always been interested in politics, but debating it with my friends was about as far as I had been. I’ve never been an activist although I’ve always been left wing, but I never thought about a career in politics,” he told the Bulletin this week.

Barcelona
“I first moved to Spain in 2001 and held various positions in Andalusia and then Barcelona, which is where I met my future wife. She is from Sant Joan and we began visiting regularly in 2010 and then, in 2014, we decided to move to Mallorca, set up a small language academy and I became a ‘Sant Joaner’,” he said.

“Sant Joan, despite being relatively small, has such a dynamic community. I’ve never known anywhere with so many associations - there are at least 20 - be these for the young or the elderly, culture, sports. You name it, everyone is involved with something and there’s always something going on. Before I knew it I became a member and a councillor for the local Assemblea per Sant Joan party four years ago. We realised that people we’re not all that happy but we needed a stronger platform if we were really going to make a difference, so before Christmas we began talking to Més and the party gave us its blessing to run on their ticket for mayor in order to try and get into a position to be able to change the village for the better and we won five out of the total eleven council seats.

“The five councillors were two more than in the previous elections, when the party obtained three councillors. Més won 142 more votes. In 2019 Més ran together with the local group Assemblea per Sant Joan.

Urgent short-term matters
“For his part, the current mayor, Francesc Mestre, of El Pi has dropped two councillors and has only obtained three representatives, which distances him from the majority he was on the verge of obtaining in 2019 after getting 229 fewer votes. The PP has managed to maintain its two councillors and the PSIB has also kept its only councillor.
“So we managed to form a pact with the Socialists and on Saturday I will be sworn in as mayor for the next three years.

“Some of us are aware that there are many simple actions to improve Sant Joan that are urgent in the short term, while others will take longer and will need funding and grants from the Council of Mallorca. We will obviously have to see how the formation of the main administrations eventually take place.

“That said, the team and I intend to break the mould of ‘traditional local government’. I mentioned the associations, they are the lifeline of the local community, so they are going to play an important role and we’ve singled out 12 main areas we believe need attention and improvement such as health, education, sustainability, traffic and roads and senior citizens.

12 areas of vital importance
“We’ve selected areas of vital importance and we are going to approach them all as a team; no single person is going to be responsible for any particular area.
“I want to get rid of the old rigid approach to local councils and create a more inclusive approach, one of collaboration and distributive leadership.
“We ran a very positive election campaign and want that positivity to continue and, if it is in the best interests of the people of Sant Joan, I will talk to opposition parties, apart from Vox if I can help it; that’s what I mean by inclusive.
“One thing I have learnt since the elections is that there are many people who voted for us at a local level but voted for the Partido Popular or even Vox at a regional level.

Wanting the best
“One thing is wanting the best for the local community, the other is what people want for the Balearics and expect from the main administrations - the Balearic government and the Council of Mallorca. So, based on that, I need to keep an open mind and put Sant Joan first.

“As a geographer and having been in charge of field studies on the mainland, my expertise will be channelled into mobility, roads and local transport, for example.
“I will be working on projects to encourage more people to walk or cycle and reduce the dependency on cars and the need for huge car parks.

“And we have a very young and talented team. I’m the eldest by far at 52, plus we have a very good and close working relationship with the Socialists. And my former colleagues from the Assemblea are on hand to give me any advice I may need,” Robert said.

“But I am extremely proud to have been elected mayor. I think it’s testimony to the people of Sant Joan and how open minded they are - to have a foreigner running the town hall.
“Yes, Sant Joan is a very cosmopolitan multicultural community. The head of the primary school told me they havestudents from some 20 different nationalities, which I think is great; it brings more colour to the community. We’ve got people from the mainland, the UK, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and Japan, for example, and that enriches life, especially when everybody is working and living together in such a lively community,” Richard explained, although he admitted that he is aware of some foreign communities in other parts of the island who are concerned and worried about the further emergence of the far-right party Vox.

Not a ‘sound bite’ politician
“I have to admit, and my wife is a journalist, I’m not a ‘sound bite politician’, but I know what my team and I believe in and we know what the people of Sant Joan expect. I will have an open-door policy prepared to confront any problems facing the local community.
“We have a few Airbnbs, some excellent rural hotels and agroturism hotels around us, but we’re not on the main cycle routes like other neighbouring municipalities in the Pla such as Petra or Sineu, but we also have a few famous and first-class restaurants which are very popular with residents and locals alike, so we’re off the main tourism beat if you like.

“That said, we believe in responsible tourism and getting the right balance. We’re open for business, obviously we all need to make a living and for Mallorca tourism is very much the key. But we’re certainly not moving towards a tourism boom by any means.
“We’re a small municipality off the beaten track and that is one of the great attractions of Sant Joan and I’m convinced that the majority of people would like to keep it that way. I think it’s one of the main reasons foreign residents have moved into the area. They want to experience the very best of rural Mallorca and its traditions and, as I’ve said, there’s never a dull moment in Sant Joan,” Richard stressed.

“In the meantime, I’ve also got to sit down and perfect my Catalan.
“I know I should have done more in Barcelona, but one member of the team is from Valencia and when she talks in Valencian that throws me as well. Plus there’s the matter of dialects and accents. TV Catalan can be quite removed from Mallorcan in the villages, although I’m told I do have a Sant Joan accent. All the more reason for feeling so humbled to have being elected and the least I can do is brush up on my Catalan as quickly as possible,” Richard said.
He’s certainly got his work cut out.