Francisco de la Torre will run again for Mayor of Malaga in 2027

Politics

The incumbent mayor is heading for the municipal elections for the seventh consecutive time

Pilar R. Quirós and Antonio M. Romero

Francisco de la Torre will once again run as the PP party's candidate at the municipal elections on 23 May 2027. He has been Mayor of Malaga since 2000.

This will be the seventh consecutive time that De la Torre will head the PP's candidature, after taking over from Celia Villalobos in May 2000 following her appointment as minister.

In May 2027, De la Torre will be 84 years old.

In the video he shared to make the announcement, the mayor is seen wearing sportswear and walking alongside the Centro Pompidou promenade. He says he has two announcements to make.

The first is that he will swim across the Port of Malaga on 9 August. "As I walk towards the pool, I review my schedule for the day and the week: the calls, messages, letters, meetings, public events… tasks and decisions. I look back and remember what Malaga was like 30 years ago, how we have all changed it, radically for the better. I think about the future: I imagine how we will continue growing and where we will go by combining our efforts and dedication. Together we have achieved this, but there are still great challenges ahead, starting with housing. We have attracted investment and quality jobs. Now we must achieve higher salaries and better training," De la Torre states inthe video.

Following this, he says that he has been mayor for 26 years and that he is "repeatedly" asked if he will run again. He then makes his second announcement: "Yes, I will run. I am prepared to continue dedicating all my time, all my attention, all my energy to Malaga. Now more than ever. As long as my health holds out, I will be here."

In the previous occasions when he was the lead candidate, in the elections of 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2023 he won by an absolute majority, while in 2015 and 2019 he had to make a pact with Ciudadanos, the first term with a legislature agreement and in the second with a local government pact that led to the entry of two Ciudadanos councillors into the PP ruling team.

Francisco de la Torre has made his decision a few days before the national PP holds an event in Galicia on Saturday, 18 July, to present the candidates for mayor of the major cities.

True to the tradition of his last two in-person announcements, De la Torre once again called the media to the Pedro Luis Alonso gardens, next to Malaga city hall.

Last week, the city hall was buzzing with anticipation of the mayor's imminent announcement. His entire inner circle insisted he would run for the position again, having the strength and ambitions for it.

Councillors have already been warned to prepare for no holidays this summer. The parties are vying for city council seats.

De la Torre, with his announcement of running again for mayor, has spearheaded the electoral calendar.

Read dedicated local reporting for Malaga city