The mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, has been summoned to testify as an investigated party on October 23 for an alleged sexual assault. The number 2 Court of Violence against Women in the city of Cadiz has admitted the complaint of a young militant of the PP's Nuevas Generaciones for events that allegedly occurred in the Mayor's office.
The summons adds a judicial front to the mayor's crisis, who refuses to resign despite having lost the support of the majority of his Government. Twelve popular councilors and the four from the far-right Vox have registered a no-confidence motion to replace him with Jacinto Muñoz, his until now number two, which will be voted on October 28, five days after his judicial appearance.
Two complaints from PP militants
The complaint that led to this summons was filed on October 12 and places the events on July 10. According to 'Europa Sur', which has had access to the order, the young woman claims that she suffered a sexual assault in municipal premises. The complainant, a trusted official in the City Council, states that the mayor touched her breasts under the pretext of examining a mole.
The woman, who is on sick leave, had told members of the PP of Algeciras what happened without any measures being taken, according to information about the case. She later conveyed her testimony to the provincial president of the party, Bruno García. The initial response of the local PP is thus under question, while García defends that the mechanisms against harassment have worked and that the leadership acted after personally listening to the complainants.
The other complaint was filed in early October before the Supreme Court, given Landaluce's condition as a senator at the time. Another PP affiliate attributes to him two alleged sexual assaults in 2020 and 2021, one in his medical center and another in the City Council. That procedure is still awaiting a report from the Prosecutor's Office for the high court to decide on its admission; it is, therefore, in a different procedural situation from the case opened in Algeciras.
The court has also summoned Jacinto Muñoz and Patricia Bueno as witnesses for October 22. Both represent the two positions that emerged in the municipal team after the complaints. Muñoz leads the operation to replace the mayor, while Bueno is one of the three councilwomen who have maintained their support for Landaluce and against whom the PP has opened a disciplinary file.
Fifteen years of power and a rupture in the PP
Landaluce has governed Algeciras since 2011 and left the PP membership in December 2025, after a previous complaint by the PSOE for alleged sexual abuse that was dismissed. His departure from the party did not end the support of the popular councilors, who continued to be part of his Government until this week.
The provincial leadership demanded his resignation on Monday, after learning of the testimonies of the two affiliates. Faced with his refusal, twelve councilors abandoned their government responsibilities on Tuesday, although they retained their seats, and subsequently signed the motion of no confidence with Vox. The mayor maintains his institutional agenda and has blamed the PSOE for the complaints filed against him.
Muñoz, who aspires to succeed him after more than fifteen years of working by his side, has defended the mayor's presumption of innocence in statements to EFE. "Nothing has been proven and we do not make any judgment," he stated. To justify the PP's continued support after the previous complaint, he argued that it was a political strategy by the PSOE and that now it is the allegedly affected women themselves who have filed the complaint. Asked about Landaluce's accusation against the socialists, he replied that he does not know if they are behind it.
The rupture has also caused a loss of members and has forced the local PP to explain to its militants why it intends to remove the person who led the organization and the City Council for years. Muñoz has called a meeting of members for next Monday, October 19, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hotel Alborán, to address the decision and the municipal handover.
