Andrea Barquero, councillor for the Partido Popular in Las Torres de Cotillas, announced her resignation for health reasons on Tuesday, 18 August 2026. Formal acceptance is still pending and must be confirmed by the full council. According to consistent reports in regional media, this is already the fifth resignation of the current term at the town hall of the municipality in the Region of Murcia.
Barquero took up her council seat on 30 July and assumed responsibility for education and culture on 4 August. Just two weeks later, she is stepping down. The latest move thus comes unusually soon after she took over the portfolio, further increasing staff turnover at the town hall.
Mayor Pedro José Noguera (Partido Popular) emphasised that the resignation would take effect only once ratified by the full council. Until then, the formal status of the council seat remains open. It is not yet clear who will succeed Barquero. Noguera said that the Partido Popular electoral list had enough candidates to fill the vacancy.
The resignation adds to a series of changes on Las Torres de Cotillas town council. Previously, among others, Inga Popa (Vox) had filled a vacancy created by the departure of former mayor Isabel Zapata and taken over responsibility for personnel, urban planning, land-use planning and housing. A Vox councillor, who is under investigation for alleged abuse of office (prevaricación), also resigned this year, regional media reported. The concentration of personnel changes has repeatedly led to reshuffles of portfolios in recent months.
No changes to the education and culture portfolio have been officially announced pending formal confirmation of the resignation. According to the town hall, day-to-day administrative work is to continue uninterrupted; the municipality will decide on any possible redistribution of responsibilities after the vacancy is filled. Any claims about the impact on individual projects remain speculative at this stage, until the full council finalises the personnel decision.
The information is based on statements by municipal representatives and reports in regional media, including elDiario.es Región de Murcia, which document Barquero’s resignation, the outstanding procedural steps before the full council and previous changes on Las Torres de Cotillas town council.
Editor: Clara Simonichek (Article created with AI assistance).