Ferran Montero, the favorite to succeed Miquel Oliver in Manacor

PalmThe Councilor for Culture, Ferran Montero, is currently the preferred choice to replace Miquel Oliver as MÉS candidate in Manacor. The current mayor's move to island politics – foreseeably, to the lists for the Consell de Mallorca – leaves a significant void in the City Council and has activated the speculation. Although nothing is official or finalized and negotiations continue, sources from the party point to Montero as the most viable option at present, and everything suggests he will team up with the also Councilor for Public Spaces, Joana Maria Llull. Be that as it may, it is not the only possibility on the table, and any candidacy will be submitted to an internal primary process.

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For her part, Joana Maria Llull (1983) is a social educator and has recently taken on the coordination of MÉS Esquerra in the municipality. According to municipal sources consulted, Llull teams up with Montero. Although it has not been entirely decided who will be number one, the order could change and Llull could take a step forward with Montero as second. However, today, it is most likely that she will be the councilor's number two in the candidacy for the primary process that the formation will face during the month of June.

On the other hand, these names are not the only ones in the running. The name of Sebastià Llodrà also sounds, Oliver's right-hand man in the City Council and who is considered the most continuity option with the current mayor. The professor has been a councilor in the City Council for eleven years. He has extensive experience in the municipality, but he also suffers from the wear and tear of Oliver's mandate, points out a party source in the municipality.

This is the snapshot of the starting points of the race in a process in which the membership will have the final say. The group has formed an executive made up of twelve people who are holding meetings to choose a new candidacy and a strategy to face the 2027 elections, and all the profiles that appear in the running to replace Oliver are participating. The most important thing, assure MÉS sources, is that the final decision is made with minimal internal tensions. "They are complex replacements," points out a source from the party's executive: "It is a challenge for the group, as Oliver is a figure who carries a lot of weight".

In fact, when consulted by ARA Balears, Oliver has avoided confirming the information and leaning towards a candidate, in addition to insisting on maintaining neutrality in the process. In a recent interview, he limited himself to pointing out that the head of the list will come from the current government team. This Wednesday, the formation has convened the membership for an assembly to kick off the primaries. The mayor of Manacor gained a councilor in the last elections, in a context of general decline for the left. With this result, Oliver has become one of the main cards in the deck for the ecosocialists for the next electoral cycle.