Joan Munar takes over from Toni Salas as mayor of Costitx after 19 years
The new mayor has been elected unanimously, with the favorable vote of the PP, and assures that municipal politics is a “vocation” to make “a better town”
PalmaCostitx has experienced one of the most notable institutional changes of recent years this weekend. Following the resignation formalized this Friday by Toni Salas, who has been at the head of the Mayor's Office for 19 years, this Saturday Joan B. Munar Munar was elected the new mayor of Costitx in an extraordinary investiture plenary session held at 12 p.m.
Munar was elected unanimously, with the votes of his government team and also the PP councilor, who is in the opposition. The new mayor thus officially assumes the baton of command after having carried out a good part of the day-to-day municipal management during this term.
The change has put an end to almost two decades of Salas at the head of the City Council and has opened a new stage that, in accordance with the municipal calendar, will be maintained until the next elections on May 23.
A farewell marked by emotion
The first of the two plenary sessions, held on Friday afternoon at the House of Culture, was marked by emotion. The main hall proved too small to accommodate the people who wanted to accompany Toni Salas in his farewell after 19 years as mayor.
Family members, friends, local associations, and political representatives attended, including El Pi leaders Tomeu Gili, Pere Sánchez, Josep Melià, Maria Antònia Sureda, and Jaume Montserrat, as well as the former mayor of Porreres, Xisca Mora, and the mayors of Sencelles, Joan Carles Verd, and Ariany, Joan Ribot. The first mayoress of Costitx, Maria Antònia Munar, was also present.
During the session, all the councilors of the Corporation had words of recognition for Salas and highlighted the legacy he leaves behind after nearly two decades at the helm of the municipality.
In his farewell speech, Salas thanked everyone for the support received over these years and remembered the people who have helped him during his political career. He asserted that together they had contributed to “making Costitx the best town in Mallorca”.
One of the most emotional moments of his speech came when he remembered Llorenç Ramis, a former councilor and colleague of the corporation who passed away during this same term.
“Politics in a town is not about sitting in an office chair”
The next day, on Saturday at noon, Joan Munar officially assumed the position of mayor. The new mayor has accumulated 15 years of experience as a councilman, since he began in municipal politics in the 2011 elections.
In his first speech as mayor, Munar thanked Toni Salas for the trust placed in him and highlighted the personal relationship they have maintained throughout all these years. “Toni and I started as teammates and for me he is now more than a friend,” he stated.
Munar also highlighted the vocational dimension of municipal politics, especially in small towns. “Politics in a town is not about sitting in an office chair,” he pointed out. According to the new mayor, it is not “a conventional job but a vocational one,” which requires “going out into the streets and working for the town.”
In this sense, he recalled the years when, as a councilman, he would find time wherever he could to organize municipal activities and events without receiving anything in return. “I did it because I liked it, just like now. It was and is my calling, to make Costitx a better town,” he defended.
Maria Antònia Munar: “Costitx is a brave town”
Among the people present at the inauguration was also Maria Antònia Munar, the first female mayor of Costitx during the democratic era, who wanted to highlight the unity shown during the transition.
Munar defined Costitx as "a brave town" and recalled that it already demonstrated this 48 years ago, when the citizenry voted for a woman to occupy the Mayor's Office. She also highlighted that it is "a united town," as she considers it has been proven by the unanimous election of Joan Munar, with the favorable vote of the PP councilor, who is in the opposition.
At the end of the plenary session, the first female mayor of democracy in Costitx took a picture with the two mayors who have occupied the Mayor's Office during the last decades: Toni Salas and Joan Munar.
The third mayor since 1979
With the changeover, Costitx has its third mayor of the democratic era, which began in 1979.
In the first municipal elections of the democracy, Maria Antònia Munar assumed the Mayoralty of Costitx, first with the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) and subsequently with Majorcan Union (UM).
In June 2007, Toni Salas took over and held the Mayoralty for 19 years, first with UM and subsequently with Convergence for the Islands and El Pi.
Now it is Joan Munar who takes command of the Council, thus completing a changeover that, unlike other municipal changes, maintains the same line of government and the projects that were already underway in the municipality.
