José Francisco Hila Vargas (born 1972) is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician. He was elected to Palma de Mallorca City Hall in 2007, and has been mayor from 2015 to 2017 and again since 2019.

Biography

Born in the working-class neighbourhood of Son Gotleu, Hila graduated in economics.[1] In 2007, he was elected to the City Council.[2] He was a deputy mayor to Aina Calvo from 2007 to 2011.[1]

In December 2014, Hila succeeded Calvo as lead candidate for the PSOE in Palma, with 63% of the votes.[2] In the elections of June 2015, his party won six seats, while Més per Mallorca and Podemos took five each; they formed a coalition and installed him as mayor, with the agreement to pass the role onto Antoni Noguera of Més halfway through the term in 2017.[1]

In the 2019 elections, Hila returned to being mayor, after forming a government with the same two parties and delegating certain policy areas to them.[3] He pledged to take action on housing, and to improve public transport and green areas.[4]

In March 2021, Hila attracted scrutiny for having cited the Law of Historical Memory to change the names of three streets he believed to have connotations to Francoist Spain. The streets honoured the Admirals Churruca, Gravina and Cervera, all of whom died decades before the Spanish Civil War. Hila believed that the streets were named after ships of the same name, used – not exclusively – by the Nationalists of the war. He later reversed his decision.[5][6][7][8] A proposal was also reversed on renaming a street named after Toledo, due to it being the site of a battle won by the Nationalists.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hila: "Hoy el corazón de Palma comienza a latir con otro ritmo, ha comenzado el cambio"" [Hila "Today the heart of Palma starts beating to another rhythm, change has begun"]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). 13 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 Vallespir, Aitor F. (1 December 2014). "José Hila, con el 63% de los votos, tratará de devolver la "ilusión" al PSOE de Palma" [José Hila, with 63% of the votes, will try to bring "excitement" back to Palma's PSOE]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Así queda el Pacte de Cort: Hila será el alcalde, Jarabo el portavoz municipal y Noguera el edil de Cultura" [How the government pact turned out: Hila will be the mayor, Jarabo the municipal spokesman and Noguera in charge of Culture]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 14 June 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Torio, Marcos (15 June 2019). "José Hila, investido alcalde de Palma: "La vivienda centrará la acción de mi gobierno"" [José Hila, invested as mayor of Palma: "Housing will take centre stage in my government"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ↑ Colom, Eduardo (26 March 2021). "El alcalde de Palma se ve obligado a paralizar el cambio de nombre de las calles que asoció a Franco" [The mayor of Palma sees himself as obliged to halt the name changes of the streets that he associated with Franco]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "El alcalde de Palma paraliza el cambio de nombres de calles que consideraba franquistas a los almirantes Gravina, Churruca y Cervera" [The mayor of Palma halts the change of street names of the admirals Gravina, Churruca and Cervera, which he considered Francoist]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 26 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cort repone las placas de los tres almirantes tras paralizar el cambio de nombre de calles" [City hall puts back street signs of the three admirals after halting the change of street names] (in Spanish). Última Hora. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Dezcallar, Jorge (28 March 2021). "Hacer el ridículo" [Doing the ridiculous]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "El Ayuntamiento de Palma mantiene la calle Toledo" [Palma City Hall is keeping the Calle Toledo]. La Tribuna de Toledo (in Spanish). 26 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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