Juan Cabrera says Mayra Marichal is the ‘right fit’ to lead the Fuerteventura Island Council bid and announces a ‘free vote’ in the general election

Antigua Mayor Juan Cabrera has once again highlighted the internal disagreements within Asambleas Municipales de Fuerteventura (AMF). In an interview with La Voz de Fuerteventura on Friday, he said that Mayra Marichal, the party’s spokesperson on Puerto del Rosario Town Council, had the right profile to lead its bid for the Fuerteventura Island Council. He also criticised the way his party had approached the general election on 29 November, announcing that “people will be free to vote as they wish”.

His comments came as the election campaign began on Friday. Rubén Reyes is standing for the Senate for Unidad del Pueblo Canario (UPC), a ticket made up of Podemos, Sumar, Izquierda Unida and Nueva Canarias. Nueva Canarias is also part of Alianza por Fuerteventura, alongside AMF and Juntos Por Pájara.

“I found out through the media that AMF had a candidate for the Senate”

Asked about Rubén Reyes’s candidacy and his party’s election strategy, Cabrera said he knew of no internal agreement on how to approach the election.

“I found out through the media that AMF had a candidate for the Senate,” he said, adding that “there hasn’t been so much as a single Asambleas Municipales de Fuerteventura meeting to discuss things, to agree on the strategy to follow. Nothing, nothing.”

The mayor insisted that parties should discuss their decisions with members and supporters, and lamented that no such process had taken place for this election.

“When a party is democratic, it obviously has to involve its members and supporters in a debate, in an assembly,” he said.

In his view, the lack of a shared strategy would mean that each member of the party acted according to their own judgement. Asked specifically whether AMF members and supporters might not back Rubén Reyes at the polls, he replied bluntly: “People will be free to vote as they wish.”

“Mayra Marichal is the right fit”

The mayor also commented on the internal dispute over the candidacy for president of Fuerteventura Island Council ahead of the municipal elections scheduled for May 2027. One AMF faction has backed Mayra Marichal against Juan Nicolás Cabrera, the party’s president and the candidate endorsed by Alianza por Fuerteventura.

He recalled that an Island Committee meeting had been held, with two candidates: himself and Juan Nicolás Cabrera. He won the majority of the votes, “and the other candidacy was rejected”. Shortly afterwards, he announced that he would not continue, so he could focus exclusively on the municipality of Antigua.

In this context, he argued that leaders should have the backing of their teams and the public, adding that “you have to know when to step aside in time”.

Asked directly whether he was referring to Juan Nicolás Cabrera, he declined to confirm this, saying he was speaking in general terms.

What he did make clear was that “if you want to assess people’s profiles, then obviously Mayra Marichal is the right fit”.

Asked about the possibility that AMF’s leadership could open disciplinary proceedings against members of the critical faction, potentially leading to their expulsion, as the party president had suggested in an interview with La Voz de Fuerteventura, Juan Cabrera warned: “Expulsions can sometimes be a good thing, because you might end up on your own.”