Controversy in Alicante Council as Councillor on Paternity Leave Refuses to Leave Chamber

Moments of tension were experienced this Thursday at Alicante City Hall. The Mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, suspended the council meeting for several minutes as a councillor on paternity leave refused to leave the chamber.

This is a new episode of tension involving the EU-Podemos councillor, Manolo Copé, who is on leave for fostering a child. The Alicante mayor urged him to leave the chamber as he could not participate in the session due to his leave.

Faced with Copé's refusal, Barcala chose to suspend the session for a few minutes, resulting in some tense exchanges between the two politicians. Thursday's session was already expected to be tense due to the debate over the use of Valencian, but this new clash between the local government and Copé has further heightened tensions in the council meeting.