Finestrat Praises Pérez Llorca on His Departure: 'He Has Always Been Kind and Offers Help When Asked'

The Marina Baixa region has once again placed one of its own at the helm of the Valencian Generalitat. Since the Cartagena-born Eduardo Zaplana made the leap from the Mayor's Office of Benidorm to the presidency of the Consell in 1995—a position he held until 2002, inaugurating a long period of popular hegemony in the region—there had not been a successor from this territory.

The inauguration of Juanfran Pérez Llorca from Finestrat, who has been the mayor of his town for the past decade, as the successor to the resigned Carlos Mazón, returns political prominence to the Marina Baixa, which it had not exercised for thirty years.

Unlike Zaplana, who was born outside the region, Pérez Llorca is indeed a 'son' of the Marina Baixa. Born in Finestrat in 1976, he became mayor in 2015 following the departure of Honorato Algado, father of Nati, who will now become the first female mayor of the town.

Pérez Llorca led the PP's candidacy in the 2015 local elections and won with 54% of the votes (1,326), securing eight of the thirteen council seats. That victory was repeated with similar strength in 2019, when he achieved 56% of the votes (1,576) and increased his representation to ten councillors (with Nati Algado then occupying the tenth spot on the 'popular' list) against the three of the PSPV-PSOE. But it was in 2023 when his leadership reached its most emphatic expression: 1,996 votes, 73% of the total, and an overwhelming majority of eleven councillors against the two socialists.

This electoral growth was accompanied by a visible transformation in the town. Under his leadership, Finestrat has multiplied its population, developed extensive residential areas, and consolidated its boulevard as the main commercial axis of the Marina Baixa, even rivaling Benidorm.

In a town nearing 10,000 inhabitants, where half are foreigners, it is difficult to find a negative opinion of the new president. "He has been a good mayor and has done quite a few things, the only problem is that he is from the PP," jokes a young student who does not hide her preference for a "right-wing" mayor despite confessing to be "left-wing" ideologically.

"In the time I've known him, he has been tremendously kind and offers help when you ask for something without any problem," adds a retired neighbour. "The mayor is a very good person, he helped me when I opened my business, and when my husband passed away, he was there," says an Italian-born hotelier who boasts that "he often came with his family to eat pizza at my restaurant. It was the only one they liked."

Pérez Llorca himself advocated for this style of management in his inauguration speech: "If I accept this change, it is to take care of the everyday, to ensure that the essentials work; a serious government starts just like a serious town hall: ensuring that people live well, without noise, without chaos."

This municipal trajectory connects with his gradual rise within the Popular Party. As the main confidant of Carlos Mazón, he was the one who designed the so-called 'express pact' with Vox that allowed the inauguration of the now former president, a move that even surprised the national leadership of the party, then immersed in internal debates about the convenience of regional agreements with Santiago Abascal's formation.

In July 2024, before the DANA unleashed the political storm that would end with Mazón's resignation after the state funeral, Pérez Llorca was appointed Síndic of the Popular Group in Les Corts, thus accumulating a new sphere of influence. With the president's resignation confirmed, the succession debate reopened the usual struggle between Genoa and the Valencian PP, and it was in this scenario that the Finestrat native emerged as a figure capable not only of ensuring the continuity of the legislature but also of postponing for two years the decision between Català and Mompó as future regional candidates.