The municipal elections of May 28, 2023 have determined that the mayor of Estepona for the new legislature will be José María García Urbano, representative of the Partido Popular.
With 95% of the votes counted, it is confirmed that the Partido Popular will repeat absolute majority with 17, followed by PSOE with 5 and Vox with 3. The turnout exceeded 51%, with 23,100 votes and 21,587 abstentions.
José María García Urbano: Mayor of Estepona since 2011.
José María García Urbano is a Spanish politician born in Coín in 1963, who currently holds the position of mayor of Estepona since 2011. García Urbano is a man who has dedicated his professional life to public service and has extensive experience in public administration.
Academic background and professional experience of José María García Urbano
García Urbano has a law degree since 1982 and has experience as a State Attorney, Property Registrar and Notary Public. In addition, he is an expert in property and marital status, and a graduate in German. During his professional career he has held various positions of responsibility in the public administration, the last one being that of mayor of Estepona.
In his teaching career, he has served as associate professor of Private Law at the Universidad a Distancia UNED, as professor of Civil Law at the Universidad de Málaga (UMA) and as professor of Commercial Law at the Universidad Carlos III. In addition, he has worked as a Property Registrar in different parts of Spain and as a Notary Public in Estepona for 13 years.
Spain’s most voted mayor
José María García Urbano has been the most voted mayor in Spain in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants in the municipal elections of 2015 and 2019. In 2011, he ran as a candidate in the municipal elections and obtained an absolute majority of 17 councilors, becoming mayor for the Partido Popular. In 2015, he revalidated his absolute majority with 60% of the votes, becoming the most voted mayor in Spain in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. In 2019, it achieved a large absolute majority with almost 70% of the vote.
The work of José María García Urbano in Estepona
During his term as mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano has carried out several initiatives. These include the transformation of the historic center of Estepona, the inauguration of the high resolution hospital, the construction of new parks and gardens, and the promotion of tourism in the area. However, there are also voices critical of its management, especially with regard to the mobility plan and the problems that the municipality has in terms of public transport services. The famous Estepona slide was also his work, turning Estepona into the meme of the moment.
