Feijóo and Ayuso defend the mayor of Móstoles, accused of harassment: "It's a fabricated case"

BarcelonaThe People's Party (PP) of Madrid pressured a councilwoman from the party in Móstoles not to report the town's mayor, Manuel Bautista, for sexual and workplace harassment. as published The CountryThe newspaper has obtained a copy of the complaint the woman filed with the Popular Party's national committee on rights and guarantees, in which she explains the events and details up to six attempts to seek support from her party. She says it was all in vain. The party denies having covered anything up and claims that the internal investigation it opened was closed because there was "no evidence to support the complaint." "It's a fabricated case against the PP," reacted the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also sided with the mayor and said that the party did not consider the conduct proven, while the mayor himself defended his innocence and ruled out resigning. Feijóo, in any case, said that any woman has the right to seek justice, in statements made in Aragon and reported by Europa Press.

It was in February 2024 when the woman, who ended up tearing up her PP membership card and leaving politics, first sought the party's support. She wrote a letter addressed to Ayuso herself, requesting a meeting. "Since May 2023, I have suffered very serious discrimination that has not stopped and is increasing," she wrote. However, the president's team referred her to the secretary general of the PP in Madrid and Ayuso's right-hand man, Alfonso Serrano, and to the party's deputy secretary of organization, Ana Millán.

According to the complainant, it was they who tried to dissuade her from filing a complaint. Something the PP has been quick to deny. "In a meeting, she was asked if it was harassment, and she denied it," Serrano stated this Thursday at a press conference, characterizing the incident as a "workplace dispute." The former councilwoman's version is very different. At that meeting, where Millán was also present, the latter allegedly told her: "The party's protection is contingent on you dropping any kind of accusation."

"What can we do? There's no point in coming here to explain this situation without proposing a solution," Serrano, who is also a member of the Madrid Assembly and a senator, reportedly added, according to documents published Tuesday. "It's not a matter of covering it up [...] it's that a public or legal complaint would affect you," he also told her, according to the former councilwoman, who quotes another response from Millán in a second meeting: "We all put up with a lot."

The woman, who has asked The Country Maintaining her anonymity, she describes in her complaint sexually explicit comments from the mayor, references to her physical appearance, and propositions, and also that he spread the rumor that they had had sexual relations. When she stood up to this behavior, she explains, the workplace harassment began: her work was made invisible, she was not allowed to speak at plenary sessions, and she was excluded from official events. Finally, she resigned from her position and left the party in October 2024.

In statements from Móstoles, Bautista denied these allegations. He asserted that a narrative has been constructed that "does not correspond to reality" and ruled out resigning. "None of my councilors asked me to resign because there is no formal accusation, meaning the legal route was not explored, and the case has been closed by the committee on rights and guarantees," he argued at a press conference surrounded by his government team. In his opinion, there is political revenge behind it all because, he said, the complainant wanted to climb the ranks in the City Council and didn't succeed. However, he has left the door open to taking legal action against her.

"We neither cover up nor hide complaints"

The news broke on the same day that Paco Salazar, the former director of analysis and studies for the Spanish government's presidential office, was arrested. He resigned from his positions at Moncloa Palace and in the PSOE. after being accused of sexual harassment, appears before the Senate committee investigating the Koldo case At the request of the PP. "It's surprising that this information about the complaint is coming out today, 15 months later, and coinciding with [...] the appearance of the harasser Salazar in the Senate and the end of the campaign in Aragon, which bodes so poorly for the PSOE," reacted sources from the People's Party.

From the party headquarters in Madrid, they assure that the party "neither covers up nor hides complaints" and that in this case they "maintained scrupulous respect for and follow-up of the complaint" and of Bautista's "presumption of innocence." Sources within the People's Party question the "fragmented conversations, extracted from who knows where" and perhaps "manipulated" – they say – that are included in the document released by The Country And they reiterate that there was no evidence to prove the mayor's harassment.

The PSOE calls for resignations

Despite these words, the Socialists were quick to criticize the People's Party (PP) early this morning. "We acted immediately. The People's Party does the exact opposite: it covers things up," the party stated in a message to X. "If they applied their own standards, they should all resign, including the mayor of Móstoles," they added.

The party led by Pedro Sánchez has demanded that Alberto Núñez Feijóo "provide immediate explanations" and take action within his party. "The Madrid PP knew about an accusation of harassment and covered it up," Socialist sources allege. "This isn't protection: it's intimidation and imposed silence," they insist, adding that, according to the criteria the conservatives use with the PSOE, Ayuso, Serrano, and Millán—whom they remind us is also under investigation for corruption—should submit. Several Socialist leaders have also called for his resignation throughout the day, but the PP considers it "absolutely out of the question."

The PSOE refers to the right-wing attacks after theavalanche of reports of harassment cases have emerged within the socialist ranks In recent months, starting with the Salazar case, and the criticism – also internal – of their management of the party headquarters. "Feminism is not [...] a slogan to be used when convenient. It is legislation, public resources, and a sustained commitment over time. This is what the PSOE has done for decades," the Socialists now argue.