A former PP councilor from Móstoles will sue the mayor for sexual harassment.

MadridThe former PP councilor from Móstoles who She suffered a situation of alleged sexual and workplace harassment The mayor of the municipality, Manuel Bautista, intends to take the case to court. In statements to Europa Press, her lawyer, Antonio Suárez-Valdés, explained that he is preparing a complaint against the mayor for sexual harassment and other offenses, which he intends to file next week. The lawyer maintains that she did not report the case earlier because she felt "coerced" by the party. From the PP headquarters in Madrid, the party's general secretary, Alfonso Serrano, counters that "there has never been any sexual harassment" and alleges that the concept of sexual harassment "was only introduced" in the last email she sent to her lawyer, before she resigned as councilwoman and party member. At that time, the case was referred to the Spanish PP's Committee on Rights and Guarantees, which closed the investigation due to a lack of evidence. "The PP's reaction was deplorable at the time, and now it's disgusting and repugnant to threaten the victim in an attempt to silence her. It's a desperate attempt to cover up the uncoverable, even though they have full knowledge of what happened," Suárez-Valdés stated. Ayuso's right-hand man in the Madrid PP insists that they always treated it as a "labor conflict or dispute" or a case of discrimination—he reiterates that the former councilwoman denied any sexual abuse—and attributes it to a "vendetta policy".

"How do you pick up women?" Alfonso Serrano asked a journalist who reminded him that, according to the transcript of a meeting he had published The CountryHe asked her if the issue was that the mayor was making advances toward her. Alfonso Serrano asserted that she told him no. And, adhering to the maxim that a good defense is a good offense, the number two of the Madrid PP accused the former councilwoman of acting in "bad faith" when she tried to contact Isabel Díaz Ayuso and when she recorded the meeting they held in Génova. The number two of the Madrid PP believes that the former councilwoman bypassed internal party channels to "involve" Ayuso: "The president hasn't covered anything up at all," he emphasized. And he avoided commenting on the audio recordings that have been published. The Country The recording of a call between the mayor and the former councilwoman, in which he admitted that she had never asked him for a position or a promotion, was cited. "We will not consider edited or manipulated audio recordings unless there is a complete and reliable original," Serrano said. Finally, he concluded his offensive by announcing that the Madrid PP will sue anyone who accuses the party of covering up the case or coercing the former councilwoman. "Someone has tried to fabricate a story," he added.

The mayor's "helplessness"

In his second public appearance since the case broke, the mayor of Móstoles denounced the blatant violation of his presumption of innocence: "There is nothing in court." Manuel Bautista reiterated that all the accusations are "absolutely false," warned that he will not tolerate "any slander," and that he will take legal action against anyone who calls him a harasser. He framed the dispute with the former councilwoman as part of her "continuous political blackmail." "I feel defenseless; it's impossible to defend yourself against statements you know nothing about," he concluded.

The former councilwoman is also preparing another lawsuit against the Community of Madrid—which she will file in the Supreme Court—for the leak of her personal emails without her consent. She alleges that there was an "invasion" of her official email account, with unauthorized access, the deletion of messages, and the use of the content for purposes unrelated to her public duties. With this lawsuit, which will be for a possible crime of revealing secrets, her lawyer wants to clarify who ordered or facilitated the leak: whether it was the Community of Madrid or the Madrid branch of the People's Party (PP). Alfonso Serrano has defended the Madrid government, stating that they presented the emails as an "exercise in transparency" because "they have nothing to hide." An attempt was made to anonymize the data, but the victim was mentioned in the body of an email and this was not redacted due to an "error" that was later "corrected."

The PSOE demands resignations

For its part, the PSOE continues to rub salt in the wound and demand the resignation or "immediate dismissal" of the mayor of Móstoles. The leader of the Madrid socialists and Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López, criticized the PP's "hypocrisy": the Popular Party "flooded" television studios when there were cases within the PSOE—such as that of Paco Salazar—and now, in contrast, "they have all come out to defend" the mayor. "None of them meet the standards they set for everyone else," he added.

From Podemos, MEP and former Minister of Equality Irene Montero said that the PP "wants to live in a society where aggressors have impunity and victims are silent," and lamented that "when you applaud an aggressor you are telling women to be quiet and that" sexual violence is unacceptable.