The third section of the Administrative Contentious Chamber of the Superior Court of Xicia (TSXG) has upheld the conviction of the Mayor of Ourense, Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, for the violation of the political participation rights of the PSOE spokesperson for Ourense, Natalia González Benz, dating back to the municipal session of October.
This decision, dated May 30, 2025, which Europa Press had access to, rejects the appeal made by the Mayor of Owense. The sentence is not final and can be appealed.
Therefore, the TSXG confirms Jácome’s conviction to publish the opinion on the Owense city website and to read it in full at the next plenary session after the decision, with a payment of 1,000 euros from the local administration to cover procedural costs.
On their part, the PSOE municipal group has announced that this month they will promote a «necessary» and «urgent» reform of the organic functioning of the Municipal Council of Ourense.
The controversial administrative court has condemned, in a now approved decision, that in the extraordinary plenary session of October 26, 2023, the political participation rights were violated before the interruptions by the socialist councilor.
During the meeting, the lawyer for the private prosecution, representing Natalia González, went as far as to say that what happened that day «is more typical of authoritarian regimes than of states governed by the rule of law» and that «the channel of plenary sessions in Ourense is not suitable in a democratic state.»
The resolution stated that «when the councilors were speaking, without straying from the debated issue» and «within the reasonable term granted to participate in the debate,» it is not permissible for the Mayor, as the President, to interrupt them «to use the floor,» whether legitimate or not.
It also affirmed that continuous interruptions not only hinder calm debate but even «true participation of the mayor in the plenary session» and therefore imply an irregularity that is not in accordance with the regulations and may constitute a violation of the fundamental right in Article 23 of the Spanish Constitution.»
Therefore, the TSXG understands, after analyzing the documentation, that the actions of the Mayor-President in the aforementioned plenary session «imply an overload of management powers and the order assigned by regulations.»
Additionally, the «terms and expressions» directed at the appealing councilor, with whom he was arguing, do not correspond to the institutional respect that should prevail.
