Bárbara Soler, the mayoral candidate for the PSOE in Torrevieja, has revealed the next batch of team members who will be fighting the elections alongside her later this month.
José Antonio Bonilla Millán occupies the fifth position of the socialist candidacy. Married with two daughters, he moved to Torrevieja in 1981 for work reasons. From that moment until 2011 he worked as a draftsman, with the global economic crisis, he had to reinvent himself and started as an insurance sub-agent, a job that he continues to do today. “An economy that depends on a single sector runs the risk of collapsing. In Torrevieja we have to be able to open new paths. New technologies and digitisation generate a large number of opportunities that we cannot let go of”. He has been closely linked to Holy Week in our city, having been part of the Board of the Mayor of Brotherhoods and having been President of the brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows. He has also been a PSOE militant since 1999, when he was part of the list headed by Quino Cos. “Since then, I have not seen any candidacy that arouses such enthusiasm and is generating an alternative capable of transforming Torrevieja and making it the city we deserve. I think that with Bárbara Soler, a change in the political cycle has begun and I am proud to be part of that change.”
Carmen Cerezo Aledo, is part of the candidacy in the 14th position. She has a degree in Philosophy and Educational Sciences, Psychology section, from the University of Murcia. Recently retired, she developed a large part of her professional career in the Torrevieja City Council. She spent fifteen years working in the Municipal Psycho-pedagogical Team of the Department of Education and more than two decades in Social Services providing psychological care and counselling, as well as a technician for the organisation of Summer Schools and in Pangea, the office for the attention to international residents. Of the two stages, she fondly remembers the organisation of the Summer Schools and her work in the Torrevieja schools, especially Inmaculada, Salvador Ruso and Gratiniano Baches. She considers the work of social services essential to support the people who need it the most, such as dependents, or women victims of gender violence, among others. “There are excellent people working in Social Services, but the City Council does not provide them with the necessary tools to be able to carry out their work in adequate conditions.” She has been linked to various social volunteer groups. She was born in Orihuela, she moved to Torrevieja in the mid-eighties. She established her residence in the Los Balcones urbanisation and she considers it essential to “unfold the CV-95 to avoid traffic jams that affect both year-round residents, and those who come to visit us.” She has a son and a daughter, she likes to travel, be with her family, or enjoy a good conversation with her friends and it relaxes her to take care of her plants. “What bothers me the most is social injustice and I think one of the goals of politics should be to alleviate people’s suffering. Barbara is a woman who has arrived with a lot of energy and I am sure that this will move the people of Torrevieja to bet on a real change.”
Carlos Sánchez occupies ninth place on the PSOE list. He has a degree in Biology from the University of Murcia, a Master’s Degree in Research in Molecular, Cellular and Genetic Biology from the University of Valencia and a Master’s Degree in Teacher Training from the Catholic University of San Antonio of Murcia. He collaborated in research resulting in several scientific publications. Currently, he is a Secondary Education teacher, a profession that he combines with project management and holding informative workshops at the Interactive Science Didactic Museum (MUDIC) in Orihuela. “I love bringing science closer to the youth; especially those who have the most difficulties, such as patients hospitalised in paediatric units, through the recreation of the Mednight Tales, part of our scientific dissemination projects.” Previously, he has worked in various commercial establishments and even, like many young people, had to go abroad, specifically to the United Kingdom, to work, a fact that allowed him to improve his command of the English language. A member of the PSOE since 2005, he has been General Secretary of the “Juventudes Socialistas de Torrevieja”, Secretary of Organisation in the Vega Baja region and Secretary of Institutional Policy at the regional level. He has also had a long career in associations and volunteerism, highlighting his role in the foundation of “Salvemos Lo Ferrís”, in the activities of the Las Lagunas Natural Park and his institutional position as Member of the Valencian Youth Council. He participated in the first assemblies of the 15M due to his concern for transferring society’s demands to politics. Father of a baby, he keeps very good memories of his studies at CEIP Acequión and IES Mare Nostrum. What he wants most is for “Torrevieja to be a city of opportunities and life projects regardless of your origin, which is the essence of the Socialist Party and Bárbara Soler’s project, centred on people.”
Bárbara Campos is also part of the socialist candidacy in 23rd place. Born in Torrevieja, from a very young age she was linked to the world of sport, representing the city in multiple athletics competitions. She was a student at the Acequión school and later she moved to Malaga until she returned to Torrevieja. She works in the world of hospitality and has been a manager at various locations. “The hotel industry is essential for Torrevieja, but it seems that the administration forgets about this field, or favours some more than others.” Among her hobbies, in addition to sports, her love for animals stands out. “In Torrevieja, it has been promised many times that the animal shelter would be better equipped, and those were empty promises.” Currently, she is preparing to be a firefighter, a challenge that she is passionate about and in which she is doing her best. “I do not understand why the expression “weaker sex” is used to talk about women, and I think that Bárbara Soler perfectly represents the brave and determined woman who helps us all on our way.”
The list of Bárbara Soler’s team is closed by a historic member of the local PSOE: Joaquín Garrido Mena, from Madrid by birth and from Torrevieja by adoption. Coming from a humble family, he had to combine his first jobs with night studies. Thanks to this effort, he was able to attend high school and, later, Teaching school, at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute. At the age of 18, he applied for the opposition and joined the Telephone Company in 1965, where he reached managerial positions, taking charge, among other responsibilities, of editing and distributing the white page directories. After early retirement, he moved to Torrevieja, where he has been an active PSOE militant for more than two decades, having been part of the socialist mayoral candidacies. In addition, he has collaborated with other associations and NGOs, for example, giving classes to young people to obtain a school degree. When Bárbara Soler proposed to close the electoral list, Joaquín wanted to do it to support a young woman, with great enthusiasm and energy and with a serious political project for Torrevieja. “Bárbara Soler’s project engages any progressive person, in terms of social issues, for her commitment to equality policies, for the support that we are going to give to the most disadvantaged people and in relation to the environment of Torrevieja, a jewel that we have to preserve.” Another factor that has surprised Joaquín is the rest of the group that makes up the candidacy, being prepared and excited people, who combine youth and experience. “It is an honour to close such a list and I am sure that this group of people will go a long way.” Joaquín is especially committed to a people-centred policy and considers that “when managing, especially public money, it must be done as if it were your own money and not squandered on mammoth projects” and with the defence of the Doña Sinforosa Park, which “It is the property of all Torrevejenses, by transfer, and it is inconceivable that it becomes owned by a merchant for the use and enjoyment mainly of the users of the projected towers. From the PSOE of Torrevieja, we want a policy for all citizens and we are going to do it.”
