Eduardo Monfort, former mayor of Xàbia, dies aged 60

Eduardo Monfort, former mayor of Xàbia and leader of the centrist movement Bloc-Centristes, died on Sunday aged 60 following a long illness. He served as a councillor at Xàbia Town Hall for 26 years, during which he developed much of his political career.

Two periods as mayor

Monfort was first elected councillor in 1987 under the banner of Alianza Popular. He became mayor for the first time in 1999, but lost the office a year later following a motion of no confidence put forward by Juan Moragues and Jaime Sapena. He regained the post in November 2005 through another motion of no confidence and re-won the mayorship in the 2007 elections, when his party achieved its best electoral result, with 7 councillors and almost 3,000 votes. Throughout his career he alternated alliances with the PSPV and the PP, and his great political rival was Juan Moragues, from the centre-right, with whom he fought electoral battles and also reached occasional agreements.

Withdrawal from local politics

Electoral decline came in the 2011 elections, when his party won only 3 councillors, which meant handing over the mayorship to socialist José Chulvi. In April 2013 he resigned as councillor, after almost three decades at the Town Hall, and from then on he stepped away from local politics.

A family tragedy

In 2017, his son Edu died on 7 May aged 28, hit by a drunk driver in Oliva whilst cycling, in an accident that also claimed two other victims. After losing his son, Monfort appealed for "prudence, respect and common sense so that families are not left without their children".