Algeciras Mayor: Landaluce steps down as Senate Foreign Affairs Committee chair

José Ignacio Landaluce has formally resigned as chair of the Spanish Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee after temporarily resigning the Popular Party group in the Senate last week.

His subsequent move to the Mixed Group in the Spanish Senate  has now been formally recorded by the chamber.

The resignation by Jose Ignacio Landaluce follows a complaint filed by the PSOE with the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office.

The complaint alleges sexual harassment, misuse of public funds and abuse of authority.  The Mayor of Algeciras has repeatedly denied all allegations.

Last week, Jose Ignacio Landaluce formally resigned from the Popular Party group in the Senate and requested a temporary suspension of his party membership, saying he wanted to focus on his legal defence and avoid further damage to a party he has belonged to for more than forty years.

Since Monday, Senate records show him sitting in the Grupo Mixto, alongside three Vox senators and one from the Union del Pueblo Navarro. 

By stepping down from the committee chairmanship, Landaluce also gives up the additional monthly allowance attached to the role.

The presidency of the Foreign Affairs Committee is now vacant.

Jose Ignacio Landaluce previously chaired the committee during earlier legislatures and has held several senior parliamentary positions related to foreign affairs.