The reported decision to cancel a highly-anticipated music festival has sparked a fierce backlash in Manilva.
The Verano Rock 2025 event in Sabinillas has allegedly been pulled by the local town hall.
The music event had been scheduled for June 9 and was set to feature The Rob Sas Band and a popular AC/DC tribute act.
The Rob Sas Band said in a statement: ‘We are very disappointed to say that the Verano Rock 2025 festival in Sabinilas which was due to take place in June, has been cancelled.
‘There has been a recent change of politics in the Manilva council and the new Mayor axed the event.’
Brits and locals branded the decision ‘very sad’, with several calling the mayor a series of expletives.
One Brit said: ‘Sabanillas being taken back off the map, sorry to hear this.’
‘What a joke,’ another said, ‘They will have their own concert at the castle until the early hours of the morning.’
‘What an a**e!’ wrote another, while one compared the town to a ‘dictatorship’.
The cancellation of the event has yet to be commented on by Manilva Town Hall.
On April 7, the Ayuntamiento de Manilva was proudly pushing the event, writing in a post: ‘The Foreign Resident delegation is preparing Verano Rock 2025, where live music will take center stage with a tribute to AC/DC and classic rock songs.’
It said the event was taking place on June 9 in the Vicente Espinal square, with free entry.
The Spanish Eye has contacted the town hall for comment.
Left-leaning Mario Jimenez, from Compromiso Manilva, was voted in as the new mayor on April 28, following a successful motion of no confidence against the incumbent mayor, Jose Manuel Fernandez of the conservative Partido Popular (PP).
The motion was supported by nine councillors: five from Compromiso Manilva and four from Con Andalucia Manilva, a group aligned with former members of Izquierda Unida.
Jimenez had previously served as mayor from November 2016 to June 2023.
The political move was sparked by dissatisfaction with Fernandez’s leadership, which critics claimed prioritised personal political ambitions over the town’s interests.
The new coalition has said it wants to form a ‘progressive government’ focused on public management policies and improving the town.
