Monday marked the first day at work for a new crop of mayors in Spain’s towns and cities, swept into office in last month’s municipal elections on a wave of dissatisfaction for the failing policies of the rightwing Popular Party government.  The differences from the predecessors were immediately apparent.

Shunning official cars and escorts, many came to respective city halls on bikes or via public transportation.  Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau took the subway to work, but she didn’t stay in the office all day.  Mayor Colau went out to aid several families being evicted from their homes. 

When she arrived, she found she found a family – including two children aged two and seven – sitting in the street with their suitcases.  Colau called the family’s lender, which rescinded the evictions – the kids got to keep their beds. 

“We’re working to find a more stable solution” to the problem of rampant evictions in the difficult economy she told reporters.

Environmentalist Joan Ribo pedaled his bike to work at Valencia city hall.  Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena stood with a strap, letting others sit down on the subway ride downtown. 

Others made waves by breaking with hundreds of years of tradition, and not taking part in religious rituals in the heavily Roman Catholic country.  Santiago de Compostela Mayor Martino Noriega wrote, “I’m one of those who thinks it is not right for a mayor to ask the Apostles to do away with unemployment and corruption.  Instead, a mayor should be able to put in place policies aimed at fostering transparency and creating jobs.”

Xulio Ferreiro took the mayor’s office in A Coruna with a nod towards the secular state and education.  He paid homage to the town’s internationally recognized mathematician Maria Wonenburger, who died a year ago at the age of 86.  She was the first Spaniard to secure a Fulbright scholarship for doctoral studies in mathematics.

Spain’s next national elections will be held on or before 20 December.