British teacher makes history as he is elected mayor of a small town in Majorca even though he isn’t a Spanish citizen
- Richard Thompson, 52, moved to the island with his wife nine years ago
A British teacher has made history by being elected as the mayor of a small town in Majorca.
Richard Thompson, 52, has traded marking homework in West Sussex to ruling over the administration of Sant Joan.
He moved to the municipality of just 2,000 people in the centre of Majorca with his wife – who hails from the island – nine years ago.
Mr Thompson served as a councillor for four years before stunning locals by standing as the mayoral candidate for the eco-socialist Mes per Mallorca (More for Majorca) party.
The former teacher is not a Spanish citizen but his resident status has allowed him to became the first British mayor in the Balearic Islands.
A British teacher has made history by being elected as the mayor of a small town in Majorca
After winning five of the 11 seats, his party struck a coalition deal with the Socialists which will see him serve as mayor for three years before handing over to a Socialist councillor for the final year.
Mr Thompson told The Guardian: ‘Everyone was like, ‘Really?’ And then some people were like, ‘Oh, that’s ridiculous’.
‘But I think people came round very quickly. There are very few Brits in the village and I’m 6ft 1in, so I stand out when I walk around the village.
‘And over the last nine years, I’ve probably taught 300 to 400 different people in the village – and if I haven’t taught a particular individual, then I’ve taught a son or a daughter or a grandchild.
‘Everyone knows each other in a village of 2,000 people.’
Mr Thompson follows in the footsteps of Mark Lewis, a Briton who became mayor of a town on the Costa Blanca in 2008, and Carmen McPhee, a British-born sheep farmer who assumed the mayoralty of a farming village in Leon ten years ago.
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