‘Robin Hood’ mayor marches across Andalucia

THE Spanish mayor who has became a national celebrity after leading supermarket raids is beginning a three-week march across Andalucia.

Setting off from Jodar, the town with Andalucia’s highest unemployment rate, Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo and 400 members of the Andalucian Union of Workers began the trek across the region.

Gordillo hopes to convince other mayors to refuse to comply with central government cuts.

“There are people who don’t have enough to eat. In the 21st century, this is an absolute disgrace,” the mayor said.

“We want an employment plan, the use of underutilised public land, and a basic income for 350,000 families here in Andalucia.” He went on to say.

Gordillo, who has led a successful farming cooperative for 33 years, has repeatedly tried to take over land for farming, the latest plot being 1,200 hectares of land owned by the Ministry of Defence.

Seven people have now been arrested for participating in the raids.