Ayuso backs Móstoles mayor after judge rejects effort to shelve sexual harassment case

Judicial decision

A judge in Móstoles has rejected a request by the mayor, Manuel Bautista, to close a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual and workplace harassment brought by a former councillor from his own party. The court ruled on 29 June that the complaint describes acts “clearly constituting a criminal offence” and that the investigation must continue to determine responsibility and any harm caused. The judge noted the complaint is accompanied by extensive documentary evidence and identifies witnesses who could corroborate or refute the claims.

“The facts reported in the complaint are clearly constitutive of a criminal offence. Both sexual harassment, workplace harassment and the disclosure of secrets are acts with criminal relevance.”

The former councillor, who left the PP and her council seat in October 2024, alleges that the mayor harassed her after she rejected an intimate relationship and that the situation turned into workplace harassment. She ratified her complaint in court on 29 June, speaking for about three hours.

Ayuso’s defence of Bautista

Speaking at a Club Siglo XXI event in Madrid on 1 July, Isabel Díaz Ayuso confirmed her support for Manuel Bautista. She claimed no one has proven anything beyond a labour dispute and argued she would not apply “author’s justice” to a person she appointed to govern Móstoles.

“He is being accused of something that no one has proved different. No one has proved anything other than a labour dispute, which is what it always was. So, how am I not going to defend his work and commitment to Móstoles?”

Ayuso added that Bautista is working every day for his neighbours and fulfilling his electoral programme.

Opposition reaction

Mar Espinar, spokesperson for the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the Madrid Assembly, called Ayuso “sexist and denialist” and demanded the immediate removal of the mayor. She emphasised that the judge’s decision not only denied the mayor’s appeal but also stated that there are indications of sexual and workplace harassment with potential criminal significance.

“Not only did she deny it, but the magistrate is also saying that there are indeed indications of sexual and workplace harassment and that it would even have criminal relevance. Meanwhile, Bautista remains mayor without flinching and Ayuso without lifting a single finger to remove him.”

Espinar accused the Madrid PP of protecting and sheltering the mayor, describing the party’s moral level as reaching “unsuspected lows.”

Procedural timeline

The defence had characterised the incidents as mere personal disagreements without criminal relevance, but the court found the allegations credible enough to proceed. The next step, according to the complainant’s lawyer, Antonio Suárez-Valdés, is likely to be the mayor’s appearance as an investigated person and possibly the summons of Isabel Díaz Ayuso as a witness. Bautista has called the case a “political and media witch-hunt.”