Sevilla Town Hall insists lady councillors pop on a frock

IN a memo on protocol better suited to the dark ages, the female councillors in Alcala de Guadaira (Sevilla) were urged on Friday May 13 to pop on a frock to attend an extraordinary plenary session to appoint a new mayor, following the resignation of socialist mayor of 21 years Antonio Gutierrez Limones.

The head of Protocol and Institutional Relations at Alcala Town Hall, Miguel Rivera, delivered a 13-point document on protocol to all councillors prior to the session, the second of which read “the gentlemen councillors will wear suits and ties, and the ladies will wear dress clothes (not trousers) in discrete colours.”

“The municipal authorities are aware of the importance of ceremony and protocol to enhance its public image and, in keeping with tradition, will ensure all regulations are adhered to for its official acts,” the document concluded.

As the session resulted in the appointment of socialist Ana Isabel Jimenez as the new mayor of the town, one can only hope she either makes sure she has plenty of skirts in her wardrobe or better still, puts her efforts towards dragging her council into the 21^st century.