Murcia Buisiness and Politics

It also has an industrial activity concentrated in the industrial estates of Cabezo Cortao and primarily to the west. The latter being the largest of Murcia, which is shared with the municipality of Alcantarilla. Powerful pepper canning of yesteryear has given way to a more diversified industrial sector, which highlights the food and the beer factory, which produces Estrella de Levante, Juver, and Alvalle.

Murcia recently emerged as an economic activity on residential tourism aimed at European citizens, mainly Scandinavians, focusing on the area of Campo de Murcia.

Administration

Mandate	Name	Party
1979–1983	Jose Maria Aroca Ruiz-Funes	PSRM-PSOE
1983–1987	Antonio Bodalo Santoyo	PSRM-PSOE
1987–1991	Jose Mendez Espino	PSRM-PSOE
1991–1995	Jose Mendez Espino	PSRM-PSOE
1995–1999	Michelangelo House Botia	PP
1999–2003	Michelangelo House Botia	PP
2003–2007	Michelangelo House Botia	PP
2007–	Michelangelo House Botia	PP

Traditionally, the city of Murcia was a major producer of agricultural raw materials. Murcia exported tomatoes, lettuce, lemons, and oranges to Europe. Although this sector was once the town’s economic base, its importance is now much lower.

The main economic sector of Murcia is the service sector, the administrative, financial, cultural, and otherwise. Murcia serves as a center of trade throughout the Segura River, and its area of influence extends to the commercial surrounding provinces of Alicante, Albacete, and Almeria.

Currently, the mayor of the municipality is Michelangelo House Botia of the People’s Party, who has held office since 1995.

In the municipal elections of 2007, of the 29 council members to choose from, the People’s Party won 19 of the votes (61.28%), the Socialist Party, 9 (29.71%), and United Left, in coalition with the Greens was an alderman who won 5.78% of votes and got nowhere with Murcian representation in the 2003 elections.

Territorial Organization

The municipality of Murcia is organized administratively into 54 districts in addition to the capital town of Murcia.

The urban area covers 12.86 km² of the total municipal area and is divided into districts and grouped, in turn, in eight districts. The old town is about 1.5 km in diameter.

During the Triennial Liberal (1820–1823), several districts of the municipality became independent municipalities. However, they went back into the town of Murcia in the 1830s.

In 1960, due to strong demographic expansion of the regional capital, most of the parish of Espinardo joined the city as a neighborhood. What was not annexed to the city is now the parish of El Puntal.