total population of Pinto had risen to 51,541 inhabitants. Politics and government Mayors Municipal politics after the transition In 1979, with the arrival of democracy, Carlos Penit, the head of the regional Communist Party of Spain (PCE), became the first mayor of Pinto, and was reelected in 1983, 1987, and 1991. In 1993, Gloria Razábal was elected by the municipal council, making her the first female mayor of Pinto. In 1995, Antonio Fernández, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), became the mayor by a margin of 25 votes. He was reelected in the years 1999 and 2003 with a majority. Due to accusations of corruption, he resigned in 2005, and Juan Tendero became mayor. Pinto was considered a left-wing enclave until 2007 when the conservative Popular Party (PP) put itself within 3 points of the governing PSOE. After managing to double its share of votes from 21% to 42% in the prior four years, PP was then able to go into coalition with Juntos por Pinto (Together for Pinto; JpP) to govern with a stable majority and proclaim Miriam Rabaneda as the mayor of Pinto. The legislature was full of political tension. A councillor from Juntos por Pinto, Reyes Maestre, changed his mind concerning a motor space project, supporting its construction. This provoked a crisis within the PP-JpP government. On 22 December 2008 a motion of censure was presented by PSOE/IU/JpP against the Popular Party and PSOE member Juan José Martín Nieto was proclaimed as the new mayor, obtaining a majority in the municipal council. The political tension in Pinto was constant. In February 2010, the former mayor Miriam Rabaneda and her sister Tamara Rabaneda, former councillor of the Treasury, were charged for alleged malfeasance due to irregularities in the municipal accounts. The case was subsequently dismissed by a court in the town of Parla. In October 2010, Reyes Maestre was terminated as deputy mayor by the mayor of Pinto. In the municipal elections on 22 May 2011, the Popular Party won another majority and Miriam Rabaneda took back the mayorship of the municipality from Juan José Martín Nieto. These elections led to the emergence of the party UPyD in Pinto, which won two seats, thus becoming a new political force represented in the City Council. The electorate punished Juntos por Pinto, then headed by Reyes Mastre, as well as the United Left party (IU), which gained no