Mayor of Marinaleda since 1979, Juan Sanchez Gordillo was involved in the movement and established himself as a natural leader from the start, whilst only in his 20’s. He has gained notoriety as a kind of Robin Hood figure. He helped to transform Marinaleda from a town blighted by poverty into a “communist utopia”. He has had countless legal cases against him and has served time in prison for his part in the “Robin Hood raids” on supermarkets and the attempted reclaiming of disused military owned land. He has also survived 2 assassination attempts. As well as being mayor, he is also deputy for the United Left (UL) in the parliament of Andalusia, leader of the party Collective For The Unity OF Workers – Andalusian, Left Bloc (CUT-BAI), part of UF and the Rural Workers’ Union, Andalusian Workers’ Union and a local history teacher.