In 1991, the builder and president of Atlético Madrid, Jesús Gil was elected mayor of Marbella by a wide majority. He and his party, the right-wing populist Independent Liberal Group ('Grupo Independiente Liberal' or GIL in Spanish), promised to fight petty crime as well as the region's declining prestige. Actor Sean Connery became Marbella's international spokesman, although Connery later ended this business relationship after Gil used his image in an election campaign. Gil's administration facilitated a building boom. However, critics complained about disregard for the existing urban plan, market speculation and environmental predation by developers; the regional Andalusian government suspended some development. Gil despised town-hall formalities, instead ruling from his office at the Club Financiero, and cultivated a maverick image. The PSOE and the People's Party criticized Gil even at the national level, but voters re-elected him and some Spanish celebrities continued to spend summers there. Gil's political party, GIL, also proved popular in other tourist-dependent Costa del Sol towns like Estepona, and even across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Spanish North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla.