A former Groningen mayor who stepped down from the post to take up an unpaid position in Spain has lost the job because he is no longer mayor.

Peter Rehwinkel resigned as Groningen’s mayor in October 2013 to join a Spanish organisation which helps local governments prepare for emergencies.

The six-month post was unpaid and Rehwinkel caused uproar when he said he planned to use the civil service unemployment benefit – known as wachtgeld – to fund the job.

On Monday, the Volkskrant reported that Rehwinkel is not working in Spain.

In a reaction on Tuesday, Rehwinkel told the paper he did not get the job because he was no longer mayor.

‘I was never told the job would not go ahead if I was no longer mayor,’ he said. ‘It was only weeks later, after I had resigned, that it became clear.’

Rehwinkel said he was surprised by the ruling. ‘I could not have combined my new job with that of mayor,’ he told the Volkskrant.

According to the paper, the former mayor now divides his time between his house in Spain and a rented flat in Amsterdam.