José Luis Moreno, sentenced to pay 423,865 euros to the Valencia City Council for the management of the El Musical Theater

Fireworks at the inauguration of the El Musical theater, in the Maritime district of Valencia.

In 2013, the firm Crystal Forest, of which the businessman José Luis Moreno is the sole administrator, was awarded the management of the Teatre El Musical (TEM), a facility owned by the Valencia City Council located in the heart of the El Cabanyal neighborhood.

The adventure lasted barely two years because in 2015 the producer returned the keys to the room to the Consistory, still governed by the team of Mayor Rita Barberá.

Now, after a long legal journey, the company must pay the City Council just over 423,000 euros for the liquidation of the concession, according to the TSJCV.

Moreno took over the exploitation of the municipal theater in a contest with three other companies.

It offered a reduction of 18% on the award budget —462,000 euros— for four years and prevailed as the most advantageous economic offer.

But the problems surfaced in the following months and the fluctuations in the programming were joined by the non-payment of taxes and social contributions by Crystal Forest.

The current local government, of Compromís and PSPV, liquidated the concession contract in 2018, demanding more than 423,000 euros from the successful bidder for unjustified payments and damages and defects in the theatrical installation, but the producer appealed the decision before the courts, which They were right at first.

Almost four years later, the TSJCV upholds the appeal filed by the Consistory against that ruling.

As stated in the ruling of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Valencian Superior Court of Justice, the appeal that Moreno's firm filed against the liquidation of the contract approved by the Consistory, which is considered adjusted to law, is dismissed.

This resolution is not final and can be appealed before the TSJCV or the Supreme Court.

In the liquidation of the concession contract, the local government justified the debt of more than 400,000 euros in expenses that were not duly justified by the company awarded the service and for the damage to the venue (damage to the stage and leaks).

The deputy mayor of Valencia, Sandra Gómez, who gave an account of this sentence during the ordinary plenary session of the City Council held this Thursday, has subsequently written on her Twitter account that it is "one more blunder" with which they have "had to deal ” to the government team formed by Compromís and PSPV-PSOE “from the years of government of the Popular Party”.

“Thanks to our firmness we are going to be able to recover everything that was swindled”, defended the socialist deputy mayor.