The Government delegate in Murcia, investigated for alleged irregularities in a bullfighting celebration when he was mayor

The central government delegate in Murcia, José Vélez, in November 2021 in Murcia. Javier Carrión / Europa Press (Europa Press)

The Government delegate in Murcia and PSOE candidate to preside over the autonomous community in the upcoming elections in May 2023, José Vélez, has been summoned to testify as being investigated for alleged crimes of administrative prevarication and embezzlement of funds, related to the organization of bullfighting when he was mayor of Calasparra, between 2017 and 2019.

The Court of First Instance and Instruction Number 3 of Caravaca de la Cruz has summoned him to testify on February 17, together with the current manager of the PSOE of the Region of Murcia, Jordi Arce, and Antonio José Merino;

both were councilors of the Calasparra City Council (population 10,133) during the Vélez mandates.

The three have been denounced by two other municipal councilors, Carlos Alajarín, from Ciudadanos, and Alonso Torrente, from the local Calasparra Viva party.

They are pointed out for alleged irregularities in the management and organization of the Bullfighting Rice Fair, a private event that is held in September, coinciding with the patron saint festivities, in the editions of the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The municipality's bullring is privately owned and the fair was organized in those years by the Chipé company, whose sole administrator will also declare that it was investigated in this process.

In 2017 and 2018, the City Council signed two agreements with that company to be able to use their steers in the traditional running of the bulls that take place on the patron saint festivities and paid 30,000 and 37,000 euros, respectively, according to the complainants, but they consider that the contracts are not They were not made in accordance with the law nor did they include studies that justified those payments and the increase in the price between one year and another.

In 2019, the bullfighting businessman who owns the bullring broke relations with the Chipé company and, according to the complainants, Vélez authorized the rental of the arena for two months charged to the public coffers for 35,000 euros.

Afterwards, he handed over management of it to the Chipé company, according to the complaint, without receiving any financial compensation and without records and official publications in this regard.

That same year, the City Council once again used the steers from the same company for the running of the bulls, and paid 18,000 euros for it, an amount much lower than that of the two previous years, according to the complainants, due to the free use that the company was already granting. doing the thing

Although the Bullfighting Rice Fair is a privately managed event, according to the complainants, only in 2017 some 47,000 euros were paid from public coffers in invoices derived from the event.

These items were used to cover the hiring of the music band that played during the bullfights, the cleaning of the arena, the transport and insurance of the bulls or the surveillance of the corrals.

In the process, the municipal officials who served as secretaries of the City Council in those years, and a bullfighting businessman will also appear as investigated.