A Civil Guard report suggests investigating possible irregularities in four urban agreements in Maracena

The kidnapping in February of this year of Vanessa Romero, socialist councilor of Maracena (Granada, 22,293 inhabitants), has led to three different investigations. The illegal detention itself, for which there is a detainee in pre-trial detention since then. Secondly, an investigation in the Criminal Chamber of the Andalusian Superior Court to determine whether a possible involvement in the kidnapping of the former number three of the Andalusian PSOE, Noel López, should be investigated; the now acting mayor of Marrace, Berta Linares; and the Councilor for Urban Planning and right hand of both, Antonio García Leyva. Finally, the third investigation is a separate piece to determine if the municipal socialist leaders committed alleged urban crimes. This piece is derived from a report by the Civil Guard that, despite concluding that the documentation in the judiciary "is not sufficient to determine the existence of irregularities in its processing by the City Council", suggests that these documents should be analyzed in context with the kidnapping and the statement of the kidnapped, so "it follows that in the following cases there may be irregularities". The report then lists four urban development agreements or agreements.

Romero was kidnapped in her own car and, when she was released, the agents found in it a significant amount of documents – 15 folders and 17 loose documents – that the then mayor was carrying because she considered that they reflected irregularities committed by the previous government team and that of the moment of the kidnapping. The judge investigating the kidnapping ordered the Civil Guard to make a report to assess whether the papers revealed any irregularity. An agent reviewed the pages, the statement of the kidnapped in police stations and her testimony before the judge. His report, advanced by the newspaper Granada Hoy and to which EL PAÍS has had access, reveals that the documentation studied contains papers on up to five judicial proceedings underway that confront the City Council and different companies, as well as other cases in which the investigator determines that too much has been paid; the works have not been tendered; the proper planning procedures or other payment documents have not been carried out; or the construction of a petrol station has been allowed without proper permits or the licence has been granted without proper conditions.

The report of the Civil Guard includes the case of the gas station among the four cases of alleged irregularities without having read a single paper of the file because, as it is recognized, "it is not among the documents found in the trunk of the vehicle", but "it is the opinion of the instructor that this could be the nuclear file, the true origin of all the problems that arose in the City Council. " The motivation of the writer of the report to give it such high consideration is justified in five points: that the former mayor could have an interest in approving its installation despite everything because he was being blackmailed with an alleged video that harmed him; that as Romero refused to sign the approval for the gas station, he removed her from office and appointed Berta Linares councilor for Urban Planning; that there were quarrels between Linares and Romero because the latter was not going to repeat on the electoral list; that the subsequent appointment of Linares as mayor was a way for the former councilor to ensure the approval of the infrastructure and that Linares agreed to be mayor to support López, a fellow politician and his cousin.

In view of this police report, based more on the statements of Vanessa Romero than on the documents, López, who last week decided to temporarily step aside from his position as secretary of organization of the PSOE-A until the judge determines his innocence or guilt, has announced the presentation of "a complaint for slander and false complaint [against the exedil] as soon as the judicial process allows, as well as any media that disseminates information."

The report of the Civil Guard adds to the gas station the forecast of irregularities in three other urban cases. The granting of aid "of five million euros without feasibility study" to the company that manages a municipal gym, Go Fit SL; the award of the construction of a health centre and an active participation centre to a company without prior bidding and with valuations that "may be excessive"; and the activity permit to a person who "develops an activity where he can not develop it, nor the procedure is adequate". Finally, it also suggests investigating what happened with a file that apparently intends to assign a monthly amount to "coordinators of the municipal group" because, according to the investigating agent, it is a figure in "fraud of law."

In short, that conclusion of the investigating guard on that monetary allocation and the four urban cases are what have led the judge of Instruction Number 5 of Granada to open a separate piece. Antonio García Leyva, councilor of Urbanism who has also been asked to investigate by the TSJA, has declared to EL PAÍS that they feel "helpless because the case is growing based on statements from the kidnapper and Romero." "We feel completely helpless and in the middle of media lynching. Every day accusations against us are denied and that does not appear," he insisted. It refers, for example, to the toxicological report ordered by the judge that determined that the kidnapper had not consumed cocaine as he himself had indicated in a previous statement. "This report was requested as part of the investigation and the investigation was opened just before the elections. Curiously, the result of the report is from the following Monday, "explains García Leyva, who considers that perhaps it would have been more opportune to open the summary after knowing the toxicological result.

This newspaper has tried to speak with Noel López who has declined to make statements until he has given his testimony before the judge. The attempt to speak with the acting mayor has also been unsuccessful for the same reasons. However, Berta Linares has also issued a statement on Tuesday in which she has asked for "help to justice in the face of media lynching."

"Declare as soon as possible"

Linares has begged that "he be called to testify as soon as possible." "Let it be exposed that I was the one who told the Civil Guard from the first moment when I saw him and where, in addition to the benemérita herself asked me to contact him, and that was what led the device to stop him in Maracena, "said Linares. The acting mayor refers to the broadcast of a video from security cameras that place her next to the kidnapper at a time when the kidnapping was active although the offender, then his partner, had left the councilor tied in the trunk of the car in a local Armilla (Granada) and he had returned to Maracena to buy material in a hardware store.

In a municipal plenary session after the kidnapping, Linares insisted that he had not seen the kidnapper, something denied by the cameras. However, she assures that both her lawyer and the Civil Guard advised her then to silence any concrete details about whether or not she had seen her ex-partner. "I was asked in a municipal plenary, and in the last press conference to the media, and I responded publicly that what I had to say about it I already told the Civil Guard, and that I could not talk about it." The mayor explained that accusing her of something "so serious" just to respect the recommendations of the Civil Guard and her lawyer "is unfair", since it is causing a real "cruelty" that is affecting him "not only politically", but also "his family environment". "That is why I ask for help from Justice, to accelerate the resolution of this nightmare that is affecting us so much, and objectively examine the facts, which today the various actions in the instruction are dismantling the statements of my ex-partner, revealing that all those accusations are false, "he said. Linares, as Noel López has also said, has assured that the damage is already irreparable, and only the diligence of Justice can prevent it from being worse.

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