State of Play

I asked for an update on the investigation and whether there were any developments. He informed me of the following facts,

1. The investigating Judge based in Huercal Overa is taking statements from everyone connected with the Town Hall, solicitors, developers and agents etc. This process may take a few weeks. Whilst I was there the current Architect called in to see Candido and they discussed the facts that he would be required to cover in his evidence. Given that he has only been our architect for about 6 months I don't know what value he can be to the investigation but apparently he was questioned by the Guardia Civil for 5 hours but that that led to a short statement of only 3 pages. He is to give his evidence to the judge next Tuesday.

2. The judge hearing this case at the moment is a substitute judge based in Huercal Overa and she has gone on record as saying that this case is too involved for her so she will oversee the statements and then pass it to the Civil Court in Almeria. This process, the statement taking, should take another week or two.

3. They, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, are satisfied that they have not done anything wrong and that all permissions granted by them were legal and within the norms of property developing in Spain at the time they were granted. He said that it looked like they were hoping to uncover another Marbella but that they had obviously failed to find anything  like that in Zurgena and that they were now trying to find any little thing with which to prosecute the councillors.

I did notice that Candido seemed very tired and stressed and was smoking even more than usual for him, which makes it almost chain smoking. He did say that as soon as all the statements had been made he would call the council together to decide what we as a council can and cannot do in light of the fact that everything we previously did and thought of as legal is now being deemed illegal. So we need to identify how we can and cannot grant permissions.

The street signs still have not arrived but the computer for this is still usable in the Town Hall, bear in mind that many have been seized for the investigation, and are being updated.