The former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, was the first to testify in the Stratvs case trial that began this Monday, although he did so by refusing to answer questions from the Public Prosecutor's Office and the private and popular accusations, and only answering questions from his lawyer. Thus, in a brief statement, Reyes limited himself to pointing out that he had "no choice but to sign" the resolution that initiated the file to grant the activity license to the Stratvs winery, because according to him he had "permission from the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo".
"If not, they would be asking me today why I didn't do it," said the former mayor, who already has several convictions behind him, and who in the Yate case trial admitted to having granted licenses in exchange for bribes to this same businessman. However, in this case he has not agreed with the accusation. Nor has the former secretary of Yaiza, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, who in the Yate case also confessed to having prevaricated by favorably reporting on the license for the Marina Rubicón marina, also owned by Juan Francisco Rosa.
The former secretary only read the positive reports
Bartolomé Fuentes was the second to testify and returned to an argument that he had already used in other previous trials, that is, that his report was only "a formality". Regarding the negative opinions that existed to grant that activity license to Stratvs, he assured that he did not read them, and that he only saw those that were positive. And he also denied that he was the one who reported these reports to the members of the Governing Board that granted that authorization, and that was chaired by Gladys Acuña.
According to the former secretary, there was a technician at the meeting who was the one who conveyed the information to the councilors, although the minutes do not show any other attendees at the session. And Bartolomé Fuentes has not been able to identify who it was either. In fact, in his first statement in the Courts he assured that it was the head of the Technical Office, Antonio Lorenzo, but during the trial he had to retract, since Lorenzo provided a certificate confirming that he was on vacation on that date.
Regarding the alleged "procedural report" that he issued, the prosecutor asked him why he conditioned it to future opinions that could be issued. "What does it mean that if the reports are positive, his is also positive, and if they are negative, his is also negative?" asked Ignacio Stampa. "It has always been the intention of this former official to act to the best of his knowledge and understanding," replied Bartolomé Fuentes, who ended by adding that he did so "to safeguard any responsibility he might have," to "cover himself."
One less day of trial
The first morning of the trial was completed with the statement of another employee of the Yaiza City Council accused in the case, Andrés Morales, who participated in the granting of that activity license, and the technician of Classified Activities of the Cabildo, Manuel Jesús Spínola. The latter issued a favorable report on the granting of the activity license, which was granted when the Stratvs complex was already completed. Like the former secretary, Morales and Spínola did respond to the prosecutor, but not to the private and popular accusations or the rest of the lawyers.
After these first four statements, the president of the Criminal Chamber of the TSJC decided to take a recess to resume the hearing at 4:30 p.m., with the statement of the other six defendants. In principle, it was planned that the first two days would be dedicated to these statements, although they have finally been resolved in a single day, so the hearing will not resume until Wednesday, when the statements of the experts and witnesses will begin.
