Sandra is the daughter of the deceased businessman Antonio González, owner of Climafrical, the company that Pedro San Ginés (CC) denounced for alleged crimes that never occurred. The businessman was attacked in the media and was charged for a decade with crimes that were dismissed. He died in April 2020, waiting for the dismissal of the case to be final. He never enjoyed his innocence. In recent weeks, Pedro San Ginés has repeated the accusations that were dismissed three years ago, and Sandra wants to make public for the first time her and her family's version and speak on behalf of her father since he "unfortunately cannot defend himself."
-Both your father and the rest of the family have remained silent and have stayed away from public opinion. Why come to the forefront now?
- We thought that when my father's innocence was proven, with the dismissal of the complaint, San Ginés and his collaborators' campaign would stop. But it seems they want to relive that hell as if a decade of unfair trial wasn't enough. San Ginés had no mercy on my father in life and now intends to tarnish the memory of a good man again. That's why we're speaking today, so that the impunity with which this man destroyed a human being doesn't fall into oblivion.
-How did you find out at home that Pedro San Ginés had denounced Climafrical and, therefore, your father Antonio González?
- My father was a businessman who worked from the age of 12 until the day he died. Before crossing paths with San Ginés, we had never lacked anything. But one day I saw my father crying at home. That day he began to explain to us that Pedro San Ginés, who at that time was president of the Cabildo, had denounced him and had a lot of power. My father told us that it was all a lie, that it was incredible. He had always worked for the Tourist Centers in terms of facilities. All his life he was proud to work hand in hand with Cesar Manrique, and what he learned from the master. He always gave great importance to seriousness at work. It seemed incredible to him that Pedro never gave him the option to explain himself. He never called him, nor was he interested in whether what he said was true. He never wanted to hear my father's version, he simply went after him.
-How did that complaint affect the business?
- After the complaint, and the brutal campaign against my father, the businessmen told him that they could not work with him because he was being accused of a lot of crimes. The banks closed the door to financing. Our father warned us that this unfair situation would lead to the closure of the company, and so it was. The companies, many of them historical clients, disappeared for fear of being linked to Climafrical or for possible reprisals or simply for bad image. And the company went bankrupt.
-And the family?
- It was brutal, I remember being in the Haría square having a coffee with my father and people approaching him to tell him that he was a thief. They were telling it to a man who never did anything wrong in his life, but worked for the family. The campaign was brutal. We saw Pedro in the media talking about honesty. Imagine what our faces look like now when we know that while he was denouncing my father, he was giving his lawyer friend more than a million euros. We can't even believe it. The more we know about this man, the more horrified we are by what he did to us.
-And the family economy?
- As I already told you, when my father came home crying with the news of San Ginés' complaint, we couldn't imagine how our lives would change that day. The company flew away in record time, and my father and mother had no other option but to take refuge in a small farm, which had a house without electricity in Las Peñas del Chache. Faced with the ruin that the complaint caused, he had to learn to raise goats and make cheese. And we, his two children, began to live a new reality. We had to drop out of school because the family could not afford our careers. We started going to the markets on Saturdays and Sundays selling the cheese we made during the week. And we survived with that. When things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, the announcement came from the Court that he had to pay one and a half million euros as a fine. And he sank. We had no capacity to respond. While San Ginés continued his campaign in the media, as if we were millionaires.
-How did Antonio González experience this process?
- Honestly, his illness worsened. I can't say that he died because of the complaint, but I do believe that what happened took years of life and happiness away from him. He was a very serious man in his work. To give you an idea, my father, over 30 years, never had problems with the Treasury, or with the workers, or with Social Security. And he sank when this sadist came with falsehoods, to discredit his work, and to ruin his company and his family.
-How did you find out about the dismissal of the case?
- After my father died, the news came that the court declared that he had not committed any crime. In fact, the case did not even go to trial, because there was nothing at all. At that moment I asked my father's lawyer to give me the file. I wanted to see what had happened and I discovered that Mr. San Ginés had denounced him to the Civil Guard. Then there was another complaint before the court with his signature on all the papers. And later I saw several statements of his, also before the court, affirming that the facts that had tarnished my father's name were true. And for all this I decided to denounce him. For being false, for being a bad person, and to forever clear my father's memory.
-What is the daily life of your family like today?
- Everything changed for us the day San Ginés made our life a living hell. But I'm not complaining, I'm a woman who lives by getting up every day at 6 in the morning to feed the goats, separate the kids and make cheese. And that's what I live on. In my case, I'm not like this man who has been eating public money all his life, deceiving people. And I will not admit any more defamatory threats from this man and his acolytes.
-What would you say to Pedro San Ginés?
- I don't think I can ever talk to that being. Throughout this time I have also met other people whom this man tried to ruin their lives, who have encouraged me. Furthermore, he has not deigned to give us his condolences for his death. Nor has he wanted to apologize for the outrage he did to all of us, and especially to a gentleman like my father. Far from it, he continues to tarnish his name. He asks for presumption of innocence for himself, and plays the victim while accusing honest people. Besides being bad, he is a coward.
-What do you hope to achieve with this complaint?
- I hope that no unscrupulous politician will ever do this to any honest family on my island again. And also that he sits in court so that he dares to look my mother in the face, who will attend the trial, the woman who has suffered this hell the most.
